chrisb111986

yo

i am new here. i bought myself a 98 4runner a couple months back and need to replace the front struts, and want to do the rear shocks as well...i have never really worked on any cars in the past, mainly because i had a 99 saturn coupe that my parents got me in highschool and i barely wanted to be seen driving it, let alone be seen putting any time or effort into it haha....

anyway, i have seen on here that replacing the front struts can be a bit of a task, with compressing the spring and all. from what i have read and seen, replacing the rear ones looks pretty simple. any tips for a beginner? in my defense, i have one year left in my mechanical engineering degree, so i am not dumb when it comes to things like this; i just have never been that much into cars or trucks, but i have been ever since i got my 4runner. i love it. i really want to do this myself, just because i think i would learn some, and have fun...and plus, i know its cheaper than taking it into the shop....(when i went and just got it looked over before i bought it, the guy suggested i replaced the front and the rear, and gave me a quote of just about $700)...any suggestions would be great...thanks...

chris

CHSrunner

Welcome to Yotatech! Umm well you're right it is a task in some ways to get this done but its possible. To start are you just replacing the shocks in the rear and the shock in the front or are you planning on replacing the shocks in the rear and the entire strut assembly (shock and spring) up front? For the fronts actually removing the strut assembly is easy, should take about 30 min each side if you're taking your time and being careful. To save money i would buy the new shocks then remove the strut assemblies and just bring them to a local shop and have them compress the springs and assemble the struts with the new shocks. As for the rear... prepare to be introduced to the PITA that is the rear upper shock mounts. Very little space to work with and if they're factory shocks its going to be tough to get them off. A little tip that i use is to fit a wrench to the top shock nut then use a large pair of channel locks to grab the upper dust shield of the shock and twist as hard as you can It may take some patience but it will eventually give up. Hope this helped a little bit!!

CHSrunner

On a side note this is YT so if you're going to go through all of this why not just lift it?!?!?!

Atomic

chrisb111986

thanks, ya it did help...

ya, just replacing the shocks in the front and rear. how hard exactly is it to use a spring compressor myself? if i am being smart and careful about it, should i have a problem?

also, any suggestions on some cheap ones to buy? i dont need amazing ones, just new ones to make the ride smoother....thanks again

Yukon

It will be the same as if you were lifting your truck. So I would suggest searching for How to's on installing lifts.

x2 On the lift, you can get the 2 inch OME lift, and you will have much better shocks and springs all around.

Ome 906's with N86 shocks, and 881 springs on N91S shocks, (I think those are the right numbers) should be about 650ish if you install it yourself.

CHSrunner

Well if you aren't going to lift it then i would recommend buying the KYB shocks for the front and rear. When it comes to shocks it really is you get what you pay for and these are a good compromise. As for the spring compressors they are a PITA and can be dangerous. But if you insist on doing it all yourself you'll need 3 compressors to be safe which you can rent from a place like advance and air tools (compressor and impact gun) otherwise it isn't worth the hassle. Your best bet is to take them off and drop everything off at shop to do all of it.

wootman

Just did my shocks/springs all the way around. Here's what I did...20min total to take both front struts off (3 nuts on top, one bolt through the bottom/each side). Take struts to meineke and pay $40 to have them put old top-plates on new strut assembly. Go get lunch. Pick up new struts and 20min to re-install.

Seriously, if you want to buy spring compressors and take a chance of having them come undone and breaking your face...may as well have a shop do it. You could rent them, but for $40-50...why hassle. Now, if you were doing a lift such as OME (881/890 is what I have), the spring compressors would help in the rear. But you would only compress them slightly so they slide in over the rear axle, and there isn't near the amount of force involved as there is in the front.

jimig

Wow, some very useful information. Glad we didnt get the typical "SEARCH" response. gj guys.

