2017 PRIUS prime REPLACING and installing REAR SHOCKS Solving vibrations and tire cupping. DIY

[@DIYBIGMAN]

If my videos help you, especially this one please consider giving me a thumbs 👍 up. Or a $5 super thanks! That way I could buy myself a cup a coffee!

[@srpanadero]

Thanks for video. Used this to help me do this. The nut that he couldn't read on his socket was indeed a deep 22mm socket as he thought. The bolt that he was struggling to get the shock over is the hard part. You can use a jack under the suspension arm (where he has a jack stand) to raise and lower the arm to get the bolt horizontal, which helps. A guy told me that you can just take that same bolt out from the front, and later just push it through and makes it much easier to get the lower shock off and on. I didn't see where to do that, but maybe thats the key. I had to hit it with a mallet, pried and cursed and just pushed, pulled yanked it on, like in the video. If anyone wants to reuse the shock mount on top, will save money. To get the nut holding it out, I used a strong 6mm hex/allen wrench to hold the center and turn it with a 17mm offset wrench. There is loctite on it so takes some effort at first.

[@DIYBIGMAN]

Thanks for the useful tips! It was a little pain. Hope your car rides great again!

[@saporomodelo164]

Thanks for the video, first time i needed to replace them i saw there was no room to work with and just paid $120 at a tire shop to have them installed, just found your video and gave me the courage to do it myself and save some $$.

[@DIYBIGMAN]

Surprisingly, it wasn’t as hard as I thought. The only mistake I did was buy a used part off eBay never do that again so I had to do it twice.

[@riceburner4747]

U did a great job! U made the best w/ur tools u had. I need to get myself larger sockets & boxed wrenches. Mine only go up to 19mm. I (wondered) why u changed struts (bc of cupping). I remember u mentioned in previous video. U need to get 4 WHEEL ALIGNMENT. If outta alignment, it'll cup TOO! MY 2019 Limited tire was wearing on the inside. Only had 15,000 miles & it was out a little & they had to install one $20 kit (theres one on each wheel needed if it needs adjusted). Thanks, u help us with our 4th gen Prii! ✊👍🇺🇸

[@DIYBIGMAN]

Yes, I did get a four wheel alignment, but it still had issues. Ever since I re-torqued my wheel bolts and replaced my two rear shocks, and my wheel bearing, my car is back to new again! I’m glad I could help you!

[@drod5157]

Need to torque everything to spec. Good Video.

[@DIYBIGMAN]

Yup that’s why I only fix cars I drive. Lol

[@cablevlogs147]

Love to See independent suspension in this model

[@DIYBIGMAN]

I am amazed at how well the car still feels for a Prius. They are so much more refined now days.

[@EfficientRVer]

I appreciate this video, as a fellow owner of a 17 Prius Prime, with 105K. No sign of it needing shocks yet, but I'm considering doing a 30mm or 40mm suspension lift for more ground clearance. With that being just a shock on the rear rather than strut with spring, spacing the top down would do nothing, I guess the suspension spacer would have to go on the spring mount. One question, why did you replace the top part also, rather than just the shock? It doesn't look like it moves/wears, or does it? I did my front and rear pads and rotors recently, around 103K. It was pretty easy. I'd debated buying a tool set to compress/turn the rear caliper piston, but it was easy doing it by hand, pressing and turning needle nose pliers. My 05 Prius had gone 230K on original brakes, but on the Prime, I did do some really hard driving out west, resembling racing. I kept it under full throttle or full braking for about 20 minutes straight, through mountain hairpin curves, when the car was 8 months old. So I guess I deserved not getting 230K out of the brakes. For the first 63K miles, I ran on 205/65R15XL 99T Michelin X-Ice3 tires at 50psi. Tremendous tires for this car, year-round, and lasting 63K miles was unbelievable. Since then I've been on even taller 205/70R15 96T X-Ice3 that I bought used/cheap with low miles from a CR-V owner moving from New England to San Diego. Definitely the tallest tires you can fit without a suspension lift. They'll reach end of life within the next year, so I scooped up two new pairs of 205/65R15XL 99T snow tires, now that the price of the Michelins has gone insane. I'll probably wait and see if I need them on this winter, or if I can do my winter trip out west on them, to not abuse new tires offroad. One pair is Continental VikingContact7, one pair is General Altimax Arctic 12. I plan to swap them front/rear at half life as I always do, or maybe annually, to see sooner which pair fares better, handles better front or rear, etc. Feel free to ask my advice if you ever need to add a new key fob, or mouse-proof a Prime.

[@DIYBIGMAN]

Yeah it’s great question. The reason why you need a new top part is because you can’t take off that top part off the existing old piece. If you could than you wouldn’t have to pay extra money. But the way they engineered and designed it was so that it was a serious pain in the ass to remove and re use that top part from the old setup. There’s a bolt on top that is not very easy to remove. I think it’s glued in. Plus every time you try to remove the bolt it just spins the shock. Once you’ll see it, you’ll know. But I think I ruined my old shocks and overloaded it when I was hauling some bricks. Like Lots of bricks. At least that’s what I think. Lol. I like the idea of riding on bigger tires especially in the snow. And thanks for your offer on the key fob and mice proofing! One day I’ll take you up on it.

[@riceburner4747]

I bought a gal bottle @ Lowe's of peppermint spray. It helped but I frequently pop my hood bc I have woods around me . Well 2mos ago, I lifted hood an a mouse ran from around my battery.🙄 I installed a "mouse blocker". Had a heck of a time finding a location. Installed on front cowl near battery/hood release. U have to aim @ something reflective to I pointed at silver engine cover. So far so good. Seal all the entrances? THERE'S TOO MANY. How'd u do it?

