Warnings? Hints?

Your doing the dampner too right? May as well, your gotta take it loose anyway!

All that stuff can be caked on-rusted -stubborn Get out there with some PB Blast (or something like it and sprey everything you can get to now. It may aid in removal of it all. And go out this week and tear up the town running the gas out of the tank (more fun and less mess when taking the tank out!)

sounds like a plan, allthough I have never intentionally "primed" a shock.

You probably won't be able to get one small enough at a standard auto parts store and the one they sell for VW's is kinda pricey. I've got the small $5 tie rod puller from like Autozone. It fits the spindles well but not the steering arm, I made a thin plate to go between the jaws of the puller and the arm for mine and it works out great. And seeing as your replacing them, you may get away with a small pickle fork since saving the boots are irrelavent.

Most of thats pretty straight forward in your books just take you time and think it though and you'll come mighty close to where it was (if you care about it being in the same postion). maybe mark the position of the clamp (which slot position)

Take measurements or a tracing if you want to keep the same position. I also like to use "anti-seize" on the threads

Mark Detro Englewood, FL

Prime the shocks? - never heard of that (ok had an old MGB with lever shocks that had to be primed but not necessary with sealed gas/hydralic shocks). With every VW shock I've removed I've always had one of the steel tubes in the rubber grommets rust solid to the "bolt" it goes over. Have a sharp chissle ready.

The correct term is "vent the shocks" goes for all hydraulic non gas pressure jobs, to get all trapped air out..

J.