98 Chevy Astro New shock replacement doesnt fit

[zadih]

A 1998 chevy asrtro van I am replacing the shocks to find out that the drivers side shock doesn't fit in the metal housing where you tighten through the bottom of the shock absorber.

The metal bracket is pretty thick so it's tough to move, and there is a lot of play in the assembly so it wont hold still when i try to pry it open. Do you think an exhaust manifold spreader or expandable pliers would work ?

Upon taking the old shock out it was a little stuck and there was a slight dent on the bottom of the shock showing that whoever worked on it last had to have forced it into the metal housing some kind of way.
Attached below is a link explaining the struggle
If you have any suggestions on what to do I'd appreciate it.

Thank you,

[Cobra]

Is that a Duralast TS34-32072B? if you compress the shock two or three inches and line it up in the bracket above the bolt hole and then let it expand down into it, will it's body fit into the mounting bracket contours?

[zadih]

Got it fixed thanks to the good people of astrosafarivans.com.
Tools needed:
a good sized pipe wrench
PB blaster
Cheater pipe of any kind that will fit over the pipe wrench for desired leverage.

"Not shown in video"
(I did use a torch to heat up the bracket side that was warped before I applied PB blaster and use of the wrench and pipe)

[MountainManJoe]

Nice work. Thanks for posting the video.