Thank you, that is much appreciated!! :-) --- To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do: 1) Donations both needed and welcome! We cannot operate You Wrench without the support of people like you! You can donate by PayPal - just go to www.paypal.me/youwrench 2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel. 3) Please Like our video's on UA-cam (by clicking Like!) 4) Please help spread the word, the more people who know about us the better! Add links to our video's in forums, let people know about us. Thank you for your support!
Well detailed and nicely done video. Two points to add: You can easily replace the shocks by using jackstands under the axle. Install the upper bolt with the compression straps in place. Then remove the compression straps and install the lower bolt as the shock expands. This also allows torquing the shock bolts with the shocks in the recommended position. Although it may appear easier to remove the upper shock mount to access the restricted access nut, you risk snapping off the head of any of those bolts attaching the bracket to the body. This happened to me and required taking to a shop to extract the broken stud after attempts to extract it failed. My vehicle has much less underbody corrosion than the one pictured, and I still snapped a bolt head off.
Thanks for your input! Completely agree on not removing the top mount unless you really have to. You should not need to provided you have one of the spanner types shown in the video, and they're pretty cheap if you don't (Amazon links are in the Video Description). Personally, I'd rather spend the $20-$25 to get the right tool (which can be used on other jobs in the future too!) and not have the headache of the upper bracket. Sounds like you got really unlucky on yours though :-( Yes, you could axle stand the rear axle. I would still recommend priming the shock, and pushing it in to get the alignment rather than not priming it and inserting the bolt whilst it is expanding. It will work both ways, but always good practice to prime the shock if you can. Nice tips! :-) --- To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do: 1) Donations both needed and welcome! We cannot operate You Wrench without the support of people like you! You can donate by PayPal - just go to www.paypal.me/youwrench 2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel. 3) Please Like our video's on UA-cam (by clicking Like!) 4) Please help spread the word, the more people who know about us the better! Add links to our video's in forums, let people know about us. Thank you for your support!
I just snapped the bolt head off of this same bracket. Drivers side is very difficult to access the shock nut, so I attempted to remove bracket and snapped the bolt. Now I am about to cut into the floor of the van below the carpet to access the nuts so I can replace with new hardware. What a pain.
Great video! It is very simple and helped me a ton. I just did this, and here's a key tip for folks like me that are not professionals: As several other commenters have said, do NOT try to remove the upper shock mount by removing the 4 16mm bolts. 2 of mine came out easy, but the other 2 turned a few turns and then got stuck, I had to screw them back in. What you do instead is this - slide the open end of your standard box wrench on the nut on the backside of the upper mount. If it doesn't slide right on (which it probably won't), unscrew the bolt from the front until the nut on the back starts turning. Then, keep your hand on the box wrench as you turn the bolt until it lines up with the open end of your box wrench. Once it lines up, slide the box wrench on and you can hold it in place while you unscrew the bolt the rest of the way. Now, I didn't actually do it that way, but I realized I could have done it that way after I tightened it down that way after putting in the new shocks. What I did - which is a bit more work, but still doable - is unscrew the 4 16mm bolts holding on the upper a few turn so the upper mount is a bit loose. Then you can angle that mount around while getting your box wrench over the nut. You still might have to turn the bolt as I described in the previous paragraph but you've got a bit more space to fit the box wrench over the nut then. This job took me 1hr 45 minutes to get the 1st shock off. Then, 50 minutes to get the 2nd shock off, put both new shocks on, torque it down and put the vehicle down and the tires back on. I did it all with hand tools - box wrench, breaker bar, sockets, and extensions - no air or power. If I had known how to hold the upper back nut as I described above, it would've been 1 to 1.5 hours. Good luck!
Thank you very much, we really appreciate the support! :-) --- To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do: 1) Donations both needed and welcome! We cannot operate You Wrench without the support of people like you! You can donate by PayPal - just go to www.paypal.me/youwrench 2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel. 3) Please Like our video's on UA-cam (by clicking Like!) 4) Please help spread the word, the more people who know about us the better! Add links to our video's in forums, let people know about us. Thank you for your support!
