Lakes Rob
Active Member
Here's how I replaced the rear shock absorbers on my 1996 3.9 V8 disco. I know this has been done before - but when I was reading up on how to do it I found some conflicting info so I thought I'd share my effort in case it helps someone else! I'd noticed hard feedback from the rear end - like you would get if the tyres were nearly flat. This was accompanied by some clunking that got worse over a couple of weeks. I'd initially thought the wheel bearings were on the way out but after taking the wheels off I could see a generous gap inside the mounting ring on the top of the rear shock (see first photo) and there was loads of play in the top of the shock.
The day before I changed the shocks I wire brushed the nuts, top and bottom, and gave a generous squirt of WD40 (repeated every few hours).
I jacked up the rear and put axle stands under the chassis either side of the petrol tank. I used a trolley jack to lift the axle enough to remove the nearside wheel.
With the wheel out of the way there's plenty of room to get a breaker bar and an 18mm socket on the top nut.
I used a pipe wrench to turn the shock as I held the bottom nut (21mm)with a breaker bar wedged against the anti roll bar. Turning the nut on its own just spun the shock round.
Having removed the nuts top and bottom I pulled the top of the shock off the bracket and then lowered the axle to pull the bottom of the shock off the mount.
This explains the clunking! There wasn't much of the bush left.
The new shock (Kayaba excel-G) had the bush already fitted in so there was no need to buy seperate sleeves / bushes.
The threads on the top mounting bracket were a bit corroded so I gave them a good wire brushing before greasing them and fitting the new shock.
I reused the spacer / washer things but put a new M12 nylock nut on (sorry the photos are sideways!)
The bottom bushes were fine so I reused them and just put on a new cup washer (that came with the shock) and a nylock nut. The shocks came with normal nuts so I bought a couple of M12 x 1.25 metric fine nylock nuts for the bottoms.
The offside wasn't as bad as the nearside - but was clearly past its best!
I would definitely recommend loads of WD40 for a day or so beforehand. The nuts came off fairly easily for the first time in about 10 years!
Hope this helps.
The day before I changed the shocks I wire brushed the nuts, top and bottom, and gave a generous squirt of WD40 (repeated every few hours).
I jacked up the rear and put axle stands under the chassis either side of the petrol tank. I used a trolley jack to lift the axle enough to remove the nearside wheel.
With the wheel out of the way there's plenty of room to get a breaker bar and an 18mm socket on the top nut.
I used a pipe wrench to turn the shock as I held the bottom nut (21mm)with a breaker bar wedged against the anti roll bar. Turning the nut on its own just spun the shock round.
Having removed the nuts top and bottom I pulled the top of the shock off the bracket and then lowered the axle to pull the bottom of the shock off the mount.
This explains the clunking! There wasn't much of the bush left.
The new shock (Kayaba excel-G) had the bush already fitted in so there was no need to buy seperate sleeves / bushes.
The threads on the top mounting bracket were a bit corroded so I gave them a good wire brushing before greasing them and fitting the new shock.
I reused the spacer / washer things but put a new M12 nylock nut on (sorry the photos are sideways!)
The bottom bushes were fine so I reused them and just put on a new cup washer (that came with the shock) and a nylock nut. The shocks came with normal nuts so I bought a couple of M12 x 1.25 metric fine nylock nuts for the bottoms.
The offside wasn't as bad as the nearside - but was clearly past its best!
I would definitely recommend loads of WD40 for a day or so beforehand. The nuts came off fairly easily for the first time in about 10 years!
Hope this helps.