CHSrunner

One more note: if you have a 4x4 make SURE you install the lower sock bolt on the front struts with the threaded end facing AWAY from the cv boot!!!! Otherwise you'll rip the boot and have redo the process and then some. Just a heads up

chrisb111986

thanks for the help...yea, i just dont have the money to do a whole lift haha sorry guys....but i took off the wheels just to look at them this weekend, and it all looks good (you can tell that i am in no big rush, just something i want to do sometime). i will go ahead and take the fronts to a shop for them to do it. sounds like the best option....as for the back ones, i cant even see the upper shock mounts. there is like a half-inch slit where i tried to look to see or feel it but i couldnt. i tried reaching all the way under and around, but still couldnt even get close to it to feel it...i see what you mean, by putting a wrench on it, and then just twisting the shock, but like i said, i cant even find the upper bolts...any help?

CHSrunner

Well there is a possibility that they are buried in dirt because i've seen that happen. try using like a flat head screwdriver to scrap around on the top mount. They are there i promise you that haha. But like i said in my first post welcome to the PITA that is the rear upper shock mount. It's no easy task your first time around. But i've installed over 15 lifts on 4runners in my town and hopefully these little tips will help.

scuba

Good heads up, Ill be doing my ome881's soon and thats a nice tip...Im doing it myself, not really scared of a spring compressor..

NicCantDecide

I dunno why everyone's so hesitant about spring compressors, I've used then a lot.

One spring compressor on each side of the spring, alternate between the compressors cranking a few times on each one. Once there's no pressure on the top hat just take it off and slide the spring out and loosen up the compressors the same way.

I rented a set from Advanced Auto for $50 and never returned em, I've used em a number of times. You just have to make sure that the line of fire isn't in any way pointed at you just in case. I've had friends unscrew top hats without compressors and launch their springs a couple hundred feet for fun, but it ruins the threads and is rather dangerous haha

BigBJ23

hi im new and i have a 96 4runner and i dont know if the front are struts or shocks in the front of the car do u guys know? thank you

cmac27

the front set up on ur gen is a shock INSIDE of a coil spring.

cmac27

honestly to the original poster u can get a mild lift for front and back for pretty damn close to the same price it's gonna cost u to just replace them.... if a lift is what u want of cours. and i have used coil spring compressors and never had a problem. just be smart crank evenly on both sides. it also may be tough to get the compressors in between the spring levels on the coil springs....but its doable. have another person help u with the spring compressor and it's even easier

chrisb111986

yo guys,

its the original poster. finally replaced all 4 this past weekend. i am the laziest person ever; i was in no real hurry. but, it really wasnt bad at all. got a spring compressor from auto zone. the fronts were a process, but the backs took a total of about half hour. all the advice helped, and the whole deal really was pretty straight forward.

about the lift... i initially had my mind set on just new shocks and all, mainly becuase i thought the whole suspension lift would be tough...but this was because i hadnt looked into it at all. after seeing what yall wrote about a lift being about the same hassel as replacing my shocks, i looked into it....is it really that easy? from what ive seen, there are kits out there that consist of spacers for the front, and new springs for the back to make like a 2-3" suspension lift. ive looked and havent really seen and forums about them, so thought id ask yall...i have to say, i am not that sure about the spacers up front. when i put my front shocks back on, i could barely get the bottom of the shock to line up to put the bolt through. i had to put the spring compressor on them to give myself some more clearance, then had to pretty much bench press it up with one hand, while using a crowbar to pry it up with the other hand to get them to line up. i called my girl out to stick the bolt through; i woulda been screwed if she wasnt home at the time. this was hard enough by itself, i bet it would be a little tougher with a 2" spacer up there...or, is there something i am missing, conceptually?

gotta run, thanks guys. hope to hear from yall.

chrisb111986

http://www.toyteclifts.com/index.php...0&limitstart=0

thoughts???

CHSrunner

The spacer doesnt make the shock itself any longer just purs a different pre load on the spring. Also doesnt allow the front to sage as much. The only thing that would make it any harder is the 1/2" top plate spacer. Let me know if this makes sense. And go for the 3" spacer lift and coils in the rear imo.