1972 Land Yacht shock removal

[hogeybones]

I an having a problem with the removal of the shock on my Land yacht on one end of the shock. The bolt appears to be spot welded on one end of the shock. How do I remove these bolts in order to remove and then replace the shock. I am new at this but by no means an idiot at working on projects. Any advice to this newbie is much appreciated.

[TomW]

Welcome to the forum.

Unless you are the victim of a clueless previous owner, the bolt is not welded to the shock.

The lower shock mount is, however, a stud mounted to a flange welded to the axle arm. At first blush, it looks like the entire axle needs to be removed to get the shock off.

Inland Andy recommends bending the flange just enough to remove the shock. I agree with his suggestion, and did just that when I replaced my shocks. It worked like a charm.

Tom

[overlander63]

The OEM shock bushings are in two pieces. You can remove the bushings that way, then there is enough room to rotate the shock out of the bracket without bending. Of course, you will still have to bend the bracket to put the replacement in, as the new ones are not made that way. It should take a 3/4" wrench to remove the nut.

[RoyalOaks]

Airstream Shock replacement guide

[floridartist]

I too have found there is no room to take the top of the shock off , I am thinking of bending the bolt as others have done, is there a better way?
here is a pic of the situation, thanks, John

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by floridartist

I too have found there is no room to take the top of the shock off , I am thinking of bending the bolt as others have done, is there a better way?
here is a pic of the situation, thanks, John

NEVER attempt to bend the shock bolt or stud as it's called.

But, you can bend the shock bracket.

Andy