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Replaced Rear Shocks

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Patrick Wong, Jan 9, 2010.

  1. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    My 2004 has 97.3K miles. On a recent trip to/from southern CA my daughter, sitting in the rear seat, complained that the ride was bumpy and rough. When we did a change of drivers I sat in the back and realized she was right.

    I had previously replaced the rear shocks when the car had ~30K miles because one side was leaking fluid. Hence the rear shocks had ~65K miles or so.

    Today I replaced the rear shocks (for a second time) and am providing some details for those owners who may be interested in DIY at some future time.

    The following pricing is from Champion Toyota Gulf Freeway, Houston, for web orders:

    48530-49385, Absorber, MSRP $59.54, Net $45.25 (need qty. 2)
    48257-02040, Insulator, MSRP $12.55, Net $9.54 (need qty. 2)
    Shipping charge was $10.50 to southern AZ.

    Check part numbers for your model year, as they may differ from the above. For example, the Touring model will have different part #s.

    The insulator sits between the top of the spring and the top shock mount. The old insulators were in good shape but I installed the new ones since I had them.

    If you are interested in doing this job, you need to remove all of the hatch trim. First remove everything in the hatch that does not require tools. Pull up the deck trim cover at the bottom of the hatch opening, it just has four plastic clips holding it in place.

    You'll need to remove the two frames on either side of the rear seat. The one on the right side has the intake vent for the traction battery. To remove them, push down on the seat cushion below the frame, and you will see a bolt that secures the bottom of each frame. The repair manual suggests removing the rear seat bottom cushion, but I was able to remove the bolts without taking the cushion out of the car.

    You'll need to remove the side panels that are held in place with a couple of bolts. Also remove the four chrome D-rings.

    You can now pull off the trim panel over the traction battery. There are a couple of plastic pins that hold the fabric in place.

    You will have to move the traction battery ventilation duct. This is held in place with a couple of plastic clips. One clip broke. Fortunately I keep a supply of extra clips around, anticipating that they will break upon removal.

    The repair manual suggests removing the sheet steel brackets that secure the traction battery to the body of the car. However I was able to access the shock mount hardware with the brackets in place.

    When reassembling the shock assembly, you'll need to align the top shock mount so that it will line up with the mounting holes. Look at the indentation made on the old spring insulator for a clue as to how to align the top shock mount.

    Tightening torque for the two nuts and one bolt securing the top shock mount is 59 ft.-lb. Same torque for the nut that secures the bottom of the shock. The latter is supposed to be tightened once the car is back on the ground and you've bounced the suspension a few times.

    You'll need a Macpherson strut spring compressor to disassemble the shock assembly so that you can install the new cartridge. I previously posted info on replacing the front struts, and showed the tool I use for this purpose.

    You'll need a couple of jackstands to hold the rear of the car up, and a hydraulic floor jack with a block of wood in the saddle, so that you can jack up the rear beam axle and support it while a shock assembly is removed. Remove and replace one side at a time.

    The shock absorbers are manufactured by KYB. When I removed the old parts, I compared effort required to compress and the time required for the rod to fully extend, vs. the new parts.

    I found that the effort required to compress the old parts was ~70% of that needed for new. However, the time required for the rod to come back up was much longer on the old parts.

    I drilled a tiny hole in the body of each old part, prior to disposing of them. In one case, gas came out of the hole, followed by oil spurting out. In the other, gas did not come out of the hole and no oil came out, until I compressed the rod. Hence, the second old part was in worse condition.

    This job takes lots of time because of the need to remove the hatch trim. I recommend that you plan to spend at least 1/2 day or more, considering learning curve. If you haven't worked on suspension parts before, be advised that they may require considerable force to remove. It would really help to have a cheater bar and extension available, to make it easier to remove the mounting hardware without injury to you or the car.

    You will need 10 mm, 12 mm, 14 mm, and 19 mm sockets. The 14/19 mm sockets need to be deep. You'll also need a 6 mm hex key and a box wrench to remove the top shock absorber nut. I recall the box wrench size is 17 mm. Tightening torque on the top nut is 41 ft.-lb.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    I know this post is old, but I really wanted to like it twice! I think it's a great write up and will help me (and others) with suspension replacement/upgrades. Thank you Patrick Wong! :)


    Does anyone know if there is a way to cut flaps into the rear side panels to allow easy access to the rear struts? That way if I ever need to do this again, I won't have to spend 1/2 the day removing all of the rear interior?
     
    #2 Daves09prius, Jun 30, 2014
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2014
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  3. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    What a difference 4 new struts make, after 127,000 miles on all 4 original struts. Long over due is an understatement.

    There were never any signs of leakage, bottoming out, and esp hopscotch marks on the tires. The lack of hopscotch marks surprised me the most; I would have expected to see this, after timing how long the strut rod's took, to go from full compression, to full extension.
    NEW rears: 7 seconds OLD rear: 3min 15sec for one. The other one, way longer, and stopped timing; eventually it did fully extend.
    This is what 3:15 looks like.
    IMG_20140802_163017_184.jpg

    The rear rubber insulator (48257-02040), $9.62/ea, free shipping w/ $150+ order, from Camelback Toyota. The originals were still in very good shape; didn't know this until the strut was disassembled. Maybe I could have reused them, but I replaced them anyway. Wouldn't make sense to return: shipping fee, 20% restocking fee, and rubber degrades over time.

