Rear shock installation trick

[kerry]

As I was removing the old rear shock on my W116 I realized I would have a problem installing the new one. I was working with a jack and jackstands and the shock hit the ground on the way out before it would angle far enough to drop out of the inside of the spring and control arm. The old shock was completely gone so it was no big deal to push the plunger in to shorten it to get it out. But obviously that would not work on the new one.
My solution was to compress the shock, and with a helper run a piece of light wire from the bottom bracket up, around the top washer/rubber and back to the bottom bracket on the other side. This kept the shock compressed. Once it was inside the spring and control arm, I reached in with a pair of side cutters and cut the wire, allowing the plunger to extend. I had to wiggle the wire a little bit with a pair of needle nose pliers to get it to unwind off the plunger.
I think it was eaiser than trying to jack the car up another foot.