Can trailing arms hang loose
 

In process of engine drop and removing axles. I removed the passenger shock bolt to move it out of the way and removed the axle. Problem is I'm having a hard time lining up the bolt through the shock mount at the bottom to line it up with the hole in the trailing arm. I have the trailing arm supported on a small jack and can move it up and down but it's not lining up where it goes in easily and I DO NOT want to cross thread that. Will it damage the trailing arm to just hang without the shock to limit its travel? seems like it's not a good idea. Thanks

Get it started and bonk it in further with a plastic hammer. The threads start farther down the hole.

Thanks John, I can get it in far enough for the the threads to reach but there is so much resistance it’s hard to tell if threads are crossed or not. I guess I could just drop the car back down and line up the shock mount hole batter with the trailing arm hole to be sure.

I’d think You should be able to lift it the same height w the jack, as when sitting on the wheels on the ground