Rear Shock Replacement 4th Gen Convertible
 

Posting this because searching the entire site did not yield any answers. If you own a Chilton's book for your 4th gen and want to replace your rear shocks, stop reading after it tells you to fold down the rear seat back and remove the interior panels in the back seat. The instructions may be correct for a hard top, but lifting the carpet from the area it describes will merely show you your convertible top hydraulic lines.

Instead, about three inches straight below each of the seat belt "towers," feel for a horizontal, perforated section of the carpeting. There will be two lines of this perforation. Cut the perforation of the upper line only, fold down the carpeting in a sort of triangle shape. You will see a ball of yellowish foam, pull that out of the space it is crammed into, but keep it intact. Voila - - upper mounting nut for your rear shock.

Hope this saves some other convertible owner some time.

Struts on my '97 are equally shot, but I think the checkbook wrench might come in handy for those. For now, no more wallowing over speed bumps.

Thanks,
Dean

heres some pictures to add to the thread.
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Thanks craby, saw your original post with those shots and that gave me the clues to go looking at the carpet. I know that underneath, they are all the same, but in the convertibles, the top hydraulic arms the place of where the seat belts anchor in your hard top. The seat belt "towers" on the rear deck/threshold prevent you from pulling the carpet back as the Chiltons instructions said.

And finally, if my project car interior was not so "beat," I'd share photos. Thanks for understanding. <grin>

Thanks again.

Dean

Thanks! Saved me a lot of time.

Thanks for the discription, I'll know how to change my shocks when needed. Me too
I have a 97 convertible.

thanks, this should be a sticky for conv

These pics helped me out big time. I looked for a while but couldn't find them. I looked at these pics and found them in 5 seconds. Thanks!

Am I glad I decided to check the site today! I just got new shocks in the mail and was about to dive in following my Haynes repair manual. Nowhere does it mention where the convertible is in a different location! Thanks for posting brotha!
94 convertible