A NOTE: Changing the shocks on this truck did not require me to jack it up off the ground. In fact, I never took the tires off. This truck has good ground clearance, and a lot of room in the wheel well. If you wanted to make the job even easier than I did, you could put the front of the truck up on jack stands, and remove the front tires for easier work. On a car, you will almost have to use a jack to get under the car because they sit so low. ALWAYS USE JACK STANDS AND TAKE ALL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.

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Here below is where we get started. On this particular Ford truck, they use a
plastic clip to hold the brake line out of the way of any suspension parts.

We want to reuse this clip, so using a flathead screwdriver, just pop it open and remove the brake line out of the way of where you will be working. The clip screws off the top threaded end of the shock absorber. In this photo, you can also see how the shock goes up through the spring, which is typical of vehicles (cars and trucks) with an upper and lower control arm suspension.

Once the clip is removed, just put it aside till the end. This clip is probably specific for this kind of truck, so if you are installing shocks on another kind of vehicle, chances are you won't have a clip, and you will be skipping this step all together. (on to the next step).