[@DIYBIGMAN]

@@riceburner4747 I once had a problem with mice and I put in dryer sheets. I would tuck it in and hook it to my clip on my air filter housing. And then I got some red chili flakes spicy and sprinkle that in parts of my engine. I didn’t have any problems after that. They chewed wire on my Subaru engine. but no more after that. If they get inside your car or inside air filter, then it’s gonna cause a bigger stink of a problem. Also, make sure you get some mice traps and set them around the vehicle. Snap traps baited with peanut butter. They come out at night time so I want to set the traps right before sunset and you will catch them the next morning hopefully dead rodents in the trap.

[@shortygreyhannah]

Hi! How did you replace your key fob?

[@marcusvq]

Love the videos! Question I’m sure you’ve gotten but I couldn’t find yet: Where can you buy a spare tire appropriate for my 2017 prius prime? Thanks for the info!

[@DIYBIGMAN]

I bought the spare tire off eBay. It’s for a Corolla but should fit the Prius as well in a pinch. Make sure you subscribe and 👍 it helps me a ton!

[@marcusvq]

@@DIYBIGMAN Hey SK, yep I subscribed :). Great videos as I also have a 17 prius prime. Regarding the spare tire for a Corolla that you got off eBay… have you tried it out yet? Does it actually work as a true spare? Could you provide the tire info? Thanks!

[@DIYBIGMAN]

@@marcusvq it’s a funny thing you ask. I haven’t tried it yet! It’s only from what I’ve heard, but I do know that the Prius and Corolla have similar rims patterns and sizes. All I did was type in Corolla spare tire. I’ll see if I can take a picture of the tire to get that information. My cans of fix a flat have been my main go to for nails or things like that.

[@jboogie5216]

Have you replaced any of your rear control arms at all? I’ve got to do that on mine. The dealership is saying that’s what’s causing my cupping on my rear driver side tire. It seems like a big job.

[@DIYBIGMAN]

It’s your shocks that’s causing cupping. They went out on me and caused cupping on both sides of my rear tires. After I replaced the shocks it’s back to normal.

[@DIYBIGMAN]

Control arms are not the issue if you have tire cupping. Unless they are loose which I highly doubt.

[@robmcmillan3766]

Dealership is trying to bend you over…

[@jackbrady86]

You can reuse the top piece of the shock, right? I remember doing shocks on my gen 3 Prius and being told to just reuse the top piece, which was really just a cover

[@DIYBIGMAN]

You need some kind of special tool to be able to remove the bolt to reuse the top part. I have not been able to do it yet. I’m keeping my parts for the future and will probably try to reuse it if ever needed but yes it’s expensive and I wish I didn’t have to buy that top part.

[@jackbrady86]

@@DIYBIGMAN nah just use an 11/16 socket and put it on there and turn it with a 6mm hex

[@jackbrady86]

@@DIYBIGMAN more specifically, use a 11/16 socket (I think it's 11/16, if not, use whatever size it is) get a 6mm hex socket, grip the 11/16 with vice grips, then put your ratchet on tighten and crank them both. It'll take a few turns before it's finger loose. I filmed myself doing mine a couple of weeks ago and had a massive shortcut for this job. I want to upload the video but I'm too lazu

[@DIYBIGMAN]

@@jackbrady86 thanks for the info! I will try it!

[@jackbrady86]

@@DIYBIGMAN when you take the wheel off, there's that one bolt that's a 14mm I think, if you pull that, the whole knuckle drops down and gives you easy access to everything. No need for pry bars anymore. It slides right in.

[@Drivetonotcrash]

Are the brakes expensive?

[@DIYBIGMAN]

Compared to other vehicles I would say average. I would use OEM. Less noise and last longer. I will get over 200k miles. On the original pads.

[@dylanconn6079]

By any chance did you have what felt like tire vibration before doing this? I've bought new tires, new wheel bearings, new pads and rotors. And I still have a vibration that gets faster as i accelerate. Only thing left would be shocks I assume 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@DIYBIGMAN]

Shocks are easy to replace. Nothing left for you to try. Lol

[@dylanconn6079]

@SK I know right

[@DIYBIGMAN]

@@dylanconn6079 but the answer is yes I felt tire vibrations, before checking out my shocks. I tried balancing out my tires retorquing my Lugnuts. My brakes were still good and original. The only problem was just the shocks.

[@dylanconn6079]

@@DIYBIGMAN thank you, I'm ordering shocks now!

[@DIYBIGMAN]

@@dylanconn6079 if you get it from the dealership ask for a discount. Good chance it will save you some money. Let me know if it solves your problem. I let the problem go too long and it ruined my tires with the cupping uneven wear issues and I had to buy new tires. So I wish I bought new shocks sooner.

[@PK-ef6pi]

I couldn’t find your last video where you fixed the smoke coming out of your tailpipe. What is the title of that video? I was wondering if the check engine light came on? Because here in communist California we have to smog our cars.

[@DIYBIGMAN]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHzEeZKVe7B8d8Usi=A2fT_zu6nKBvTEZl Here is the link

[@eddiecortez8320]

Did more work then needed bud

[@DIYBIGMAN]

Yup no one showed me how to do it so I had to learn the hard way

[@haroldroman4430]

Where online can you buy them?

[@DIYBIGMAN]

I just called my nearest Toyota dealership to put an order in. And then I picked it up in person.