Does the shock rod (the threaded rod at the top end) adjust anything.... stiffness, height etc.?

Just put sensa-tracks on the front end of my '85. (hard to get that nut off the old one, but with patience, liquid-wrench, and a lot of muscle, it came off).

The performance of the new shocks are great. But in the process of doing this, I was wondering about that shock rod. It appears it "allows" adjustment, so I was wondering exactly what that does. For now, I just left it in the position that they came in since performance is fine). But I did wonder what adjusting that shock rod will do... maybe stiffen the ride if turned in? (not that an '85 needs stiffening...)

Thanks

 

Unless it is an adjustable shock, about all you can do is vary the preload of the upper bushings (you want to tighten just until they start to squish out a bit for poly) or you can make minor length adjustments:
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/minutemods/ifs/

 

Thanks for the answer. I took the default with no attempts to turn that shock rod, just held it in place. And I tightend the rod nut to where they were just starting to compress since removing the jack would further compress the rubber. Result looks good, not overly compressed but rubber slightly extending beyond the washer when loaded.

Results are wonderful.. truck feels better than new. I think the gas is providing about an inch of lift which I hadn't had before. Enough that I will need to check the headlight settings as soon as I can pry the truck out of my wifes hands.