People Hi,
I have decided to replace the worn out shock absorbers from my 1994 evented Camel Trophy Discovery 200Tdi (which has stood idle for 5 years from 1995up to 2000 and then used from 2001 up to now) The choice I had was between BILSTEIN and red adjustable KONI and I opted for the second one mainly because of the very bad experience I had with Bilstein shocks absorbers in the past (back in 1983 when I used them on the Lada Niva I used to drive back then)
I installed the rear ones yesterday and have run into serious trouble with the lower bolts on both shocks and the upper bush on one of them which was stuck solid with the upper shock absorber to chassis one (the triangular shaped one where the upper side of the shock absorber gets attached). Those two problems were solved by cutting the lower bolts through the bushes with a round high speed cutter and by removing the upper side of the shock from the bushing and then removing the chassis mount and persuading the metallic tube inside the bushing with a large hammer and repeated spraying of rust removing liquid (a very good WURTH one which really paid for its price)
And my problem now is what to do with the front shock absorbers. I have not started removing them since I considered asking you for any tips on how to do so if the lower bolts are as stubborn as the rear ones. The is no free space to use a round high speed cutter and my only choice, if I were to cut the lower bolt-like mounts of the shocks will be to use a manual steel cutting blade but then again the coil spring locating bolts interfere.
Using grips to tightly hold the shock so that it does not turn has not worked with the rear shocks and I expect it not to work with the front ones also. Using the U shaped lower part of the bolt-like lower mount of the shock has absolutely no results since the metal gets distorted long before the mounting bolt gives way. Heating up and cooling down suddenly the lower bolt is again out of the question with the front axle and brake hoses being so close.
I would be grateful if you could provide me with a tip or trick around this problematic situation.
Thanks in advance Pantelis