southernmostpath Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Need new suspension on my '92 Anyone have any brands or styles to avoid/prefer? Any tips or tricks to keep in mind when changing the shocks? Front? Rear? Any help appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Stay away from Monroe unless you do only highway, my front ones are only a year old and already they are all bouncy. Changing them is easy, though to put the new rear drivers side shock on you might have to disconnect the pan-hard rod, but that's easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Unless the mounts are different between the 2 and 4 doors, you do not need to remove the panhard bar. Rancho, Bilstein, Old Man Emu (OME), and Pro Comp are all good brand shocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernmostpath Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 (edited) What about KYB brand? I do 99% highway/city driving.....not any "off road" opportunities in the keys. Also should I replace the strut rod bushings at the same time? Edited August 14, 2009 by southernmostpath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I've heard good things about them. Also Skyjacker makes good shocks. Are your bushings worn through and/or does the steering wheel shake over bumps? If not and they look fine then I'd say there's no point yet. They are a royal bitch to replace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernmostpath Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Nope no shake and they look fine not worn through .......don't need to deal with a royal bitch if i don't have to. Thats what I was wondering how hard they where to replace. If it was easy I would just do it at the same time, but that answered my questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 It took me 5 hours, tons of WD40, grease, hammers, wrenches, long and short pry bars, bottle jacks, sludge hammer, welder, bruise and bloody hands, bruised and bloody head, and smashed fingers just to replace mine. Not to scare you or anything... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I thought it was easy and I had both sides done in 1.5 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernmostpath Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 NOT THE SHOCKS?!?!?!?! You mean the bushings right kingman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 (edited) Well la de da Adam. EDIT: No, the shocks take maybe an hour tops. 2 nuts per shock, swap in swap out. In all reality I wouldn't say it's quite that bad, my old truck had some UCA damage and a few tweaked IFS pieces which made things mis-align. It's definitely not worth replacing if they are in good shape, and as you can see mine were toast. Usually what happens when they get extremely worn is you'll start feeling a shaking in the wheel and see wheel hop over bumps, and the compression rod its self will bore out the hole through the frame and tear the bushing cups apart. Edited August 15, 2009 by Kingman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernmostpath Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Wow thanks Kingman. No no issues like that. As I say this is a road going pathfinder so not to bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 It will still happen even if you don't wheel it though. When I got my truck they were getting there (started making noise a few months later) and I'm pretty sure it had never been taken on trails (still doesn't see much now), it was too clean and scratch/dent free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernmostpath Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Thanks adamzan will keep an eye on em....but gonna avoid the process till I HAVE to. Will be much happier with better handling and less "bouncing" :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Not only is the bouncing annoying but it's extremely dangerous... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernmostpath Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Keeps my Chiropractor in business though :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 when strut rods are as bad as kingmans was(or even a little less); you alignment changes every time you go over a bump. and thats bad for tires. I have rancho 9000's in back and I'm very pleased with them. comfortable on road, but ajustable so you can meet offoroad demands as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernmostpath Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 Ive opted for a full set of matching KYB front and rear....ordered today.....will keep you posted. Thanks for all the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westslope Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 (edited) .....Rancho, Bilstein, Old Man Emu (OME), and Pro Comp are all good brand shocks. I'm running Pro Comps. The Aussie-made OMEs seem to have the best reputation but are the most expensive. Bilsteins are also popular. Kingman, You are dead right about sloppy shocks being dangerous. They can increase braking distances by a dozen or more feet. Edited August 18, 2009 by westslope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formerly_94PathyMan Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I'm running Pro Comps. The Aussie-made OMEs seem to have the best reputation but are the most expensive. Bilsteins are also popular.Kingman, You are dead right about sloppy shocks being dangerous. They can increase braking distances by a dozen or more feet. not to mention being scary as hell when you have a 1000 foot drop off of a highway with a piece of crap retainer between you and the cliff and you hit a dang bump. Definately first thing I do when I buy a new vehicle, regardless of age or conditon. I know it is a slight waste of money, but what can I say, I would rather be safe then sorry. I should check out my strut rod bushings, my wheel use to shake every time I hit a bump, until I installed a steering damper. Maybe that is the cause in the first place, now I barely feel it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Stay away from Monroe unless you do only highway, my front ones are only a year old and already they are all bouncy. Changing them is easy, though to put the new rear drivers side shock on you might have to disconnect the pan-hard rod, but that's easy. I would add stay away from Gibson for the same reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I'm running Pro Comps. The Aussie-made OMEs seem to have the best reputation but are the most expensive. Bilsteins are also popular. Kingman, You are dead right about sloppy shocks being dangerous. They can increase braking distances by a dozen or more feet. Not only that, but there's wheel hop when you hit a bump and on the freeway the front end bounces up and down when you hit a bump, and it can make it very unstable and you can lose control. In my old truck with a 100% dead driver's shock, if I hit a certain bump just right on the freeway my front end would bounce very hard for a long time and I could feel the other tire with more connection to the road pulling me a little bit. It was pretty freaky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southernmostpath Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share Posted August 23, 2009 Got the full KYB set on yesterday. WOW BIG difference. Had to grind the stud off one of the front struts it was rusted and the previous owner cross threaded the nut on....GEEZ... took longer to get that one strut off than it did to replace the other 3! But, HUGE improvement in ride and handling. Will see how these last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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