shock install (1 Viewer)

[ogsuv]

Anyone install their own shocks, without the luxury of a lift? Is it more trouble than it's worth?

I was thinking bilstein hd's (from performance products, pretty cheap) also do you think changing springs should be in order?

99 LC 106k and I don't want or need to drop or raise it, just looking for a tighter feel, more like my 80, the factory shocks feel a little squishy to me.

 

[DMX84]

Scott, you can do your shocks without the lift, but you will need a good jack and jack stands. To do the torsion bars you need to get the wheels off the ground and it takes a good jack. I used a 5 ton jack to the wheels up high enough to get stands under the frame in one lift. The fronts are the easiest IMO. The rear will take some time to get the top nuts off, so plan accordingly & use PB Blaster the day before for best results!

 

[Jukelemon]

Just to add, the rears are absolutely the worst. Terrible clearances for getting a wrench in and, as in my case, my bolts would not budge and they ended up needing to be cut. A major pain in the ass. If your truck came from a salt belt, I would be ready for a long day.

Juke

 

[ogsuv]

sounds promising. No other specialty tools needed?

 

[spressomon]

Just to add, the rears are absolutely the worst. Terrible clearances for getting a wrench in and, as in my case, my bolts would not budge and they ended up needing to be cut. A major pain in the ass. If your truck came from a salt belt, I would be ready for a long day.

Juke

That's what I was afraid of. Slee shipped my OME kit last Friday...I am going to start disassembling tomorrow night. My LC came from the NE...and rusty it is!

 

[spressomon]

Oh yea...am I going to need a coil compressor when I replace the rear coil springs on my '99 LC?

 

[DMX84]

No, see my how do article I wrote for the FAQ.

 

[ogsuv]

where do I find that?I checked the tech links, and searched "shocks" in faq and got nothing.

 

[ogsuv]

never mind I see it now.

 

[spressomon]

Got the rears done. You guys were right...the upper shock nuts were a cussin' affair for sure. Had to cut the end off my box-ratchet to allow a cheater bar to be used...even then it was a "just barely" affair. Broke off one of the sway-arm bracket bolts, due to corrosion...tapped out to 9x1.25.

FYI: The upper shock mounting nuts on the new OME rear shocks are 22mm...Craftsman doesn't stock, at least here in Reno, anything larger than a 19mm box ratchet...although 7/8" would probably work OK. Also the new nuts have a built in flange washer...no nylock and no lock-washer. I asked Christo about Loc-Titing them and he concurred.

Tonight I start the fronts including diff drop kit and t-bars.

THANK YOU TO ALL FOR ALL YOUR WORDS OF WISDOM!!!

 

[Jukelemon]

I used a 7/8 wrench for my shock bolts and it was perfect i.e. very snug and 0 chance of slipping.

 

[hoser]

Well, I guess I'm kinda glad that I won't have to change the shocks out on the LX. However, I do need to swap torsion bars and the diff drop down bracket.

Anybody wanna get rid of their old OEM torsion bars?

 

[Jukelemon]

UZ just had some for sale/give away in the Parts For Sale section.

I just thru mine away not one week ago ) :

 

[hoser]

One man's junk is another man's treasure, thanks Jukelemon. I'll shoot UZJ an email.

 

[spressomon]

Well, I guess I'm kinda glad that I won't have to change the shocks out on the LX. However, I do need to swap torsion bars and the diff drop down bracket.

Anybody wanna get rid of their old OEM torsion bars?

You can have mine for free if you want them...

 

[hoser]

Cool, thanks Spresso! You are semi-local too! I'll email you.

Sorry for the hijack. Back to the shock install...

 

[spressomon]

Cool, thanks Spresso! You are semi-local too! I'll email you.

Sorry for the hijack. Back to the shock install...

Hoser,
I may have offered the t-bars to you too soon. I can not, for the life of me, get the torsion bar separated from the torsion bar bracket due to the corrosion factor. So I'm bolting it back up and taking it to a shop tomorrow. If they can extract the stock t-bars without torch cutting them in half...I will let you know if they can salvage them.

 

[DMX84]

Spressomon, PB BLASTER!!, say it with me PB BLASTER, P B B L A S T E R!!!

 

[spressomon]

Over the past 3-weeks I have used 3/4 of a can of PBB: All shock bolts, front diff bolts, t-bar adjuster bolts, t-bar/torsion bar bracket to t-bar...it worked it's magic on all except the forward t-bar/t-bar bracket assembly (t-bar is seems to be corroded as one with the bracket...) and an internal capture nut and bolt for the rear sway bar.

I can tell you one thing for sure...I will never buy another vehicle from the East Coast...that is why, I am sure, the LC values are about 10-15% less there than West Coast!

So...I got everything done except the t-bars. It is going into a local shop to have them torched off if necessary and aligned. Hopefully I will be wheel'n it this weekend...

 

[hoser]

Spresso, don't worry about saving the T-bar for me. I'll try and locate some rust-free ones. Thanks, though!