[rgonyer]

So I keep reading about all the trouble people have replacing their rear shocks and springs on 2000 - 2004 Focus, usually resulting in replaced rear lower arms after much pain and suffering.

I am no stranger to this, I had this issue on my first 2003 SVT when I upgraded the entire suspension.

I have another 2003 SVT now, and started the same upgrade, forgetting how much of a pain it was the first time. Started off on the passenger side, trying to get the lower bolt out. Same deal. Lots of heat, some WD40, and a long bar only resulted in broken sockets (2 of them). I started looking at the drivers side. That wheel/tire were still on, and on the ground (Had the passenger side rear corner jacked up with a jack stand on it.).

So I decide to start fooling with that side. I never took the wheel/tire off. In 5 minutes I had the shock completely out - I took the bottom shock bolt out, and the top nut under the carpet. Threw the new one in, no sweat. Then, I pulled the camber adjustment bolt out of the crossmember, and disconnected the sway bar on both sides and pivoted that out of the way. The control arm easily went low enough to get the old spring out, and the new on in place. Grabbed my floor jack and pushed the arm back up, and reinstalled the camber bolt.

Can it be this EASY? Literally, 20 minutes for the shock and the spring, no blood sweat or tears, and I didn't even have to remove the wheel. I must be missing something, is there a reason NOT to do it this way?

 

[felixthecat]

^^^^^ Sound's easy enough. I guess I'm missing something too. For me undo the rear end link's & a couple of 17mm bolt's= lower shock & rear trailing & lower control arm & it the spring come's out.

 

[rgonyer]

The issue is that those 17mm bolts a lot of times (most of the time?) have completely fused themselves to the metal sleeve inside the control arm bushing.

 

[wrc_fan]

Doing it this way is an option, though it is possible that the inside bolts will be siezed as well. I recommend marking the position of the bolt/washer relative to the frame so the rear toe will be close to normal when reinstalling and before you get an alignment. FYI, these bolts will adjust toe, not camber.

 

[rgonyer]

Thanks for the correction. How is camber adjusted then?

 

[wrc_fan]

^^ you can't adjust rear camber, in the stock configuration (excluding loosening all the bolts and trying to get some slop to shift one way or another). You can either add camber bolts or use adjustable camber arms.

 

[zetecDon]

I have always removed the rear springs on the car this way. Didn't even have to bother removing the control arm bolt for nothing. Just undo the lowest bolt on the strut and let it hang there. Another thing I have done in the past was use a long pry bar (a spud bar works great in this situation) and had a friend of mine stand on the bar while I just reached under and pulled the springs out of their perches. Not the safest route to go but as long as everything is stable you shouldn't have much trouble.

 

[BigRed03]

with the whole rear jacked and on stand, you can disconnect the LCA from the hub (1 bolt) and have a friend step on that to pull the spring out.

 

[rgonyer]

So you were right - passenger side control arm had both bolts "fused". I hit the toe adjuster bolt with a 10lb sledge trying to get it out (a few times) and it was not budging. 4 sawsall blades later.....

Mmmmm... Koni goodness.