I'm killing myself here guys. I have a 99 WS6, and all I want to do is change the freaking shocks on it. Do I have to disassemble the entire front suspension to do this? I've replaced shocks/struts on several 3rd gens and it was nowhere near the PITA this is turning into.

I've removed the upper mounting screws (torx and nuts), removed the lower mounting nuts (can't get the bolts out because one is wedged in place halfway out and the other is underneath the swaybar). I've removed the castle nut holding the upper ball joint, and yet the lower control arm won't swing down. Do I have to undo the sway bar too?

If anyone has a link to a tutorial, it would be greatly appreciated.
I tried a search of the board, but all I found was discussion of which is the best shock...either everyone already knows how to do this, or they're paying somebody to do it for them. Any help is appreciated.

 

Unbolt the brake booster and move it over a little.

 

Thanks, but I already did that.

 

Loosening the sway bar can help.

Injuneer has a tutorial on his site.

 

The first thing I always do is unbolt the swaybar end links from the a-arm.

 

http://www.injuneer.com/HALEibch.html