Glad we could help! :-) --- To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do: 1) Donations both needed and welcome! We cannot operate You Wrench without the support of people like you! You can donate by PayPal - just go to www.paypal.me/youwrench 2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel. 3) Please Like our video's on UA-cam (by clicking Like!) 4) Please help spread the word, the more people who know about us the better! Add links to our video's in forums, let people know about us. Thank you for your support!
Excellent Video! Thank you for walking through this process. I was able to use an offset box wrench from AutoZone to reach behind the mounting bracket on my 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan. All the bolts for the shocks were 18mm. The box wrench was a challenge on the driver's side because of the brake lines, but it will fit if you angle the wrench correctly. A 18mm open end wrench would have been helpful. According to this video, these bolts should be tightened to 55 ft/lbs. I tightened them to this spec without issue. The bolts for the wheel lug nuts were 19mm. I found online that the lug nuts should be tightened to 102 ft/lbs for the 2013 model. Other years had different torq specs for the lug nuts.
Glad you found it helpful :-) Yes, we are hoping to do a spring replacement video before too long, provided we continue to get the support from our UA-cam viewers :-) --- To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do: 1) Donations both needed and welcome! We cannot operate You Wrench without the support of people like you! You can donate by PayPal - just go to www.paypal.me/youwrench 2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel. 3) Please Like our video's on UA-cam (by clicking Like!) 4) Please help spread the word, the more people who know about us the better! Add links to our video's in forums, let people know about us. Thank you for your support!
Thank you :-) --- To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do: 1) Donations both needed and welcome! We cannot operate You Wrench without the support of people like you! You can donate by PayPal - just go to www.paypal.me/youwrench 2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel. 3) Please Like our video's on UA-cam (by clicking Like!) 4) Please help spread the word, the more people who know about us the better! Add links to our video's in forums, let people know about us. Thank you for your support!
The S style wrench is a brilliant idea! I broke one of the four bolts when trying to remove the bracket and need to get the broken part out or have to weld the bracket. Never try to remove the top four bolts!
your videos are interesting an easy to follow, just wish you warn watchers about how easy to brake those bolts, i have been stuck for few days still waiting, to have someone remove them, you suppose to know more than the rest of us , tell people you risk breaking those bolts 99 percent of the time
Thank you for your kind words, and sorry to hear about your issue. Which bolts snapped on you? By any chance was it the bolts holding the bracket to the chassis? We recommend not touching those and leaving the bracket in place, and instead using a S shaped or half moon spanner on the strut bolts (as we show in the video). Those bracket bolts are a pain and we have heard of those snapping before, but not in 99% of cases, but it can happen. Was it those bolts?
Glad you enjoyed the video :-) --- To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do: 1) Donations both needed and welcome! We cannot operate You Wrench without the support of people like you! You can donate by PayPal - just go to www.paypal.me/youwrench 2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel. 3) Please Like our video's on UA-cam (by clicking Like!) 4) Please help spread the word, the more people who know about us the better! Add links to our video's in forums, let people know about us. Thank you for your support!
Thank you! :-) --- To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do: 1) Donations both needed and welcome! We cannot operate You Wrench without the support of people like you! You can donate by PayPal - just go to www.paypal.me/youwrench 2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel. 3) Please Like our video's on UA-cam (by clicking Like!) 4) Please help spread the word, the more people who know about us the better! Add links to our video's in forums, let people know about us. Thank you for your support!
