I'm alive. Actually, it wasn't all that bad. The bottom spring retainers needed a little more persuasion than I would have liked to come off. Banging on them with a rubber mallet with a crusty piece of junk spring in the press was a bit unnerving but all went well. Now, on with the pictures!
First we have to get that upper mount off. 3/4 wrench and socket wedged in there will suffice.
create image url onlineI say it all the time. Anti-seize is your friend in the Northeast. From the outside, these bolts were a brick of rust. Once pulled, under all that grey Satan's goop is a bolt in good shape.
create image url onlineNow the fun part. Into the press it goes.
create image url onlineCrank away on it, whack the retainer a couple of times, and presto. One busted spring removed.
create image url onlineHere's a good possibility why the spring broke. The shocks both lost nitrogen pressures. They've been working as basically a coil carrier for God only knows how long. I have no idea why they lost pressure. I was told by Greg years ago that all you really have to do is check the pressure every so often. I had never had an issue loosing pressure so it slipped my mind to check. It's possible an internal seal is bad and has let the nitrogen pass into the shock body. I don't think that happened though because there was no pressure at all in the shock as it would compress but no rebound. If there was nitrogen in the shock body it would probably have forced the oil past the wiper seal and the shock should still have rebounded. Hard to say for sure what happened without tearing the shock all the way down but we're not doing that here. Pressure set at 150psi. DO NOT set them at the max of 200psi if you do this at home. Downsouth Motorsports sets all their shocks at 150psi when they ship them and from my own experience, your seals last longer if not set at the max.
create image url onlineBoth shocks stripped down.
create image url onlineAnd lastly both broken springs laying on the floor. New ones will go in the week along with painting the upper mounts and the front part of the frame while I have access. Once it's all back together it'll be test drive and adjust the UCA's to make sure the camber is close.
create image url onlineOne last thing. I will edit the post above. The SwayAway Titan Swap coilovers at 5.5" travel, 18" length (eye to eye) shocks. They are indeed a goofy size. IF you can turn the upper retainer/adjuster ring a 12" coil should be able to work. The 13" coil these came with, combined with the 1" lower spring riser put a considerable preload on the shock. It also makes it difficult to find anything else that will fit in that space. Fox has nothing off the shelf that is 18" overall. I don't know about King and I don't know the overall length of the Radflo T/S coilovers. If I had to buy new ones, I'd get The Radflo's from Nisstec.