Shock absorber replacement nightmare

[Geocritter]

I was humbled today by a normally simple maintenance job on my 1994 33’ Holiday Rambler. So far I haven’t even been able to remove nut #1 on the front passenger side shock absorber. I’ve done nearly all my own car repairs for the last 50 years and never thought I’d have a problem doing such a normally simple chore as replacing shock absorbers. I’m plagued by two issues:
(1) compared to cars and pickups everything is super-sized
(2) the RV spent many years in the rust belt and most of the nuts and bolts have a good deal of corrosion.
So far I’m still fighting with nut #1, which is the bottom, easily accessible nut that attaches the bottom of the shock to the axle. I’ve heated it with a butane torch, put penetrating oil on it, and then repeated several times. Next using my 1/2” drive breaker bar and 3’ long cheater I attempted to break the nut loose, to no avail. I also tried using a torque multiplier wrench, still no joy. Tomorrow I’m running up to my storage space in Austin and fetching back a small oxyacetylene torch I own (unfortunately not a cutting torch) to really heat it. I’m also going to purchase the first 3/4" drive breaker bar and sockets I’ve ever owned in 50 years. I’m not sure what I’ll do if this fails. I realize that a truck repair outfit would torch off the offending nut, that is if their Godzilla sized air impact wrench couldn’t break it lose. Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of such tools. Does anyone have any suggestions about what to do next? My real fear is, how do I get the nuts and bolts off that aren’t as accessible. I can’t afford the Godzilla sized air impact wrench I appear to need, however I do have a 20 gallon 100psi air compressor.

Also, a while back someone asked about replacing shocks, I humbly stand corrected and apologize for saying it was a straightforward and easy task. I was half right anyhow, straightforwards yes, easy… without the right tools no. And just because you have the right tools for your car or pickup doesn't mean they're the right tools for your class A MH.

Steve

[smlranger]

Steve, glad to hear you got it done. I agree with your logic...when I was younger there was no task (or hardly any) that I would not take on with my cars, trucks, boats or motorhomes. I do let others do some things now that are just too difficult. However, it is still very satisfying when I decide to do a repair and it gets done, even if it is difficult. The key is to try and work smart.

[rgatijnet1]

Glad everything worked out for you. You now have the satisfaction of knowing the new shocks were properly installed, which is a chance you take at any shop. It also gave you a chance to see if there were any other problems that were obvious while you were doing that job. Congrats

[Geocritter]

Hi all y’all

I finally got the shocks mounted. What a learning experience! Who would’ve thought removing/retightening eight nuts and bolts would be so hard. After reading through the advice given I went up to my storage unit in Austin and fetched my 20 gallon air compressor down to my RV in San Marcos. Lesson #1, the air compressor is a lot heavier for me at 66 then it was when I was 45 or 50 LOL. I went to the local rental place and rented a 3/4” drive air impact wrench and at 8am I started to work. Lesson #2, get a larger bottle jack, the 3-ton jack with built in jack stand, while cool, was hard pressed to lift either front corner of my RV high enough to remove the wheels (needed to get to the top shock absorber bolts). After four hours I was done, it would’ve gone much quicker and smoother with larger jacks and a nicer work area. I was on a gravel RV pad with a large piece of cardboard between me and the gravel. The air impact wrench worked great, but even with the 1,100 ft/lbs of torque it generated I still had to put my torch to a few of the nuts.

A few people have suggested that this is a job for a garage. While I understand their logic, I’ve found from years of watching my peers that it becomes too easy to say things like “This is too hard a job for me.” Or “I’m too old for this stuff”. Thoughts like that soon become self-fulfilling, and you get to a point where you truly can’t do things anymore. I’m certain that if I were 20-30 years younger, this job would’ve been much easier and taken much less time, and I wouldn’t be aching nearly so much now (thank gawd for Aleve) but right now all I have is time and I get satisfaction out of completing tasks that most guys leave to someone younger. But that’s just masochistical me I suppose LOL!

Thanks again for everyone’s help and advice I really appreciate it as I head into the brave new world (for me) of truck repair.

Steve

[noteven]

RayChez wrote:
All you need it that Oxyacetylene torch you have and apply some heat to the nut, not the bolt. The heat will expand the nut to where it will break loose. We dealt with bigger then what you are dealing with all the time on the railroad.

RayChez is correct. Heat the bolt is for removing steel bolts / studs from castings.

[C350amg]

I own a MH on a P30 chassis here in east Canada (rust country). I had 4 shocks changed earlier this year at the truck shop. Bolts were all rusted.

I took them 20 minutes to remove all 4 shocks with the big impact and a torch.

I understand the need to save but in this case even at 110$/hour that was all worth it. Total install time 90 minutes.

Keep the easy stuff for yourself and farmout the dirty jobs 😉

[Geocritter]

Okay, I finally have a plan (who would’ve thought I’d need a special plan to replaces shocks!). The local rental shop has a 3/4 drive air impact wrench, fortunately I own a 20 gallon 100psi air compressor (I bought it years ago when I was repainting a little 914 for my late wife, the speed demon). The impact wrench is rated at 1100 ft/lbs torque so that should get the nuts off, if not I still have the torch. I just crawled underneath with a tape measure and don’t expect bolt/nut access to be a problem. It’ll probably be a few days before I get back to it, I have some consulting work I absolutely have to get done soon (it sucks when your work interferes with your life). Anyhow, I’ll report back.

In the mean time I want to thank everyone who've shared their suggestions and experiences with me.

Steve

[Jagtech]

Given that you have 8 nuts to remove, perhaps you can rent (or borrow) a 3/4" impact from a rental shop. You'll also need a good air compressor that can deliver 100# or more pressure. That combined with heat, penetrating oil and lots of patience should do it!

[RayChez]

All you need it that Oxyacetylene torch you have and apply some heat to the nut, not the bolt. The heat will expand the nut to where it will break loose. We dealt with bigger then what you are dealing with all the time on the railroad.

[Passin_Thru]

I use Kroil. Best in the world and I'm a farmer and Aviation Mechanic but heat with an acet torch seems to be the preferred method. Good luck mate.

[down_home]

Settles that. I had thought of getting Guys where we store it to replace the Shocks. Bet they haven't read these posts.

[Carm]

I have a 94 F53. There is no rust/corrosion on any of the underside fasteners.

Even so, when I replaced the front and rear shocks 2 years ago I had to use my 3/4 inch impact wrench to get those bolts off. If you think the front bolts are hard to move wait till you get to the top-rear mounts. I tried my 3/4 inch sockets with a breaker bar and length of pipe but the space is tight enough both front and rear that I just couldn't get enough pipe length to get leverage. I finally gave up on the hand-tools.

It still took a while using my 3/4 impact wrench to get the nuts off. The shock nuts on my F53 are 'crush' nuts: slightly egg-shaped. The nuts won't break loose and then spin off: I needed the full power of the impact wrench all the way. Because they are crush nuts they are as hard to get back on as they are to get off.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[stubblejumper]

Put a closed end (socket) wrench on the nut then use a floor jack to push up on it. Between the weight of the vehicle and the jack pressure the nut should break loose. For the uppers make an extender by cutting a notch for the wrench in a piece of 2x4 oak and push on it with the jack. Don't use spruce as it will just split.

[pkunk]

300 ft lbs
You'll have many uses for it.

[Rustydog]

Dry ice if you can get it works wonders. 2nd die grinder