I wish the S-style wrenches were 6 point. The 12 point S-style wrench I got is letting the nut slip, even though it seems like it's on fully. I'm going to take the bracket off to get to it better.
hello sir, i wrote to you few days ago regarding the 2 front bolts on the upper mount of the rear shocks on a 2012 dodge grand caravan, both are broken,i could not tow the van to a garage to have it fixed, and have been looking for a welder to extract these bolts, after several days searching i found a welder that was prepared to come to my home, on his arrival he asked me to go away and come back in an hour,i left him in my garage and went inside the house, 1/2 hour later he came to the house, banging at the door, i rushed to see what was the problem to my horror i saw the fire inside the van, and he burned some of his fingers i took the fire extinguisher i put out the fire after it melted part of interior panel, although i have 2 fire extinguisher one at the entrance door the other at the big door, but did not see any them. he managed to remove one of the broken bolts, but i don't know how, it looks strange for the bolt to be threaded in 2 or 3 mm, thickness,, is there nuts inside that rectangular mount ? is it loose or welded , if it is welded in, can i access it , if i cut the rounded skirt over the tire, lift the area above the mount enough to place the nuts and weld them , i really need your advice , no one else is better than you, you have expertise . by the way, i forget to mention last time i did use the S wrench before, i removed the bolts holding the mount, but it rounded the nut. i need your help please, it's been days since i worked. thank you so much in advance
does anybody know, if you the mount of the rear shocks of a 2012 dodge grand caravan, have nuts inside the rectangular mount, and do they have to be welded, or are they loose nuts. how to access the inside of that mount, please help.thanks
There's actually three types of rear shocks: Standard, Nivomat (self-leveling), and Heavy Duty / Sport shocks (applicable to the S model [T&C] and GT or R/T model [Grand Caravan]). But great video, very informative walkthrough
@@YacineBougrinat SXT models came from factory with the standard shocks, or self leveling option, not heavy duty / sport shocks. A previous owner may have "upgraded". If standard shocks were OEM then I would go with a KYB replacement. If Nivomat (self leveling) from factory, then you should replace with Nivomat.
Rear Shocks STANDARD:
Amazon USA: amzn.to/3GeEFNk
Amazon Canada: amzn.to/3vCIes2
Amazon UK/Europe: amzn.to/3VClovb
Self-Leveling (NIVOMAT type) Rear Shocks:
Amazon USA: amzn.to/3WT1D3s
Amazon Canada: amzn.to/3Q9lskX
Rear Springs STANDARD:
Amazon USA: amzn.to/3vwI7hA
Amazon Canada:amzn.to/3Ina3MA
Amazon UK/Europe: amzn.to/3vy4gfc
Self-Leveling (NIVOMAT type) Rear Springs:
Amazon USA: amzn.to/3Q8JVH2
Amazon Canada: amzn.to/3WWzCI4
S Style Wrench Set:
Amazon USA: amzn.to/3Z6DQPq
Amazon Canada: amzn.to/3XjZSwz
Amazon UK/Europe: amzn.to/3Ijuc60
Half Moon Wrench Set:
Amazon USA: amzn.to/3IkO3BK
Amazon Canada: amzn.to/3i51fQJ
Amazon UK/Europe: amzn.to/3Cm4ie1
Best UA-cam channel for the Dodge Grand Caravan. Thank you
Thank you, that is much appreciated!! :-)
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To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do:
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2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel.
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Thank you for your support!
Well detailed and nicely done video. Two points to add: You can easily replace the shocks by using jackstands under the axle. Install the upper bolt with the compression straps in place. Then remove the compression straps and install the lower bolt as the shock expands. This also allows torquing the shock bolts with the shocks in the recommended position.
Although it may appear easier to remove the upper shock mount to access the restricted access nut, you risk snapping off the head of any of those bolts attaching the bracket to the body. This happened to me and required taking to a shop to extract the broken stud after attempts to extract it failed. My vehicle has much less underbody corrosion than the one pictured, and I still snapped a bolt head off.
Thanks for your input! Completely agree on not removing the top mount unless you really have to. You should not need to provided you have one of the spanner types shown in the video, and they're pretty cheap if you don't (Amazon links are in the Video Description). Personally, I'd rather spend the $20-$25 to get the right tool (which can be used on other jobs in the future too!) and not have the headache of the upper bracket. Sounds like you got really unlucky on yours though :-(
Yes, you could axle stand the rear axle. I would still recommend priming the shock, and pushing it in to get the alignment rather than not priming it and inserting the bolt whilst it is expanding. It will work both ways, but always good practice to prime the shock if you can.
