TXScott
Member
- Joined
- February 13, 2021
- Messages
- 45
- Reaction score
- 7
- City, State
- Houston, TX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2014 Explorer Limited
I replaced the shocks and struts on my 2014 Explorer Limited but now need to get rid of the old ones.
If you google around, many pages mention auto parts stores will take them. Lies! I called 6 different stores(Autozone, NAPA, O'Reilly, etc.). Even called a specialty wheel and tire place that jacks up trucks with thousand dollars rims and they just said no before I even got to the part asking about if they had to be drained. My city will take them and the local scrap metal yard will also take them, BUT both require they be drained first.
More googling around about how to do this yields little and mostly useless pages/videos. Some joker just goes after it with a drill and soon oil is shooting everywhere and even into his face at one point.
Does anyone have tips/advice or useful info on how to drain the shock absorber correctly/safely?
All I know so far is let the shock be extended to minimize pressure. Wear eye protection. Have a catchment for the oil. Drill a hole at the top of the shock so you're hitting the air pocket first. But that's as far as I've gotten. Are the Motorcraft shocks highly, even dangerously pressurized? These are stock Ford shocks and have a sticker that says they are gas-filled, but I'm not sure if that means they have both gas and oil inside or just one or the other.
The dark side says toss them into the recycling bin as-is and let fate decide and things will sort themselves out, but certainly would prefer to do right by the environment.
If you google around, many pages mention auto parts stores will take them. Lies! I called 6 different stores(Autozone, NAPA, O'Reilly, etc.). Even called a specialty wheel and tire place that jacks up trucks with thousand dollars rims and they just said no before I even got to the part asking about if they had to be drained. My city will take them and the local scrap metal yard will also take them, BUT both require they be drained first.
More googling around about how to do this yields little and mostly useless pages/videos. Some joker just goes after it with a drill and soon oil is shooting everywhere and even into his face at one point.
Does anyone have tips/advice or useful info on how to drain the shock absorber correctly/safely?
All I know so far is let the shock be extended to minimize pressure. Wear eye protection. Have a catchment for the oil. Drill a hole at the top of the shock so you're hitting the air pocket first. But that's as far as I've gotten. Are the Motorcraft shocks highly, even dangerously pressurized? These are stock Ford shocks and have a sticker that says they are gas-filled, but I'm not sure if that means they have both gas and oil inside or just one or the other.
The dark side says toss them into the recycling bin as-is and let fate decide and things will sort themselves out, but certainly would prefer to do right by the environment.
