I am looking for a short term shock fix for my 92 truck and was wondering if anyone else had dealt with it. I currently have a 3" torsion twist (I know, that is why this fix is temporary) and 33" tires. The guy I bought the truck from didn't change his shocks and they are pretty much maxed out. I temporarily fixed it a little better with some 1" spacers I had laying around in the upper mount threads but am looking for a bit longer shock to run till I can get a proper lift on it. I have gotten some measurements for shocks but I was wondering which would be better. Black diamond lists the size of my truck @ 9.26 to 13.97, a suzuki sami @ 10.6 to 16", and an 83-89 Toy pick up 10.89 to 17.32". I am wondering if I would be safe going to my local parts store and asking for the Toy axles or if the sizes would be different with different manufacturers. I am more worried about extended length then compressed because I highly doubt if I stood my truck on one tire that it would comress the torsion twist.

Thanks all,
AL

 

If you only have it raised by cranking the torsion bars your stock length shocks should be fine. On IFS it is impossible for the suspension to travel too far due to the bump stops.

Jack your truck up and see if the upper a-arms set on the stops at full droop. If they dont reach get longer shocks. But I bet they will because the the suspension is not modified in any way.

 

[[I am wondering if I would be safe going to my local parts store and asking for the Toy axles or if the sizes would be different with different manufacturers.]]

(I assume you meant Toy shocks) As you already discovered in your research, different brands may have different lengths. Some have long travel and some are very short indeed. If you are going to lift it properly in the near future, you may not want to buy new shocks now. Your stock shocks should cover whatever lift you can get by cranking and 1" blocks. Also, you might look around over at Classifieds.
(I have a set of used shocks I'd sell cheap but they are for 4" lift.)

 

What about a 1" body lift and back off the T-bars? Wouldn't change your future plans any - may actually make them cheaper.

 

can't without cutting down the lift blocks in the rear. I should have something in the next month or two for the truck but since I drive this 50 miles each day on the freeway in icey conditions (read living in Alaska) I don't like the tires jumping around because of no suspension. The problem is tons better just by stretching out the shock length with spacers and will get even better with proper length shocks I am sure.

 

Did you check to see if the shocks let the arms drop all the way to the bump stops yet? If it does then I dont see how longer shocks are going to change anything. Shocks dont get stiffer or softer during there stroke. The dampening should be consistant through the entire stroke. If your arms rest on the bump stops at full droop then you do not need longer shocks. Check to see if yours do.

If your shocks do not let them rest on the bump stops then they are indeed too short. If they do, then Im thinking maybe you just need better shocks to control the larger tires and increased spring rate of the very cranked torsion bars.

Im not trying to argue with you or tell you your wrong. Im just trying to say that the IFS can not move farther than it is intended to without modification regardless of how much you crank the bars. So stock lenth shocks should be sufficiant.

 

When I bolted the shocks in with the truck on it's tires I actually pulled the truck down with the shock (about 1/4" I would guess). I was at the maximum extension of the shock and now only have about 3/4" of travel before the shock maxes out well before it gets to the bumpstop. I am thinking of picking up a set of RS5000 at the local parts store for a 3" lift. 50 bucks a pop but I figure I can continue to use them after I replace the lift.