My99

Well, I got the call that my 32's had come in so I went on Saturday to have those put on. I was just thinking ealier that day that I sure hope my shocks arrive soon, as I added probably 25lbs of additional weight to each corner of the truck with these new monster (to me) tires. As luck would have it (and it rarely does for me) they were waiting on my doorstep around noon when I returned.

No time like the present, right?

The backs were easy and straight forward. Simple tools and a hammer got those babies out lickity-split. The fronts however had it in for me.

So there's a 14" nut that holds the top of the shock tight against the upper mount. Well, I guess over the 23 years, this nut had all but welded itself to the shaft. The worst part is you have to find a way to keep the upper shaft from turning, otherwise, you'll just spin the upper 1/2 of the shock body. Took me about 10 minutes for the vice grips to break off the top square portion of the stud, to which I assume was put on there just for this purpose. Long story short, a hacksaw, a sledgehammer, and about an hour and a half later I had it licked.

Fortunately, with all I was experiencing with the driver's side, I took the opportunity to put some penetrating oil on the passenger's side as I worked over the driver's side, also used a wire brush to clean the threads with, and beat the living crap out of the shock body & top of the stud to try and rattle things around a bit. I guess it worked, because with my air ratchet (after the aforementioned conditioning) I zipped that dude right off.

Hopefully I put the hardware on correctly - those who've done this before can attest that the directions that come with these shocks are useless. I don't mean that they aren't good directions, I mean there are none. They are the most generic terms you've ever seen and are more of a liability document than anything that can help you assemble the washers & bushings.

Anyway, I love the way it drives now. Much more firm than before. I've heard some people complain and say it is too firm. No way. Let's face it, on a truck this old, a soft ride isn't something you're after anyway. It certainly doesn't beat you up, feels like a 4wd SUV should ride.

Anyway, enough rambling, on to the pictures!


You know it's time for new shocks when the shocks on your 86 Toyota say "Toyota" and have rusted all the way through.


Yeah!



This is the bear of a stud I was referring to ealier. Word to the wise, use penetrating oil hours or days in advance or your tackling this job. It will make life much easier.


The original shock that got pwned by a hacksaw & sledge vs Bilstein (front).


New front - Lack of instructions made for a guessing game on assembly - Upper angle of top mount (front).


From the bottom angle of top mount (front).


New tire poser shot, pre shock install

BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

OOOHHHH!!! Shiny!!!! lol! Looks great!!!

Junkers88

Nice shocks and great looking set of tires. 32's you say? I'm guessing either 10.50 or 11.50 width.

874runnersr5

sick man, i need a new set of shocks...

iamsuperbleeder

nice

the rear's look like they'd give an extra inch or two of extention over stock too

scuba

They look like 11.5 or 12.5

But they also look grrrrreaat !!

My99

Yes, the tires are 11.5 in width. 32s. Orignially I was going for 31s, as per the advice of many as I don't have a lift and aspired to 33s. But 31s were out nationwide and BFG was not in production, so ETA was unkown. They managed to come up with 4 32's in 11.5 so I said sure, let's see if I can make them work. I would have preferred the 10.5.s, but alas, this is all they had. So far so good, but I haven't gone off road yet. Hope to within in the next few weeks.