"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish)
07/30/2017 at 13:47 • Filed to: Raider
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"gmctavish needs more space" (gmctavish)
07/30/2017 at 13:47 • Filed to: Raider | 1
| 12 |
I don’t know if the shocks in this thing were original, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were. It’s floppy and wallowy, heaves forward between shifts, and dives badly under braking. New KYBs were cheap from RockAuto, and are the best thing you can get for these trucks without going all out with Bilsteins or Old Man Emu. I looked up the procedure for replacing the shocks in my Haynes manual, and it looked very simple. I didn’t want to do it in my fairly busy back alley, and luckily my girlfriend’s parents were fine with me working behind their house.
Note, you’ll need a good supply of swear words to do this job.
My girlfriend: “ How long do you think it’ll take?”
Me: “Oh I dunno, probably 2 hours or so, assuming nothing really goes wrong.”
Yeah, no.
After thinking the stock jack was broken, figuring out it was actually working fine, and discovering I needed a big block of wood to get enough height to get it high enough on the jack stand.
Wheel off, lots of penetrating fluid, and a breaker bar for the lower two bolts. The top one can only fit a wrench, and you need to hold the shock with visegrips to stop it spinning.
Very very blown old shock and a lovely new KYB, shipped uncompressed for god knows what reason. So the next step is to compress the shock yourself, and make a strap out of zip ties to hold it.
Now all you have to do is bolt it in place, which requires very little maneuvering.
Now do the same on the other side
I saved the rears for last because I assumed they’d be a bit easier than the fronts. That was a very wrong assumption.
So after you realize you can’t jack from the axle housing if you want to put a jack stand under the axle housing, take the wheel off and revel in the beautiful drum brake. Then you notice that the nuts you need to undo are on the other side of the frame from you, and this would be a lot easier if you had a hoist.
Lots of penetrating fluid. These ones will need a breaker bar. I don’t have more pictures of the old rears coming out because I was too busy swearing. The lower mounts were rusty and thr shocks needed to be hammered off. I filed them down so the new ones would slide on easier, but that’s guaranteed to suck when the life of these KYBs is over.
The right rear sucks even more than the left, you have very little room to move the ratchet, even less with the breaker bar, and the gas tank seam is right where your knuckles end up as you loosen/tighten the upper bolt. I reccomend putting a rag over your hand to avoid cuts. But after that terribleness, you’re done! Wheel back on, and you’re good to go.
It feels much tighter and more stable now, shifting is easier without the rocking forward and back, stopping is more confidence-inspiring, and corners can be taken without it heeling over like....like a tall 4x4 with blown shocks. Left turns are still weird because of the broken sway bar bracket, but that’s next on my list of things to fix/replace.
So yeah, it took 6 hours, and many swear words, but it was worth it for how much better it drives. A little bouncy, but so much more stable, not floppy at all. It feels good to do something to one of my vehicles again, I haven’t really worked on anything in quite a while. Makes me want to do more, like maybe a Weber conversion.....
Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction
> gmctavish needs more space
07/30/2017 at 14:01 |
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Ugh, having done this before, I confirm it’s a huge pain to change the shocks on these, at least I had all the time in the world to do it
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> gmctavish needs more space
07/30/2017 at 14:33 |
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The longest duration item on doing the shocks on my isuzu is taking the wheels on and off. It helps that the front is torsion bar spring and the rear has good access.
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gmctavish needs more space
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
07/30/2017 at 14:44 |
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Yeah that’s about the same for the front of mine, also has torsion bars. If the nuts weren’t frozen on and the shocks came compressed, it would’ve been quicker. The rears though, access sucks for breaking nuts loose.
G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
> gmctavish needs more space
07/30/2017 at 15:00 |
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You have more patience than I do when it comes to the nuts on the tops of the front shock shafts. I just sawzall the old ones off clean through the bushings and the rods.
415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
> gmctavish needs more space
07/30/2017 at 15:21 |
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I’ve only done this on Chevy trucks and an S10 Blazer cuz that’s what my dad had at his place in MT back in the 80's. I don’t have a garage or anywhere I’m allowed to do anything dramatic. I can only do little jobs. I keep thinking of some other project to do if I replace the CRV at some point, how hard would it be to do this? I read one guy used Vanagon parts and spacers. I wouldn’t do tires that knobby but something to get my head as high as the CRV is good in traffic:
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gmctavish needs more space
> G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
07/30/2017 at 15:39 |
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That’s a good idea, but I don’t have a sawzall
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gmctavish needs more space
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
07/30/2017 at 15:43 |
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I’m lucky that my girlfriend’s parents are cool with me working there, but I still want my own garage to work in. Being able to work in bad weather would be a big deal. The next thing I’m trying to figure out where to do is spraying this things underside with rust converter, any other plans I have for it can easily be done where I did the shocks.
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gmctavish needs more space
> 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
07/30/2017 at 15:44 |
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Also that looks really cool, I wouldn’t really know where to begin with a project like that
SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
> gmctavish needs more space
07/30/2017 at 18:46 |
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I’ve done a few shock changeovers in my time. Land Rover’s, Volkswagen’s but the worst was the Lada Niva. Damned if I know why the front shock had to be inside the spring...and the lower mount made of cheese.
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G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
> gmctavish needs more space
07/31/2017 at 00:41 |
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Man, you’re missing out.
pip bip - choose Corrour
> gmctavish needs more space
07/31/2017 at 08:03 |
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were the old shocks so buggered you could compress them with one finger?
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gmctavish needs more space
> pip bip - choose Corrour
07/31/2017 at 10:26 |
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The fronts were, the rears had slightly more life in them, but could still be compressed with very little effort