Rear Shock Installation
 

Pacifica's rear self-leveling shocks are very expensive - more than $250 each. I assume they have either a pneumatic or hydraulic connection. Is there any particular trick to installation or is it a do-it-yourself job?

RE: Rear Shock Installation
 

The "shocks" are stand alone units.
Most places refer to them as Dampeners.
No hoses or anything are attached to them.
Just one bolt at the bottom and two self tapping type bold at the top.


Do it yourself?
I imagine it could be done with one person, but it took two of us with pry bars to get one of mine out.
We un-did the sway arms and such, so that we could get the control arm to drop a little further than normal.
These things are big, and have A LOT of pressure to them, so they don't compress easily.

RE: Rear Shock Installation
 

Well, I was successful installing the Pacifica rear shocks (BTW, every place I looked, including MOPAR called them shock absorbers). Your warning about being difficult to compress was a big help, as I jerry-rigged together a "shock compressor" out of a 2 by 6, $10 worth of hardware,and a scissors jack. I also used a hose clamp, some chain, a turnbuckle and a u-bolt to fashion a contraption to hold the shock compressed while I uninstalled or installed it. It went well, and I never had to disconnect any other links to make clearance. Only tricky part was that the lower bolt was an uncommon size, and I didn't own the right socket for it.

Thanks for the reply.

Rear Shock replacement on 2004 Pacifica
 

Thanks, this cleared it up for me. I knew they were self leveling and expensive, I just was unsure of the installation. This means that I can install them without dropping $175.00 for a Chrysler FSM.

Much appreciated,
Chris I
Lynchburg, VA