Front shock install

[uriunited]

Hello, i recently replaced all four shocks on my 2014 Raptor SE. I was doing it in my condo garage ally so i didn’t have much room. We jacked it up one side at a time and did rear and front then flipped the truck and did rear and front.
The rears took less than 15 mins each side with the tire on and jacked up. The fronts however took a 2 hours, removing the shock and putting the shock back in was the problem. With two people, one prying on the LCA and the other pushing down on the steering knuckle. It took way too much strength to remove and install compared to the multiple videos we watched from Forged, TSW, etc.

Unplugged IWE line and ABS line to make sure there wasn’t unnecessary tension, the only thing i could think of is:
1) does jacking it up on its side and not the entire front affect the clearance?
2) did i need to remove the sway bar?
3) I’m not sure what i did wrong…
any help/suggestion would be appreciated for next time i need to do it, thanks!

 

[semaj]

You need to jack up the front and put jack stands on both side. Yes, jacking up one side at a time makes it super difficult as you found out, because the sway bar is putting tension on the an arms. So remove the sway bar and then you should be good to go. Sometimes you also have to remove the cv axle from the spindle as well. I did all this on my Gen 3.

 

[Jhollowell]

yes. disconnect the sway bar and the LCA droop a few more inches and the shock will come right out. I used to remove the brake caliper but found if you just remove the bracket on the spindle (8mm and 10mm) the lines won't be under tension and saves you one more thing to remove. I've done this multiple times and i still can't get it under 2 hours per side.

 

[Space Ghost]

while on the topic...

Ive seen some people remove the axle nut on the front so it can pop out a bit and reduce the chance of binding the axle. Usually when i see that they push down on the lca and remove the shock from the top bucket.

Other way is leaving the axle nut on and then while the top has a nut on the tower bolt in place to push the lca enough to poke the bottom out.

Only ask cause id rather not pop it out and risk re-alignment issues and other stuff, and it seems the first method drops the lca more than the 2nd method and is that why people say it can bind the axle?

 

[Jhollowell]

I've never had to remove the axle nut. Just unbolt the sway bar at the LCA, tie rod and UCA and the shock will come out. I generally take the 3 nuts off the top hat, remove the lower shock bolt, push the shock up into the bucket and press down on the LCA and it comes out with no issue.

Also, removing the CV shouldn't cause any issues. I've replaced mine and never had to do an alignment. You only need an alignment if you change perch settings, coils, tie rods or loosen the LCA bolts.

 

[Space Ghost]

I've never had to remove the axle nut. Just unbolt the sway bar at the LCA, tie rod and UCA and the shock will come out. I generally take the 3 nuts off the top hat, remove the lower shock bolt, push the shock up into the bucket and press down on the LCA and it comes out with no issue.

Also, removing the CV shouldn't cause any issues. I've replaced mine and never had to do an alignment. You only need an alignment if you change perch settings, coils, tie rods or loosen the LCA bolts.

Thanks, just one less thing to do/mess up is nice to hear.
And by alignment i guess i meant aligning the axle back in correctly i guess if it came out too far.