One of the downsides of buying a low mileage car that was barely used is that often times certain of the little things start to go bad quicker than had the car been used more frequently. In the case of my car it was all the hood/trunk/door shocks. They are all completely dead. After being frustrated of having to hold up my trunk lid every time I wanted to put something in it I realized it was time for replacement.

After searching around for the best pricing I ended up going with HWM Aston Martin in the UK. For some reason they always seem to have the best prices for all the parts I need and I have always had super prompt shipping and excellent customer service. I spoke with Rob Sims at HWM and he did a great job of sourcing all the necessary parts for me. In some cases their prices were a good 30-50% cheaper than my local Houston Aston dealership (honestly probably the worst Aston dealer in the country, its embarassing, I avoid them like the plague).

I order two hood, two trunk, and two door shocks. All are slightly different in length, finish, and diameter, but all function identically and are installed in the exhaust same way. (I have provided a picture as a comparison). The door shocks are even smaller & shorter than the other two variants and they are black (as they are hidden no point in making them shiny). The shiniest ones are the hood shocks, the grey are the trunk shocks for reference.

Removal:

Use a narrower flat head screwdriver to pry on the backside of the ball socket on each end. At first I thought a wider flat head would be better but soon realized a thinner narrower one is more idea because its easier to pry the circle clip back enough to slide the ball socket off of the mount. Once you get the back clip about half way off the ball socket it will pop right off with a little bump of your palm. Careful taking them off as the fit is very tight. I recommend putting a paper town between the paint and the ball socket as the clip can actually scratch the paint taking it off (barely but it can happen).

Installation:

Once you have taken off the old ones (one side at a time) the hood & trunk will want to fall so you will have to hold it up with one hand. Have all your new shocks nearby so you can grab it easily for the swap. Even with one new shock in on the opposing side it will will not hold up the hood/trunk so you need to hold it up for both sides. The installation is literally a pop-on affair, just line it up and give it a bump and it will tap right into place. On the hood you have to be extra careful as there is very little excess room. I recommend putting a shop towel/paper towel in between the ball socket and the fender liner in order to protect the paint as the metal circle clip can scratch the paint. The Trunk has lots more room so you do not have to worry about this at all.

Conclusion: The shocks were not very expensive at all and the difficulty if this is probably a 3/10 (only b/c of the tight clearances and protecting the paint). It is technically a one man job, but if you have one of your buddies help you prop up the hood & trunk in exchange for a beer then that would be ideal.

Special Recognition:

I would like to thank Rob Sims again from HWM Aston Martin for providing the parts in such a timely manner, I will be getting a few more interior pieces from them shortly in order to fix some of the trim panel issues we all seem to be plagued with. That writeup should be up sometime in the next 2 months. To contact them fee free to email: Rob@hwm.co.uk


Hope that helps,
007

 

another closeup of part #s on shocks

 

Great writeup, as usual. Thanks for this info, I'm sure it will come in handy at some point.

 

Ahh the dreaded Star Motor Cars... Agree with you that they are just awful. Such a shame since I live close by. Aston Martin of Austin is just fantastic on the other hand. They help put on the Coffee & Cars up there and are real car guys. Wish John Eagle European would take over the AM representation here in H-town.

 

Great writeup, link will be added to the FAQ!
Chris

 

Great write up! Had to do this the second week of owning the car! Relatively cheap and easy fix. Matter of fact, I ordered 2 extra sets of each to keep as spares!

 

Thanks guys, glad I could help out. The door shocks are a more invasive job and require taking off the door inserts and etc. I may wait a bit for these until I do my piano DBS style full piano black conversion on my interior (door handles have to come off anyways).

 

There is an easier to replace the struts which requires no prying or marring of the paint. Use a sharp pointed tool, a small flat screwdriver, or an awl and pry on theh back end of the steel retainer on the back of each end of the strut, gently pull out the strut at each end of the ball joints, replacement is either the same way back or press the strut end against the ball joint, and gently press against it until the steel keepers flex open ant the ball slides in. No prying against anything or risk marring or damaging the paint. the process applies to both trunk and hood struts and is literally done in minutes. May want to wear eye protection. I attach four pictures, two of the front and back of one strut end, one each of the same end with the awl holding the steel back (with the final picture showing the end open). I did not see this in the forum before and I thought I add it. I was doing this the hard way with microfiber towels and the like, and my helper/detailer Roberto suggested it and it worked.

 

Awesome! This would make the already easy task even easier since its gotta be done almost every 3 years haha

 

-Actually, the door shocks don't require removing the door inserts. You might have meant the wheel well liners?

 

I have attempted to change out the door struts on my 2005 DB9, but was stuck at the removal of the wheel liner as I couldn't figure out how to get it to cooperate. I wish someone would do a video or photo write up of the change as I would rather do it myself then pay a bunch for a dealer to do it.

 

67427, I think you may have misunderstood my original thread. The danger of scratching the paint does not come from the prying of the ball socket off its joint. It comes from the very clip you are referring to. It's that clip you need to be concerned with, the back end of it wants to scratch the paint

 

Have you seen this? https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...or-struts.html

 

I did see that. I just could not get to the steps after removing the wheel liner. I wish there was video or photos showing the removal of the liner itself.

 

Wheel liners are easy, you do need to jack the car up and take off the wheels. Dont need to remove all of it, just start from right under the front bumper, theres basically a few screws holding it onto the metal under tray, and then follow the wheel liner and keep removing screws until you finish the rest of the wheel well. It is flexible enough to pry it back giving you enough access to stick your whole arm and shoulder in to do the door struts.