Nice tips! :-)
---
To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do:
1) Donations both needed and welcome! We cannot operate You Wrench without the support of people like you! You can donate by PayPal - just go to www.paypal.me/youwrench
2) Please ensure you subscribe to our UA-cam channel.
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4) Please help spread the word, the more people who know about us the better! Add links to our video's in forums, let people know about us.
Thank you for your support!
I just snapped the bolt head off of this same bracket. Drivers side is very difficult to access the shock nut, so I attempted to remove bracket and snapped the bolt. Now I am about to cut into the floor of the van below the carpet to access the nuts so I can replace with new hardware. What a pain.
As always , Thank you Sir!! You have taught me how to give service to my work vehicle and learn at the same time !!! Cheers mate!!!
Thank you for your support!!
Great video! It is very simple and helped me a ton.
I just did this, and here's a key tip for folks like me that are not professionals:
As several other commenters have said, do NOT try to remove the upper shock mount by removing the 4 16mm bolts. 2 of mine came out easy, but the other 2 turned a few turns and then got stuck, I had to screw them back in.
What you do instead is this - slide the open end of your standard box wrench on the nut on the backside of the upper mount. If it doesn't slide right on (which it probably won't), unscrew the bolt from the front until the nut on the back starts turning. Then, keep your hand on the box wrench as you turn the bolt until it lines up with the open end of your box wrench. Once it lines up, slide the box wrench on and you can hold it in place while you unscrew the bolt the rest of the way.
Now, I didn't actually do it that way, but I realized I could have done it that way after I tightened it down that way after putting in the new shocks. What I did - which is a bit more work, but still doable - is unscrew the 4 16mm bolts holding on the upper a few turn so the upper mount is a bit loose. Then you can angle that mount around while getting your box wrench over the nut. You still might have to turn the bolt as I described in the previous paragraph but you've got a bit more space to fit the box wrench over the nut then.
This job took me 1hr 45 minutes to get the 1st shock off. Then, 50 minutes to get the 2nd shock off, put both new shocks on, torque it down and put the vehicle down and the tires back on. I did it all with hand tools - box wrench, breaker bar, sockets, and extensions - no air or power. If I had known how to hold the upper back nut as I described above, it would've been 1 to 1.5 hours.
Good luck!
thanks man!
Thank you! I watched all your Dodge caravan videos and it’s a great help for DIYers.
Thank you very much, we really appreciate the support! :-)
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To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do:
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Thank you. I needed this one
Glad we could help! :-)
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To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do:
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Thank you for your support!
Do you have a video on replacing the rear springs?
I changed them this weekend. It was child's play. Thanks to your good advice and thanks to this S key
Excellent Video! Thank you for walking through this process. I was able to use an offset box wrench from AutoZone to reach behind the mounting bracket on my 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan. All the bolts for the shocks were 18mm. The box wrench was a challenge on the driver's side because of the brake lines, but it will fit if you angle the wrench correctly. A 18mm open end wrench would have been helpful. According to this video, these bolts should be tightened to 55 ft/lbs. I tightened them to this spec without issue. The bolts for the wheel lug nuts were 19mm. I found online that the lug nuts should be tightened to 102 ft/lbs for the 2013 model. Other years had different torq specs for the lug nuts.
Thanks a lot! Really useful! Let's hope the spring replacement video is coming up 🙂
Glad you found it helpful :-) Yes, we are hoping to do a spring replacement video before too long, provided we continue to get the support from our UA-cam viewers :-)
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To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do:
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Great tutorial! Thank you
Thank you :-)
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Your camera work and quality are incredible!
Excellent how to video!!
