Compressing Gas Shocks

[rogerspeed]

If you have ever tried to put gas shocks in the rear of a 105/115 car, it can be a bit of a chore, the shocks when inserted from the top, though the spring, into the trailing arm will sit up about an inch or so and they can be darn difficult to compress so you can get the bolts through the mount(hat) into the body. Attached is a picture showing the use of a couple 2x4s. the longer one is used first, after roughly aligning the shock bolt holes, one end of the 2x4 goes on top of the shock, the inside lip of the trunk surround acts as a fulcrum and at the other end you push up to lever the shock down, then insert second 2x4, sort of diagonal, as a wedge, to hold the other 2x4 and the shock down, if your car, unlike this example, doesn't need paint, you may want to put some towels under the second 2x4 as protection. While the shock is compressed you can get at least one of the bolts started, then remove the 2x4s, install the other bolt and tighten both, repeat for the other side and enjoy!