I swapped out the front struts without problem and man what a difference in the ride.

Now the issues. I have searched with no luck...

I went to the rear today to replace the shocks. No problem getting one out, but once out, I started having problems. The center nut that holds the components together (spring on the shock, boot/bumpstop, top spring plate, etc.) is giving me a hard time. When I try to turn it with a wrench, the entire piston/rod (the polished part) of the shock turns with it. There's nowhere on that rod to grab to hold it tight enough to try and then turn the nut. The base/core (the painted part the pistion goes into) is fine and doesnt turn. I'm at a loss. Any ideas?

 

You can usually get it off with an impact wrench, electric or air. This is without using something to grip the piston. If worse comes to worse, they using grips but over the teeth with some type of cloth or thick rubber.

 

Get a 14mm ratcheting wrench on the nut. Hold the piston with an adjustable wrench at the tip, where its flat.

 

If the other suggestions fail cut the nut off with a dremel tool.

 

Vice grips will bite into the polished shaft of the old shock - no reason to be kind there as you are disassembling the old shock. You should be able to run the nut onto the new shock without much ado with an impact wrench - be sure the spring is compressed sufficiently that you aren't working against it.

 

When I did mine I had the same problem.
What I ended up doing was putting everything together, and putting it in place, hand thread the nut onto the rod as good as i could, then put a ratcheting wrench onto the nut. If you try to turn it, the whole rod would spin like you said... so i got some vise grips and locked them onto the top of the piston rod (where its flat, you dont want to damage the threads) and then used the ratcheting wrench to tighten. The vise grips spun until they hit some metal inside the trunk and then held tight so i could finish the job.
Hope that helps... otherwise i think air tools is the way to go. I did it with the front and it was great.

 

Use the vice grips on the shock shaft, the old shock is being tossed anyway.

BTW - You DO NOT need a spring compressor to take the rears apart. They don't pop much at all. You will need to compress them a little to get them back on.

 

sawzall

 

I just did my rears this weekend and the mounts and bushings "sprang" out and almost hit me in the face when I removed the center nut. If my face had been a few inches to the left, it would have certainly been strong enough to break some teeth. I would recommend the spring compressors for safety.

 

very lucky^.Spring compressor is always the way.However, why did you unbolt facing your face? What about it laying flat on the ground and then unbolting?

 

They were rusted/fused tight, and stupidly, I lifted them up to inspect them. I got real lucky.