So the passenger side shock was a breeze. Drivers side, not so sure what's going on.

Put it all together, got it in, went to jack up the control arm and the shock will NOT compress. I don't know what the problem is. The spring is aligned perfectly on both the top and bottom cups, and this is the second new shock I've tried.

The shock itself will compress without the spring, but once I put the spring on, it just will not budge! Wtf is going on and how do I fix this?

 

Got the top of the shock too tight and it's binding the shock by trying to bend it?

Is this front or back?

 

It was the front, but I took the shock back and all is well now. I'm assuming it may have been what you said. The rod may have been a little bent stopping it from going down.