They sound expensive and they look complicated to replace. After a while, a front-heavy vehicle like a Ford Crown Victoria is going to need to have the front shock absorbers replaced. With a floor jack, jack stand and a couple of other common tools, you could install these shock absorbers yourself and keep some extra cash in your wallet that would otherwise go to a local repair facility.
Park the Crown Victoria on a flat, level paved or concrete surface. Apply the parking brake and release the hood latch.
Lift the hood. The top shock mounting nut is located in the engine compartment. If you locate the shock absorber behind the front wheel, you'll be able to follow its track upward and locate the mounting nut in the engine compartment. It will have a large washer below the nut and then a black rubber bushing below that washer.
Place an appropriately sized closed end hand wrench down onto the mounting nut. The top threaded shaft of the shock absorber that the nut threads onto will need to be held with a hand wrench or socket and ratchet. Otherwise, it will spin when you try to loosen the mounting nut. While holding the wrench or socket on the shock shaft, remove the mounting nut by turning left, lifting the closed ended wrench, and relocating it for more room to loosen again. Remove the washer and bushing.
Place a wheel chock behind one of the rear wheels.
Lift one side of the car with the floor jack and place the jack stand on the frame rail in a safe and secure location.
Crawl under the vehicle (on a creeper if you have one) and locate the bottom of the shock absorber. Using the ratchet and appropriate sized socket, remove both mounting bolts at the bottom of the shock absorber. You will now be able to pull the shock down and set it aside.
Insert new shock into the shock tower. Thread both bottom bolts in a few threads to hold it, but go back up into the engine compartment and replace rubber bushing with the one most likely supplied in the box. Place the washer on top of the bushing thread the mounting nut onto the shock shaft. Again, hold the shock shaft with a wrench while tightening the mounting nut with the other wrench.
Go back under the vehicle to the bottom of the shock absorber and tighten the bottom bolts with the ratchet and socket.
Replace the opposite side shock absorber following the same steps.
Remove wheel chock and release parking brake when you're done.
