How difficult / easy is it to replace my front and rear shocks? The local mechanic wants to charge 2.5x (parts and labor) what it would cost me to buy new shocks off of shockwareshouse.

I have an 02 Blazer LS 4x4 4.3L 115k mi. I have the OE shocks on it now and figured it is time to replace them. I drive on the crappy Nor Cal roads between San Fran and Tahoe and the ride is getting rough.

I'm thinking about replacing the OE shocks with Monroe Reflex or KYB Gasajust (Opinions on which is better for a smooth ride and control? I don't go off-road too often but I do drive in the snow).

Basically is it worth my time to save $250? I have access to tools and a lift at my Air Force Base's Auto Hobby Shop and the mechanics in there are helpful.

Thanks,
Steve

 

With a decent socket set, breaker bar, some extensions, and some wrenches, you should be able to do it in an afternoon.

 

Yeah it took me and my dad about 2 hours to replace the front and rear shocks. We have had experience lifting the blazer in the air before so that took hardly anytime. Just make sure you spray some PB blaster on the bolts before you do it and they will come out a lot nicer. I think I spent about $250-$260 on shocks (went with the Edlebrock IAS shocks from shockwarehouse) and saved probably about $400 installing them myself. My dad also got shocks from shockwarehouse.com, they are a great place to buy from and they ship fast with quality products. Good luck.

 

The bolts are 18mm fyi. To put the fronts in I found the easiest way was compressing the shock and shoving it in between the upper control arm and frame. What brand shocks u using?

 

Yah the rears are slightly harder but the fronts go real quick. I just put Monroe Sesnatraks on the front took like an hour. I also greased all front end parts while I had the wheels off. Bolts arent torqued a ton and they dont rust or at least mine werent at all. A little WD-40 will help on the upper nuts since you dont have a whole lot of room to ratchet the wrench. Also to allow you to get the shocks out depending on how worn they are once you get them unbolted put some zip ties together and feed them through both shock eyes and tighten them as you compress it. For my truck had to compress the drivers side more than the passanger side. I just made a how to for the fronts https://blazerforum.com/m_147122/mpa.../tm.htm#147122

 

I have a friend who swears by this site and told me this is where I should buy my parts from http://www.4wheelonline.com/Categori...?Categoryid=23

I am about to replace my shocks too and was wondering the same thing about how hard it is to do.
Thanks for the pointers

 

The front isnt too bad. They took me longer to put the new ones in since I got larger bore shocks so they were tight fitting between the upper control arms (Edlebrock IAS shocks were used). Otherwise they go pretty quick. On the rear it is easier if you drop the spare down (then you can clean it and make sure its inflated properly and looks to be in good shape) then you have more room to work under the truck with. I just sat where the spare was and then got a bunch of socket extensions and got the top bolts easily. Then had my dad hold a wrench on the outside bolt at the bottom while I worked the inside bolt. The rears took me about an hour or just under, while the fronts took me about an hour on one side and 40 mins on the other side.

Also I have never heard of the website (http://www.4wheelonline.com/Categori...?Categoryid=23), if you are going to buy shocks online, I would just go with shockwarehouse.com or 4wheelparts.com or summitracing.com Just my opinion. The shockwarehouse has a 5% discount to blazer forum members (all you do is enter in the code FIVE and you get 5% off orders greater than like $100 (which for all 4 shocks is going to happen)). Good luck on the replacement of your shocks.

 

Thanks for the tips and encouragement, I think I'll give it a go. I'll take picts and notes as I go along and share that info with the group.

I still haven't decided between the KYB and Monroe.

 

Well the decision will most likely be dependent on price. I got a pair of Monroe Sensatraks for my front at 40 each.

 

Didn't mean no offense or step on any sponsors toes if I did. Those sites look good and the 5% off sounds better.