Agree. The last time I just took it over to a buddy who does this all the time. Dropped the shocks, put a jack under the lower control arm, loosened the lower ball joint nut. He then wacked the control arm with a big hammer and it popped loose. Took weight off with the jack, took the nut off and just lowered the control arm out of the way with the jack and the spring falls out. Still scares me though.
I had to add my thoughts on the QA-1 shocks , I have them on the rear of my car and just replaced the shorter rear springs with springs for trailer towing because I have added a ton of weight to the trunk with stereo stuff, and finishing the interior of the trunk and lid. The car was way low and lost ride quality, added air bags but didn't like the ride. The hd springs did the trick however every time I put the car in the air from the body, the rear springs fall out of their resting spot....very annoying and the problem is the shocks are to long. Shorter springs or longer springs don't make a difference the problem is the overall length of the QA1 are to long I believe, it's a real pain in the a@s crawling under the car after it's been on the hoist and put the springs back in place
I guess my message is, measure the extended and compressed length of your shocks to ensure they are same as factory specs, Gord
