Do I need to change rear shocks after a lift kit

i'm not sure that you have "air " shocks or struts , follow this link to an automotive parts site , put in your vehicle details and it will show exactly the type of suspension components you require
Replacement Parts Car Parts and Truck Parts

Removing these springs is extremely dangerous. You can rent a spring compressor at your local auto parts store. Be aware that changing that tire size also changes your speedometer reading and the handling of the over all truck as well. Shocks may not work properly either. Dig deep into all the things that change. Good Luck

You want the safest way, the filler kit will not work...You need to replace them and get your mechanic to check your front shocks as well because if the front ones are bad and you replace the back only, your car will look like a drag racing car and you will have extremely bad handling..

Look under the car - you'll see 2 long metal rails ( the frame rails) . Support each side with a 2 ton minimum jack stand fully extended approximately one foot ( 12" ) in front of the rear wheels. Now use your jack ( preferably floor style ) to lift one of the rear wheels to relieve the pressure on the shock. Remove fasteners securing the shock, then remove and replace the shock. If the new shock has a plastic strap attached, do not cut this strap until you have mounted the shock on the vehicle. If you do not have an exposed frame rail, you'll see a "pad" in front of the rear wheel close to the outside of the car - it should be about 10 inches in from the pinch weld and about 12 inches in front of the wheel. Use this pad for the stand and lift the vehicle by the c shaped bar that goes from 1 rear wheel to the other. Do not support the car with just the jack -it could let loose and drop the car on you.
Hope this helps!

Only the rear ones should have the air lift feature, although there is a conversion kit that may have been used to add air lift to the front.

The type of shocks you have (front and back) will depend on whether you have the Electronic Suspension system option. Without this, the shocks are pretty standard. However, if you have this, they are all (front and back) controlled electronically to adjust the firmness of the shocks to assist in keeping the vehicle level during maneuvers. You can quickly tell if you have this option by examining one of the shocks to see if there is an electrical connection on the side. If you have this system, these can be very expensive and hard to find, and GM has had a lot of trouble with them. As a result, many owners have replaced them with standard aftermarket struts (which includes air lift versions for the back). However, the old shock electrical cables have to be specially terminated if you do this (see The Cadillac User Forum for more info).

The only real fix for this problem is to tear out the original and replace with a regular spring and shock system. You can find a kit at www.strutmasters.com. These kits are less than $500 which does NOT include labor.

Did your lift kit come with new extended brake lines?
You mentioned the brakes feel like they are "on" and you can't pump up your pedal anymore.That makes me think that like most lift kits,nothing is provided to re-locate the rear rubber brake line that is mounted to the top of the rear differential. It may be stretched so far that it's kinked on both ends allowing fluid to the rear brakes thru hydraulic pressure but not being allowed to release on it's own. Just a thought. Good Luck!

refit the original springs ,rear springs are leaf springs ,no problem their but for the front coil springs you will need a pair of spring clamps but this is not a difficult job and well within the bounds of a competent weekend mechanic

Inside the car carefully pry up the speaker covers off the rear parcel shelf and undo the two screws that secure the speaker assembly onto the shelf. Release the clip and carefully from inside the boot pull the speakers away and disconnect the speaker connections
Open the boot and remove the carpet from the rear "wall" by unscrewing the 4 retaining "nuts" at first by hand and then using a phillips screwdriver.


Lift this out and lift out the floor carpet. Carefully pull the side carpets away from the boot interior. They are held in 3 places : on one of the retaining bolts by the rear carpet, by a metal ledge at the top near the rear lights and by the ledges on the plastic parts in the boot.

Jack up the car and chock the front wheels so it can't roll anywhere. Also put something underneath the wheels so they cannot drop down when you undo the shock mounts.

Using a 13mm socket undo the two top shock mounts ONLY once you have supported the wheels so that you dont put stress on the suspension arms. Pry off the rubber dust cover.

Undo the lower shock retaining bolt and carefully lift the entire shock away from the car.

The old knackered shock and shock mount!

You need to recover the lower cup, upper cup and bump-stop from the old shock. To do this you need to remove the top mount from the old shock. If you look at the top of the piston it has a flat section to it. Get a set of mole grips and clamp them onto the flat section, do this as tight as you can so that you dont round it and using and adjustable spanner undo the piston retaining nut whilst holding the piston shaft using the molegrips.

You need to recover 3 pieces from the piston shaft. 1- the bump stop, 2 - lower cup, 3 upper cup. Using the new shock mount as a template cut out a gasket from cardboard (the box the mount came in is ideal) to go between the upper shock mount and the suspension tower. Incidently according to the haynes manual this is made of rubber but mine was made of card! under no circumstances put the upper shock mount directly into the suspension tower.

Put the 3 pieces onto the new shock and tighten the piston nut to secure the shock mount and put your new gasket onto the upper mount.

Use the opportunity to clean the suspension turret - do the top and the underneath making sure it's all clean and dry.
Put the new complete assembled shock into the suspension tower and either get someone to do up the top bolts a few turns or rest the bottom of the shock in the inner circumference of the wheel and lift it into position by lifting it up using the piston nut and then do the bolts up a few turns.
Bolt the bottom shock bolts back into place after putting some nut-lock on the threads and tighten them up securely, then tighten up the top mount securing bolts and put on the rubber dust cap.

Put the side carpets back in making sure the speaker cables aren't trapped behind, putting in the end nearest the tail lights first making sure it's behind the retaining ledge both at the top and the end. Then do the centre section and finally over the bolt at the rear of the boot. Put the rear carpet back in and do up the retaining nuts. Reconnect the speakers and engage the lip and push the speaker up until the clip clips into place and do up the securing screws and clip the speaker cover back on.

About What's New BMW In-Depth How To Pages My Projects Garage Sale Galleries Communities Links Contact Donate

thiers many of things that can cause that, first off with your kit i didnt see lower adjustible
arms so with that much lift your diff angle could be off. needs to be 7deg. also if your sure the ball joints are perfect and its alined right them look at the stearing box for play in the arm . it can be adjusted with the set screw. jeep-xj.com hope that helps....