3 out of 4 of the nuts i was able to take off with an impact gun (air wrench). the nut that wouldn't come off with the gun (the shaft would just rotate), i held in place with pliers (held the shaft with pliers, that is) and undid the nut with a wrench. this, of course, damaged the shock's shaft and rendered it useless.. but seeing as my shocks had ~124k miles on them, i didn't mind much.

i didn't use the allen key hole because it was practically stripped and wasn't holding the shaft from rotating.