Saturday, November 30, 2013

How to Change the Shocks of a 1998 Toyota Tacoma 4 Wheel Drive

How to Change the Shocks of a 1998 Toyota Tacoma 4-Wheel Drive

The 1998 Toyota Tacoma 4-wheel drive pickup comes equipped with four shock absorbers. The front shocks are part of a coil spring/shock absorber assembly. Separating the shock absorber from the coil spring requires special tools and is potentially dangerous. It is wise to replace the coil and shock as a single unit to avoid having to disassemble the unit. The rear shocks and coil springs are separate units, and you can replace the shocks without removing the springs.

Instructions

Front Shocks

    1

    Loosen the front wheel lug nuts with a lug wrench. Raise the front of the truck and support each front wheel with a jack stand. Remove the lug nuts and both front wheels from the truck.

    2

    With a socket wrench, remove the nut and bolt from the lower end of the shock, where it attaches to the lower control arm. If the bolt is extremely tight, attach a cheater bar to the socket wrench to gain more mechanical advantage.

    3

    Remove the three nuts from the top of the shock/coil assembly. These are the nuts around the top edge of the assembly. Do not remove the center nut.

    4

    Pull the shock/coil assembly down off the vehicle.

    5

    Place the new shock/coil assembly bolts up into the holes in the mounting bracket and replace the nuts without tightening them.

    6

    Replace the bolt and nut on the lower end of the shock, where it connects to the lower control arm. Tighten the nut to 101 foot-pounds of torque.

    7

    Tighten the three upper nuts to 47 foot-pounds of torque. Repeat the procedure on the opposite shock/coil assembly.

    8

    Replace the wheels and lug nuts. Lower the truck and tighten the lug nuts.

Rear Shocks

    9

    Loosen the lug nuts on the rear wheels and raise the rear of the vehicle by placing a floor jack under the rear axle. There should be no weight on either wheel assembly.

    10

    With a socket wrench, remove the mounting bolt from the upper end of the shock absorber, where it attaches to the frame.

    11

    Remove the mounting bolt from the lower end of the shock absorber, where it attaches to the spring seat bracket. Pull the old shock off of the truck.

    12

    Place the new shock absorber into position. Replace the lower mounting bolt and tighten it to 53 foot-pounds of torque.

    13

    Replace the upper mounting bolt and tighten it to 53 foot-pounds of torque. Follow the same procedure to replace the opposite shock absorber.

    14

    Replace the rear wheels and lug nuts. Lower the vehicle and tighten the lug nuts.


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