Firstly, it is highly recommended that you buy pre-assembled shock absorbers, especially if you don’t have that much experience in repairing individual parts of your car.
You will also need to double check that you are getting the correct shock absorbers and suspension system for your make and model, but the company you buy them from should be able to help you with this by consulting their own database.
Next, you will need to make sure your car is parked on a level surface and then jack it up with a jack at the first corner. As an added safety feature, use a jack ramp instead of just the jack itself, as this will give you some extra safety and there is less chance of any accidents.
Once the car is jacked up and secured, remove the wheels and locate the shock absorbers. Shock absorbers are easy to identify as they have a vertical bolt that usually has to be loosened from inside the engine bay or at the rear of the car in order to install the rear system. This bolt needs to be loosened and then knocked out to start freeing up the shock absorbers.
Once this bolt is knocked out, the next step is to remove the shock absorber itself, which can be quite tricky as it tends to be greasy. Look at the mountings to determine if they are actually loose enough for you to remove them.
You will also want to check the bushings, which you can identify by the presence of rubber around them. In some cases, you will need to break the rubber to get it out, but this is totally fine.
