Car Suspension Question.....

[nouseforaname90]

So last night I was driving along and all of a sudden I heard alot of clattering when I went over a bump.
As any good car owner should do, I pulled over to look to see what the problem was, and it looked as though the rear passenger side of my car was riding really really low.
Upon closer inspection I noticed that my shock broke off and is now no longer in its mount.. it broke right off.
My question is.. is this safe to drive to the shop to get fixed?
I read online that it is okay to drive on a broken shock.. but how about a broken off shock? It is supporting nothing.
I assume the answer is yes... but I wanted to make sure.
I have a good amount of background in working on cars engines and brake systems.. but I have never had to deal with suspension.
Also, I would love to fix this myself because it does not appear to be a hard task, but I do not have a spring compressor so I guess I'm going to have to deal with $50 an hour labor charges.

[200x newby]

As long as you dirve with your head on your shoulders and swerve for big bumps then I dont see why not.

[Yamada]

What's the car?

[J.D.]

If it's just a shock, you wouldn't need a spring compressor. Sounds like you have a strut....where exactly did it break off from? And like Yamada said...what kind of car? You're lucky to only have 50 dollar shoprate too....that's cheap.

[nouseforaname90]

It's a 1994 Buick Regal..
I drove it to the shop today, but now I am kind of regretting it. I should have looked to see what exactly was broken first to see if I could do it myself or not.

[J.D.]

OK well going by the parts stores websites you do have a strut back there....I'm not extremely familiar with there setups, but with it being broke like that....I probably wouldn't drive it, and there's a lot of things that "could" have went wrong with that. I reckon like 200x newby said though as long as you drive it with sense you should be ok and not hurt anything/yourself. Let us know what you find out....

[Mosh]

94 Regal has a strut system in the back.The top mount probably broke thru.
It is good to take to a shop.Those have a transverse spring set-up,That require a special tool to unload.Replacing those struts are a real pita!The spring runs between the 2 wheels and it is loaded at hundreds of pounds.
You need some real good air tools and 2 people to line up the spindle if you do not have the spring tool for that car.You made the right choice.I have done alot of them and even with the correct tools and rack,they suck.