Hi I am new to this group. I have a 97 3.4l 4wd and I am going to replace the front and rear shocks (Bilsteins) this weekend. Any advice on what I am in for?

Thanks

Jeff

 

PLan on having a good coil compressor for the front, or else take the front off and take them to a local shop and have them compress the coil. You are also goin to find the rear to be tricky the way the top nut is. so since i was replacing my shocks i didnt care if i screwed the old ones up. so i just took a pipe wrench and clamped it down on the upper part of the shock to keep if from spinning.

Have fun!

 

Thanks Cody

Jeff

 

Welcome and there is a huge amount of advice on here for that, just use the old search button.

These links may help a bit as well:
http://www.drawhorn.org/rear_ome_install_writeup.htm
http://www.drawhorn.org/front_ome_install_writeup.htm

 

Yep... Rear is no problem. Do like you would any truck.

Front is a little different. You'll need the external coil spring compressors found at like Kragen or whatever. They rent them to you for how ever long you want. Way cheaper that way.

You'll have to align the top 3 studs with the 1 bottom eyelit of the shock. That is always the most difficult thing for me. .

You can do it no problem though. Right now would be the best time to install a little lift too if you wanted.

 

Then dealer only charged me $80. I thought that that was a fair price and I didn't get dirty.

 

The only thing that comes to mind other than what was said is be sure to get the srping seat on the right direction or you will have to pull the front apart to do it right
also may want to get some PB Blaster... to soak them rear bolts a few days ahead of time especially that top one

 

I recently did the same thing. I had little car repair experience but got some help for a member here on this board and it went fine. It is a time consuming job especially the front. You can rent the coil compressors from Autozone or similar. Also, make sure you have a torque wrench. I think the torque specs are on JA 4runner site (http://www.top4runners.com/ja/index.html) check under "handling".
Remember to get an alignment afterwards.
Good luck

 

Thanks for all of your help.
Jeff

 

If you chose to do the coil compressing yourself, be very careful and watch how much the studs flex. They WILL break, and it could be bad. Just be aware that something bad can happen with the manual coil compressors and be prepared to jump back and cover your head. I personally have had on snap on me, is was as scary as hell.

 

It's funny you mentioned that. When I did mine that's all I could think about I made sure that I kept everything that could break away from me. It would suck to get nailed in the face by a coil spring

 

I helped with a friend's coilovers on his S4 a few months back. He opted to borrow the autozone compressor. I think its fairly common to look at the rings on the safeties and think of future body jewelry. I'm doing mine this weekend and opted to spend the 29$ for a new compresser from Sears.

 

Oil the coil compressors A LOT..more than you think is necessary! I even went as far as putting a towel over the coil (like it would do anything with a 650lb spring...)