The S style wrench is a brilliant idea! I broke one of the four bolts when trying to remove the bracket and need to get the broken part out or have to weld the bracket. Never try to remove the top four bolts!
Thank you, very helpful video, greetings from Europe
Such great content, I love this channel! Thank you sir
your videos are interesting an easy to follow, just wish you warn watchers about how easy to brake those bolts, i have been stuck for few days still waiting, to have someone remove them, you suppose to know more than the rest of us , tell people you risk breaking those bolts 99 percent of the time
Thank you for your kind words, and sorry to hear about your issue. Which bolts snapped on you? By any chance was it the bolts holding the bracket to the chassis? We recommend not touching those and leaving the bracket in place, and instead using a S shaped or half moon spanner on the strut bolts (as we show in the video). Those bracket bolts are a pain and we have heard of those snapping before, but not in 99% of cases, but it can happen. Was it those bolts?
yes, it was those bolts in the front. i appreciate you, and thank you for your reply, i will continue to watch your videos.@@YouWrench
Apparently those top bracket bolts are notorious for breaking. The s-type wrench is a very good idea.
Great video. S wrenches great tip
Glad you enjoyed the video :-)
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To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do:
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If you had the car on axle stands, could you use a floor jack to raise the axle to compress the shock absorber before torquing the nuts?
Great Job on The Video 🙂👍☕
Thank you! :-)
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To help support us (for both you and others reading this) there are a few things you can do:
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I'm planning to buy set my dodge 2013 has nivomat stock can I use non nivomat and change all 4 of them? Hard to find nivomat and quite expensive?
I wish the S-style wrenches were 6 point. The 12 point S-style wrench I got is letting the nut slip, even though it seems like it's on fully. I'm going to take the bracket off to get to it better.
hello sir, i wrote to you few days ago regarding the 2 front bolts on the upper mount of the rear shocks on a 2012 dodge grand caravan, both are broken,i could not tow the van to a garage to have it fixed, and have been looking for a welder to extract these bolts, after several days searching i found a welder that was prepared to come to my home, on his arrival he asked me to go away and come back in an hour,i left him in my garage and went inside the house, 1/2 hour later he came to the house, banging at the door, i rushed to see what was the problem to my horror i saw the fire inside the van, and he burned some of his fingers i took the fire extinguisher i put out the fire after it melted part of interior panel, although i have 2 fire extinguisher one at the entrance door the other at the big door, but did not see any them. he managed to remove one of the broken bolts, but i don't know how, it looks strange for the bolt to be threaded in 2 or 3 mm, thickness,, is there nuts inside that rectangular mount ? is it loose or welded , if it is welded in, can i access it , if i cut the rounded skirt over the tire, lift the area above the mount enough to place the nuts and weld them , i really need your advice , no one else is better than you, you have expertise . by the way, i forget to mention last time i did use the S wrench before, i removed the bolts holding the mount, but it rounded the nut. i need your help please, it's been days since i worked.
thank you so much in advance
does anybody know, if you the mount of the rear shocks of a 2012 dodge grand caravan, have nuts inside the rectangular mount, and do they have to be welded, or are they loose nuts. how to access the inside of that mount, please help.thanks
Thanks!
Thank you for your support!! :-)
There's actually three types of rear shocks: Standard, Nivomat (self-leveling), and Heavy Duty / Sport shocks (applicable to the S model [T&C] and GT or R/T model [Grand Caravan]).
But great video, very informative walkthrough
I think I have the Heavy Duty one on my Grand Caravan 2009 SXT. Do you know if it's okay or not to replace it with a Standard one?
@@YacineBougrinat SXT models came from factory with the standard shocks, or self leveling option, not heavy duty / sport shocks. A previous owner may have "upgraded". If standard shocks were OEM then I would go with a KYB replacement. If Nivomat (self leveling) from factory, then you should replace with Nivomat.
Thanks appreciate the answer!!@@tydontdy3459
Thank you very much , great vid .
Thanks!
Thank you for your support!
Thanks!
Thank you for your support!