[TR] TR3A Rear Shock Links

[terryrs at comcast.net]

Car is a 1959 TR3a that was not "restored" until I took it on in 2004.  ISTR that I re-used the original shock links.  While I have the car on blocks, I'm considering replacing.  

1.  How do you know if they're bad? 

2.  Can I just remove and replace with the lever shocks still in place?

Checked archives and can't find a definitive answer.

Thank you, everyone!

Terry Smith, '59 TR3A
New Hampshire, where winter is hanging on like a starved dung beetle.