    I also replaced the rear rubber strut mount, KYB SM5382, from Amazon. $6.92 (used), and $9.30 (NEW). The used buy was essentially a return; the box was a little dirty, but the contents indistinguishable from the new box, and no evidence/signs of installation. The originals were in excellent shape too; condition wasn't known until the strut was disassembled. Return wouldn't makes sense for reasons above.

    Toyota sells KYB's "rear rubber strut mount," à la carte. The equivalent parts, seen here, are: #7 ($1.18), #10 ($12.56), #11 ($8.00), #12 ($6.65).

    Don't make my mistake in mounting the top washer. I didn't think it would make difference, until the whole strut assembly was mounted and the car on the ground. The rubber gets compressed a little bit more. I don't think it will make a huge difference.
    IMG_20140801_183905_605.jpg

    Here's a KYB Europe video of rear strut installation, beginning to end: LINK. The model he is working on looks a little different.
     
    #3 exstudent, Aug 25, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2014
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  4. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Great write up.
    The Prius he is working on is a 2010 gen3. That has separate springs "not mounted on the shock strut" makes life much easier.

    John (Britprius)
     
  5. Troels

    Troels Junior Member

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    The following pricing is from Champion Toyota Gulf Freeway, Houston, for web orders:

    48530-49385, Absorber, MSRP $59.54, Net $45.25 (need qty. 2)
    48257-02040, Insulator, MSRP $12.55, Net $9.54 (need qty. 2)


    I'm in the process of doing this. I understood that the left and right absorbers are identical and ordered 2 of the same, but I am now in doubt as Toyota labels the absorbers LH and RH and the 2 I got are both RH..... Looking at the original absorbers, they look identical with the bottom of the spring seated to the left on both sides. Any input appreciated, Troels
     
  6. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Well, I suggest you look at a Toyota dealer's online parts catalog. Although the description may include LH and RH, I believe you will find the part number is identical for both.

    I also noticed that the Autonation Toyota Gulf Freeway website now has a cautionary note that they can't ship the rear shocks without an additional shipping charge due to the hazardous nature of the parts (the shocks are pressurized with nitrogen). That seems pretty bogus to me...

    Parts.com is a good alternative, and the prices are actually lower.
     
  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Free shipping with camelback Toyota parts online
     
  8. Troels

    Troels Junior Member

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    Thanks, now struggling with the 80.6 degree angle mentioned in the reassembly instructions...
     
  9. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    You can install the coilover to body by just putting the nuts on very lose. And then if the angle is a bit wrong you can turn the bottom part with 1/2” extension or something else to align it enough that you can install it to the axle. This is very easy.
     
  10. Troels

    Troels Junior Member

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    Thanks, you do this after you fix the shock absorber piston rod and tighten the nut?
     
  11. johnnyb588

    johnnyb588 Member

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    Did anyone state whether or not this was a worthwhile endeavor? The rid in my Prii is not bad, but this might be a fun weekend project one of these days.
     
  12. Troels

    Troels Junior Member

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    I ran into a problem when I tightened the above mentioned nut. Before torque reached 41ft·lbf I started stripping the hex nut. The hex key was fully inserted. Could be a torque wrench malfunction, not sure. Anyways, I deemed it was tight enough and installed the strut. The absorber works great, there is a big improvement in noise and handling already with just the right absorber replaced.
    I did not need to raise the rear axle to install the strut, not sure what that means, maybe the left spring is damaged so that it's resting (no load) in a more compressed position than normal?
     
  13. Zacheyh

    Zacheyh New Member

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    I have a 2008 Toyota Pruis I'm replacing the rear shocks what are the Tightening torque on the top two nuts the bolt that blot on the frame and the top nut that bolts to the outside frame under the tire and what is the tightening torque on the bottom bolt of the shock ?
     
  14. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    41 ft.-lb is the tightening spec for the nut at the top of the shock, which attaches the shock to the upper shock mount.

    59 ft.-lb is the spec for the nut on the bottom of the shock, as well as the one bolt and the two nuts which secure the upper shock mount to the body.

    The nut on the bottom of the shock is tightened to spec while the wheels are on the ground and the suspension is compressed by the vehicle weight.
     
    ydpplqbd and trungdok like this.
  15. James Analytic

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    I've cut two pairs of gen 3 rear axle spring bottom plates for a mainly Prius or Toyota material lift kit to bolt in under the spring. Was just thinking yesterday, might be worthwhile to cut another pair, along with the top parts, off an about to be crushed gen 3 prius and save for welding onto a gen 2 rear axle so to modify into the gen 3 design. Bummer, since I've already let a new set of rear springs go to the recyclers on one of the cars I got from. Yesterday was another 50% off sale as well.

    The gen 2 design seems way overly complicated and more expensive to boot. Plus I have two not in use sets of struts and shock for the gen 3. The issue that I see however, is the gen 2 axle seems way weaker than the gen 3 design, so will have to study up on a little more.
     
  16. James Analytic

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    Here's a link to a video for the gen 2 2004-2009 Prius. The above quoted link is for the gen 3 shock replacement.