DIY: Installing new rear shocks on my 15-year-old Maruti Swift

The ride has improved & the rear doesn't bounce a lot as earlier.

BHPian Ashtoncastelino recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My Swift rear shockers were due for replacement as the right rear shocker was leaking.

Taking advantage of the recent Boodmo sale, I immediately ordered rear shockers while keeping Shashi in the loop.

The new shocks were of Gabriel's make. January 2022 manufactured.

I planned to do the replacement as DIY at home with the help of my dad as we have all the required tools or so we thought ( more on that later).

So yesterday we lifted the car at home, unscrewed the bottom nut of the shocker and proceeded to remove the upper one and boom, here comes the surprise.

Left shocker Upper Bolt

Right shocker Upper bolt

These are definitely the stock rear shockers which came with the car 15 years ago (2006). The nuts are basically seized, we hammered and did whatever we could but the nut would not even budge. Sprayed WD40 and left it to soak but still no luck. Yes it was that bad. At this point , we thought the only thing left is to remove it with heat. I did not want to follow this method as it would lead to further rusting around the surrounding area in the future.

Dad being the expert he is, told me to find a angle grinder to cut the bolt off. We did not have an angle grinder and It being a sunday, no workshops were open. Luckily for us, our neighbour is a carpenter , he had an angle grinder with him and we were so relieved when he gave us a confirmation.

So I started covering all the surrounding areas with wet rags and dad started to cut off the nut.

Comparison of old and new Shocker.

Both rear shockers removed. They were of Delphi make.

Thankfully all went well and the ride is so much better. Applied a bucket of grease on the mountings and nuts. Now after the replacement the rear doesn't bounce a lot like earlier.

Lesson Learnt!

Always apply grease on all strut mountings and bolts as Shashi has done. He has mentioned it on page 1, else its pretty obvious you'll end up in the same situation I was in.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.