Recent content by Fattyeighty

Yes should have prefaced it with higher speed desert driving or more aggressive driving offroad in general. In normal city driving you're absolutely correct it would not be constantly hitting the bump stop unless on larger speed bumps although with factory bump stops it isn't no obvious when...

A few King/Dobinson springs are close to OEM spring rate which I believe has not been conclusively verified. Only a thread from a few years ago tested them to around 130? lbs/in. Note you do not want too soft of a spring as its part of bottom out control. Factory springs + spacers will be...

I didn't drive it new but with all new bushings/shocks/bearings it rode pretty well for what it is. It's still a 40 year old solid axle truck not built for comfort. 80s can ride pretty well if setup correctly for what they are, mine rides better than a friends lc150 with custom valved 2.5...

While I dont have experience with a heavy 80, from your description it seems that the shocks are long gone and not controlling spring compression/rebound. Hydraulic bump stops won't do much since you're not controlling the springs at all - you need proper shocks. Now there's a lot of flavours...

Now I know where they are disappearing to. Beautiful example

Over here I couldn't find any 315/75r16s anymore or only China made. Largest I could find is 285/75r16. Since it's an 80 series, obviously 35s are the bare minimum. Switched to Braid Winrace Ts + 315/70r17 Kumho At52. Sure 315/75r16 look better on factory wheels but seems those days are...

The main difference between the different 2.5" shocks are pistons. Thats what really dictates how it rides. Without more info from the OP regarding his needs/requirements you can't really determine which is best. A linear piston behaves differently from digressive piston The former will be more...

You're looking for comfort? Highish speed desert driving? Any tuneable shock will work with proper tuning King has linear piston with easy to get shims and straightforward to work on - probably best bet. Especially if you're not in the US 2.5 smooth bodies + proper tuning would be ideal. No...

Appreciate everyone's insight. That picture is exactly what I was searching for. An update for future readers. I did run it with a new hub seal however it still leaks at the hub (no spindle seal - trying the oil bath method) even after a 360 grit/1500grit sanding on the spindles seal surface -...

I saw anecdotal evidence/users suggesting a higher preload/torque like the front bearings because of larger tires/more aggressive tires. I.e. Not following the FSM. What do you think? Appreciate the input Thanks for the clarification - I did find your previous posts regarding staking and how...

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Ill have probably run it on the heavier side as you suggested. I couldn't find a suggested value (not FSM) for the rears funnily - some approached 50/60 lb/ft from the research I've done - do you remember what yours was? Ill just wait for the seals before...

I really appreciate your insight. Ill run new bearings with Terrain tamer HD hub seal and see what happens. May karma reward your help.

Once again I really appreciate your insight and attention to detail. This is a bearing installed last year - perhaps 4-4k miles ago. Well I'm in Kuwait so not too concerned about rust except for a month of the year (105+ fahrenheit with 90% humidity) Good point about the contaminated gear...

Thanks for the reply - there is oil that's by design since I eliminated the spindle seal and just run gear oil without grease. Thank for the extensive reply - I really appreciate it. I did try sliding on the existing outer/smaller bearing - it does not rock but slides on fairly easily - I am...

Hello, Attempted to do the rear bearing oil bath conversion. Was working for a while and it seems the bearings were a bit loose and some sand got into it and dug a nice groove - however I can't catch a fingernail on it. Claw washer was like this before I got into the axle - seems like...