After the last annual inspection, the Nice Man told me that the rear shocks were rusted out and, although they still worked and he couldn’t fail the van, he wished he could. After 13 years and 88 k miles, yeah, they looked pretty grim:
The loose steel snippet came from the bottom of the outer shield; it had completely rusted off and dropped free around the lower mount. I suppose that was what got his attention.
Anyhow, the removal went astonishingly well:
- Back the van out of the garage until the wheels line up with drop to the driveway apron
- Pop inside dress covers over the struts
- Remove top jam nuts, cushion, cups
- Remove bottom bolt from wheel carrier (easily!)
- Spritz penetrating on rubber bushing
- Compress shock, twist until bushing slides free
And the installation was equally smooth:
- Install shock on wheel carrier
- Torque bottom bolt (29 ft·lb)
- Aim strut at hole in body
- Cut restraining wire, guide strut through hole
- Install OEM bottom cup, new cushion & cup, new nylock nut
- Tighten to same length as OEM nut
- Install dress covers
The OEM cup fits snugly into the body hole to center the strut, so it seemed like a Good Idea to reuse it. Despite the rust stain inside the body, it was in reasonable condition.
You’re supposed to jack the van up while fiddling around underneath, but the driveway slopes down from the garage enough to provide access. I did chock the wheels, of course, but not jacking the van and putting it on stands looked like a major safety win right there.
The bottom view, which shows the effect of a dozen New York State winters on ordinary steel:
The top view, which shows that the bushings did leak a bit of water over the last decade:
Done!
I suppose, just for completeness, I should do the front shocks, but those aren’t nearly as easy and I’d have to start by buying a spring compressor.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
Comments
4 responses to “Toyota Sienna: New Rear Shocks”
Had to do the shocks in the Silverado a couple years ago, but the local roads aren’t salted and there’s not much tinworm rot as a result. Shop-tip, the oil in the shocks is under pressure. You will get a mess if you try to salvage the components.
I’d let the pros do the front. You could probably rent a strut spring compressor (parts shop or tool rental), but a proper job needs a wheel alignment, too. Not sure how much the strut installation affects alignment, but there’s (potentially) lots of degrees of freedom and room for error.
I’ve done a spring compression to replace ball-joints on an old TR3A 30 years ago, but it wasn’t coil-over-shock and I had a through-hole, so 5/8″ all thread and bridge washers were sufficient. I was also fearless in those days…
I was sorely tempted to harvest those nice shiny rods, but came to my senses: compressed & lashed them down, then deposited them gently in the trash. I have no idea what else to do; the magnetic separator downstream should pluck them out and they’ll get a decent burial.
And starts with removing the windshield bezel, which seems to be Step 1 for everything in the front end.
In principle, the wheel carrier stays aligned. I’m going to continue procrastinating that whole mess and just not find out.
Ed, you forgot to wire brush the rusty bits and put some paint!
I don’t even do that to the top of the van! Even though the body isn’t showing any rust at all, washing it every few years would be a nice touch, wouldn’t it?
Anyway, if things go as planned, I will never see those wheel carriers again… [grin]