1998 Ranger Shock Replacement help

Jstitely · Dec 7, 2018

Hey everyone I’m new to the forums, I recently picked up at 1998 ford ranger, so naturally I’m replacing parts that need maintenance. I’ve been looking for some information on how to change the shocks on the truck. Everything that I find shows the placement of the shock next to the coil spring or they have none at all. My truck has the shock inside of the spring. If someone could point me in the direction of a tutorial or give some information that may help it would be greatly appreciated. Either way I am going to start pulling the wheels and start the work here in a few hours. I did attempt to use the search feature before I posted a thread, just came up with nothing I was looking for.

Thanks in advanced!

sheltonfilms · Dec 7, 2018

IIRC you don’t even have to jack up the truck to remove the front shocks. I’m about 90% sure I didn’t.

The top of the shock has a stud and a nut. You need to have something grip the top of the stud to keep it from moving, if you find a socket that works use that. If not use vise grips. Hold stud in place and use wrench to loosen/remove nut. It helps to wirewheel the rust off the stud and oil it to have the nut comeoff freely (usually a lot of rust on the stud). If this doesn’t work you can always cut off wheel it (be mindful of fuel and brake lines).

Under the lower control arm there are 2 (13 mm IIRC) nuts. Un bolt these and drop the shock through the hole.

Reverse steps and tighten top nut until rubber bushing width is about the same as the steel washer. Forgot bottom nut torque.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jstitely · Dec 7, 2018

sheltonfilms said:
IIRC you don’t even have to jack up the truck to remove the front shocks. I’m about 90% sure I didn’t.

The top of the shock has a stud and a nut. You need to have something grip the top of the stud to keep it from moving, if you find a socket that works use that. If not use vise grips. Hold stud in place and use wrench to loosen/remove nut. It helps to wirewheel the rust off the stud and oil it to have the nut comeoff freely (usually a lot of rust on the stud). If this doesn’t work you can always cut off wheel it (be mindful of fuel and brake lines).

Under the lower control arm there are 2 (13 mm IIRC) nuts. Un bolt these and drop the shock through the hole.

Reverse steps and tighten top nut until rubber bushing width is about the same as the steel washer. Forgot bottom nut torque.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Awesome, thank you for the help, I was worried would have to release the tension on the coil, but if I can just drop it through the coil all the better!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

pjtoledo · Dec 7, 2018

I don't even take the wheel off. the top nut can be accessed from above. it helps if you drive the wheel up on 2-3" of wood block. that makes more room to work and drop the shock out.
be sure to get the correct shock, parts stores seem to have a hard time getting 98+ coil spring applications correct. check both extended and collapsed length.

Jstitely · Dec 7, 2018

pjtoledo said:
I don't even take the wheel off. the top nut can be accessed from above. it helps if you drive the wheel up on 2-3" of wood block. that makes more room to work and drop the shock out.
be sure to get the correct shock, parts stores seem to have a hard time getting 98+ coil spring applications correct. check both extended and collapsed length.

Yeah I found that out today, I pulled the driver side shock out no problem, then when I went to install my shock realized they gave me the front ones for the torsion bar setup. Had to drive all the way back and have them swap out for the correct ones per Monroe’s website. I should have checked beforehand. Oh well just wasted an hour or so and got right back to it. I ended up using some front tire ramps and blocks on the back wheels to keep it from rolling back.That way it was easy enough to do the front and back set. All in all with the guys that replied to my post, I was able to get everything squared away in about 2hrs. Im so happy to have this truck and it running well, no more double bumps and feeling like I was driving the ocean.

1998 Ranger Shock Replacement help

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