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I would say don't necessarily spend the money on the tool until you try it other ways. Mine came off actually stupid easy and I ended up not even really needing it. I had a standard two jaw puller that was a big one. I put two pieces of pipe around the ends and put those in the yoke holes, and pushed against the shaft and it actually came off easily. The tiger tool u-joint puller I bought turned out I didn't even need that either. Soak the pieces with something like liquid wrench give it some vibration and try it without the fancy tools first it might just work. I had way more difficulty getting the steering rod end off which took me several days of heating and pounding versus the u-joint and yoke which came out in a matter of minutes
All great suggestions and viewpoints.
My rig has a bent shock from a forking forklift at GovPlanet facility.
I’m not afraid to customize. Where can I find the replacement options?
This my effort at replacing mine, based on some older threads
When I talked with a rep at Fox, and we started discussing vehicle weight, he said none of their production were appropriate for this much weight.
Yep. This is a whole different world. FOX closed their heavy division during COVID and has no desire to get into that business again.
The Monroes are also 2" diameter shock bodies vs the 3" OEM body, iirc.
I will go with Monroe 65456 at least for the short run.The Monroes are also 2" diameter shock bodies vs the 3" OEM body, iirc.
Larger dia equates to larger compression/rebound/reserve chambers internally and thus the ability to dampen more weight.
It is a pity that S&S/BAE didn't source a more common industrial shock size.
As a result, you can easily spend $3K per shock from someone like King or ICON (and even then the valving is going to be sketch w/o getting the corner weights of the truck done so the valving can be properly setup). The only good news is the shocks can then be serviced and rebuilt as needed.
What about doubling up the Monroe's? I know it means adding brackets but just penciling a thought
I'm not feeling anny issues at present with mine. So there's that. I'm more concerned with an out of round tire that needs replacing.If I were doubling, i would probably use a lighter weight shock. Its about weight and rate, the monroes for example claim they are for class 7-8 trucks(26-33K and over 33K). by published spec ours are class 6(19-26K) Now IMO it is a grossly overbuilt class 6, but those are the weights...
Now if these shocks were specced for 26-33K+, a pair of them would probably make for a pretty restrictive combined force(make a speed bump feel like hitting a curb), same weight and rate, but now twice the resistance... A pair of lighter weight class shock would give you added valve passage and surface area for heat dissipation without overly restricting the weight trying to move at its normal rate for a given task(like sucking up a speed bump)...
Short of paying a grand plus per shock for something custom for our application, this is where we are.
1. used OEM,s for which we have no spec info on the weights and rates for which they were valved
2. some flavor of truck shocks. if you cross that monroe number you can also find a few other manufacturers with products in that class. I have not had a chance to explore down those paths to see if there is perhaps something better still from one of those other manufacturers.
3. mix and match doubled lighter class(pickup shocks) to find a good rate for our weight. It then becomes a challenge to find shocks with the appropriate length and travel...
4. custom built $$$$$.
Aren't LMTV's fun
