The receiving portion on the lower control arm is 1.25" wide. The stock length of the KYB lower shock mount stud is 1.5" and must be reduced before installation. I use a grinder on both ends of the stud to achieve the 1.25".

With the new shocks prepared for installation, let's remove the old shocks. One of the tricks I learned from Don Verity (when Don speaks, listen. You'll always learn something) is to remove the upper control arm bumper. Here is a picture of the bumper as you will find installed on the control arm.

With this little bumper removed, the upper control arm can drop another inch or so. This means the lower control arm drops another inch or so and gives you more clearance between the lower control arm and the frame. This additional working area makes removal of the old shocks much easier as well as the installation of new shocks. The old shocks have now been removed. You might be able to tell in this picture (the upper control arm bumper has been removed) that the space has increased. You now have more room to work getting the new shock up into the "chimney" for the upper shock mount.

Time to compress the new KYB shock and restrain it in the compressed position. I like Larry Jett's suggestion to use several 36 inch plastic zip ties as shown.

I didn't have zip ties (well, I did but I couldn't find them) so I used a length of solid wire. A small jack (enlarge the picture to see the small jack) compressed the shock and held it steady so the wire could be installed to hold the shock compressed. With the shock compressed and as compact as possible, it was a snap to maneuver it into the frame, into the upper mount receiver, and into the lower control arm mount. Install the upper shock mount pieces, clip the wire, install the lower control arm mount bolt, re-install the upper control arm bumper and you are ready for the other side.

Back