2001 rear shock help

[road_rascal]

The rear shocks on my '01 are shot (leaking). I replaced them in 2003 without any problems. I can get the lower bolts out but now the uppers are just spinning in place. The nut on the backside (has a small bracket on it) is just getting pushed out. How the heck do I get those bolts out? Thanks.

[wiswind]

I don't know what to offer, I changed the rear shocks on my '96 two times over 10 years, and did not have a problem.
I'm guessing that you cannot get a wrench onto the back side......
Have you tried jamming a pry bar in to keep the back side from turning?
After you get them off, maybe look into a nut instead of the clip.

[12Ounce]

Can the bolt-head be ground off? I have this same task facing me, for the first time, on my '99 ... so I may run into the same problem.

[road_rascal]

After 3 hours of trying to figure it out I decided to cut the shocks off. I didn't want to do this mainly because they had a lifetime warranty (Monroes) and I wasn't sure that Napa would exchange them (they did). The main problem was the upper through bolt was seized inside the shock bushing/spacer thus I couldn't pull the bolt out. Used a sawzall to cut the shock rod and then used a Dremel with a cutoff wheel to cut open the top part of the shock mount. Once the shock was off all that was left was the bushing/spacer and the shock bolt. I used a small pipe wrench to hold the spacer while I used the ratchet to spin the bolt out. What a frakking pain in the rear. I went to the dealer and got new bolts and J-nuts and exchanged the shocks for new ones. All in all I spent 7 hours working on it .

Oh, these are the shocks I'm using.