Cadillac Repair: rear shock replacement 1991 cad deville, air shocks, rear shocks

Question
My air shocks leak.  I want to replace with another type.  Do the rear shocks on a 1991 Cadillac Deville 4.9 FWD have to be "pressed" on, necessitating special equipment and tools?

Best Regards,
Paul

Answer
Hi Paul, The rear air shocks are pretty much unbolt it and then reinstall it. The spring is located between the frame and the lower control arm. So other than metric hand tools the only special tools you will need are a floor jack with a 4" diameter cup and a jack stand to go under the rear of the car in case the car slips off the jack. The reason you can't use the cheapie floor jacks is they don't go up high enough, aren't built strong enough and you need a big cup to place under the lower control arm so it doesn't slip allowing the spring to shoot out and possably hurt someone. In other words it needs to be a 1 1/2 ton size jack or bigger.

     If you aren't sure what to do then for safety reasons a shop would be the best place to get this job done. Bill