rear shocks fitting

I am changing the rubber cones in the rear subframe and shocks while I am at it. Cone has gone in after a bit of jiggery pockery but the length of the thread on top of the new shock is so short I cannot get the nut on. I compared it with the old one and it is the same length, so I must have struggled last time as well. Either there are special shocks for hornets as they are mini ones I am fitting or the manufacturer likes to upset people by saving 10 pence on the length of the top stud. The body has not been altered with patches in the wheel arch so it should be long enough.
Any solutions to the problem would help . Thanks, Paul.

Maybe try jacking the radius arm and brake drum up to help push the shock up into the hole. If they're new spring units, then it will be a bit tough.

Jared Mk3 wrote:Maybe try jacking the radius arm and brake drum up to help push the shock up into the hole. If they're new spring units, then it will be a bit tough.

The only way to apply pressure is to somehow apply it to the top of shock absorber as it just compreses when you apply it anywhere else.
In the end I replaced the lower rubber and used the old rubber on the top,which you can just get the nut on.I will go back and change the top rubber in a few months when the lower one will have compressed a bit by then. This will be a pain as you know one is behind the petrol tank. but I cannot think of doing it any other way.