I am in the middle of a rear shock replacement on a rust belt 04 Santa Fe, 2.4l. The rear shock bolt appears to be a sleeved bolt with the rubber bushing vulcanized on. I am wondering if/how anyone replaced the rear shocks on their Santa Fe.

TIA,

Wow, no replies. So no one has ever changed their rear shocks? Nice. Well, since I didn't get any help here, I'll post what I did on my own to solve the problem and maybe help someone else.

The rear OE lower bolt/stud for the rear shock has a wide end which fits into the cast arm of the spindle. Why Hyundai did this as opposed to just casting the spindle with the M12 1.5 opening is beyond me. So, I went to a local bearing supply and found a one inch long inner bearing race which is made of case hardened steel with an OD of .748 and an ID of .510. The bearing race fits perfectly into the opening in the spindle. Then I just used a 5 inch SAE 1/2 fine (24) bolt, fender washers and a 3/4 inch pinch nut to mount the lower shock to the mount point on the spindle. The fender washers were used to space the lower shock right where the OE stud/bolt placed the shock so no binding would occur.

The cost of the set-up is twice what I would have paid at the dealer (my cost for all of the hardware was $30.00), but since I needed to get this completed ASAP, it was worth the added expense.

Sorry we couldn't be of more help...I can't honestly recall anybody on here ever tackling the rear shocks themselves before. Thanks for posting your experience; I'm sure it help the shadetree mechanics with a free weekend. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.gif)

Yeah, the last time I did shocks was when I replaced the OEMs with Monroe Sensa-tracs on my 2002 Isuzu Rodeo. It as a pc of cake on that SUV. To the OP, sounds like a ingenious solution you had, but I admit, I'm still struggling to visualize what you describe (being the lesser talented I am and all).

Joel

I will try to get photos up soon, but it's really easy to check the lower mount point of the shock to see what I mean. You'll see a nut on the inboard and outboard side of the shock and mount location. This usually means it's either 2 pieces (not in this case) or a stud. The stud has 2 diameters, the first is about 3/4 inch OD and the next is about 1/2 OD. The 1/2 inch OD size is the threaded portion of the stud. The larger part fits into the mount hole at the rear of the spindle. The low mount of the shock is cast into the back of the spindle. I just found an insert, in this case the inner race of a bearing which fit snugly into the spindle hole. Then I used an SAE bolt (the metric bolts were more expensive) 1/2 inch fine thread with washers to center the shock to the top mount opening.

FWIW, the Santa Fe isn't mine, it's my sister-in-laws. I have a 08 Honda Pilot (my wife's car) and a turbo Miata which is piloted by me @ HPDE NASA events. See my build at cardomain.com

I see what you mean:

(IMG:http://www.hyundaitechinfo.com/data/Passenger/HY/HMA/ENG/SHOP-Images/HY-SM13-IMAGES-ENG/ehjd014b.gif)

It looks like they changed it for 2007+:

(IMG:http://www.hyundaitechinfo.com/data/Passenger/HY/HMA/ENG/SHOP-Images/HY-CM13-IMAGES-ENG/scmss6537n.gif)

Joel