I finished front shocks and today did the rear shocks. What a difference in the ride and handling!!! New strut mounts, and bearings, control rod front bushings, ball joints, bellow and bump stops, and sway bar link bushings. I used Sachs Advantage, which according to FCPG, are OEM or equal to.

Front strut inserts; one was dead, the other was near death. Surprisingly the rear shocks still had some life to them, but not quite the oomph of the new ones though. Fronts and backs were original equipment.

As far as the ball joint, I used a ball joint press tool. Same with the tie rod end. No other sane way to do this. The ball joint even has a hollowed end in to receive the tool. I center punched the end of the tie rod ball joint screw to help locate the tool point. Cover the parts with a rag because when the ball joint lets go, parts will fly. (The pickle fork tool should only be used as a dull chisel to loosen and tighten the big strut nut!)

--
Tom F. Three Bricks, maintain two more.