205 rear shock absorbers

[jonathanlingham]

After 28 years, and 108,000 miles, not surprisingly the rears shock absorbers of my 205 have finally started to leak, leading to an MOT failure. 

I'd welcome advice from Club members on whether I should tackle their replacement myself (with Haynes manual to hand), or entrust the work to a garage.

If the former, can anyone recommend a suitable replacement shock absorber for ordinary road use? Monroe, Spax, Sachs, or a Peugeot original? And whether any special tools are required? I've got a bar breaker, and a torque wrench, but can't determine the socket size I need. 19mm seems a bit loose...is it an 18mm bolt?

Thanks

[205GRD]

Hi Jonathan,

Sorry for the late reply, It is a perfectly straightforward job, as long as you get the correct socket size. I did it with my Dad several years ago, you just unbolt them and then bolt on the new ones. The only tricky thing is that the shocks have to be compressed to the correct length before tightening them, either fill the boot with bags of sand/compost till it reaches the right height, or enlist the help of a friend to sit in the boot with a few tools.

Doug