Any car mechanics.....

...or very good DIY mechanics that fancy some beer tokens? My Ford Puma has failed its MOT today on a rear shock, so it needs replacing and due to not having lots of cash need it done cheap! I would attempt it on my own but every time I attempt to do something on my car it fails, so really just need a knowledgeable person to guide me.

Any help would be great!

Ash.

[dirtydog]

Changing the shock should be relatively straight forward, just a case of undoing a few bolts really. Do you have a haynes manual for your puma?

They never made one for a puma so closest I have is the fiesta one. I guess I could give it ago, just reckon the bolts will be seized and i have a habit of rounding them! Tempting to try it now.

[dirtydog]

get some plusgas or similar and give them a good covering with it, don't bother using wd40 it's a bit rubbish at that sort of thing.

It should be just a case of jack up the car and get the wheel off, take the arch liner out, loosen the bolts on the top and bottom of the shock. You may need to use another jack to then support the suspension and take the pressure off the shock. Take out the bolts then the shock then do the reverse to fit the new one.

[Viney]

Originally Posted by arcdef

They never made one for a puma so closest I have is the fiesta one. I guess I could give it ago, just reckon the bolts will be seized and i have a habit of rounding them! Tempting to try it now.

I sorted my shock on the Volvo a couple of weeks ago. Now, remember, replace the shocks in pairs ALWAYS! Does the spring sit over the shock, or is it seperate from the shock? If its seperate, its possibly the easiest job in the world, it really is. If the later, then i may be able to help. If the spring is over the shock, then its a lot more fiddly as you need spring clamps, and a lot of paintence as undoing the top mount nut is a nightmare!

Replaced all four corners on the rover a couple of years ago...simple job really. Even if you don't have a manual it's pretty obvious what goes where and what you need to undo to remove things etc.

I'm not sure what type of suspension there is on the Puma, but I'd be tempted to get a replacement strut (spring + damper) as then you don't need to faff about with spring clamps etc, like Viney said.

[_Stretchie_]

I have some spring compressors I could lend (send) you if you need them.

The attached pic is just for illustration, it isn't of mine but they are very similar.