jonstine
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- Austin, TX
I just wanted to post a blurb regarding shock replacement on a stock height CUCV.
I've had my 1986 M1028 for about a year now, and have finally gotten tired of the front suspension crashing down over every single little dimple in the road. After looking around online, and going over and over the ORD site and others, I decided on Bilstein 5125s. Doing a little backwards math on the ORD lift numbers (there was no 0" lift in the Bilstein table on ORD), the eye to eye length for the front and rear shocks should have been roughly 15.0" and 21.5" respectively. I knew I should have checked, but I got lazy and just ordered the new Bilsteins (part #s 33-062518 and 33-186542, for 6.5" and 9.24" shocks, front and rear).
Well, I should have measured. When I finally got around to replacing the shocks yesterday, the front eye-to-eye was 14.25" (no doubt due to spring sag over time), and the rear was 22.5" (I'm assuming due to the 5/4 ton springs being an inch or so taller than the stock K30's). Doing math, I still had roughly 3" of both compression and extension in the front, but the rear left me with a really undesirable blend of 7.4" of compression and 1.9" of extension. So, doing more math (I'm beginning to think it ain't my strong suite...) I decided on the Bilstein 5125 10" shock for the rear (part #33-185552). That gives me 6.5" of compression and 3.5" of extension.
The extra benefit is that when I put on my 4" lift with zero rate blocks this summer (roughly 5" of total lift), I should be able to move the Bilstein 10" shocks to the front for 4.5" of compression and 5.5" of extension, and then only need to buy the rear springs (Bilstein 5125 14" part 33-185576) which should give me roughly 6.75" of compression and 7.5" of extension.
Hopefully that will work out correctly. I went ahead and put on the front Bilsteins last night, since they weren't going to change until the lift was installed. Relatively easy, except for the bench press/struggle/grunt/cuss effort required to eventually get either new Bilstein to seat in the lower shock bracket with a screwdriver through it to reach for a bolt. That was a major pain in the a$$, and I should have had someone else help me. At 11:30PM I finally got the 2nd one finished, and may have thrown a few choice words at the under side of my truck.
First impression is not a whole lot of change while driving. Definitely soaks up more rumble and chatter, but still a pretty harsh ride. Granted the rears are still stock, but I expected a little more noticeable results. I suspect it may be because I am riding around on the stock, sagged, given up for good springs on the front.
The replacement 14" shocks will be here early next week, so I'll get those thrown on and report back with overall difference.
I wanted to also post the pictures of the shocks I pulled off the front. To say they were completely shot would be a severe understatement. I am not sure, but I would put a lot of money on them being the original shocks the vehicle rolled off the line with. I can completely compress them with little effort and they remain that way until you pull them apart. Can anyone confirm these are the originals, or are they perhaps just OE replacements at some point?
Like I said, once the rears go on I'll update, and then again when my lift is done. I had waited a long time to get new shocks because I didn't want to burn a whole set of shocks before a lift. This method means I only have to replace the rear shocks once I repurpose them for the front. Hopefully that will help anyone else out that may be in the same boat.
I've had my 1986 M1028 for about a year now, and have finally gotten tired of the front suspension crashing down over every single little dimple in the road. After looking around online, and going over and over the ORD site and others, I decided on Bilstein 5125s. Doing a little backwards math on the ORD lift numbers (there was no 0" lift in the Bilstein table on ORD), the eye to eye length for the front and rear shocks should have been roughly 15.0" and 21.5" respectively. I knew I should have checked, but I got lazy and just ordered the new Bilsteins (part #s 33-062518 and 33-186542, for 6.5" and 9.24" shocks, front and rear).
Well, I should have measured. When I finally got around to replacing the shocks yesterday, the front eye-to-eye was 14.25" (no doubt due to spring sag over time), and the rear was 22.5" (I'm assuming due to the 5/4 ton springs being an inch or so taller than the stock K30's). Doing math, I still had roughly 3" of both compression and extension in the front, but the rear left me with a really undesirable blend of 7.4" of compression and 1.9" of extension. So, doing more math (I'm beginning to think it ain't my strong suite...) I decided on the Bilstein 5125 10" shock for the rear (part #33-185552). That gives me 6.5" of compression and 3.5" of extension.
The extra benefit is that when I put on my 4" lift with zero rate blocks this summer (roughly 5" of total lift), I should be able to move the Bilstein 10" shocks to the front for 4.5" of compression and 5.5" of extension, and then only need to buy the rear springs (Bilstein 5125 14" part 33-185576) which should give me roughly 6.75" of compression and 7.5" of extension.
Hopefully that will work out correctly. I went ahead and put on the front Bilsteins last night, since they weren't going to change until the lift was installed. Relatively easy, except for the bench press/struggle/grunt/cuss effort required to eventually get either new Bilstein to seat in the lower shock bracket with a screwdriver through it to reach for a bolt. That was a major pain in the a$$, and I should have had someone else help me. At 11:30PM I finally got the 2nd one finished, and may have thrown a few choice words at the under side of my truck.
First impression is not a whole lot of change while driving. Definitely soaks up more rumble and chatter, but still a pretty harsh ride. Granted the rears are still stock, but I expected a little more noticeable results. I suspect it may be because I am riding around on the stock, sagged, given up for good springs on the front.
The replacement 14" shocks will be here early next week, so I'll get those thrown on and report back with overall difference.
I wanted to also post the pictures of the shocks I pulled off the front. To say they were completely shot would be a severe understatement. I am not sure, but I would put a lot of money on them being the original shocks the vehicle rolled off the line with. I can completely compress them with little effort and they remain that way until you pull them apart. Can anyone confirm these are the originals, or are they perhaps just OE replacements at some point?
Like I said, once the rears go on I'll update, and then again when my lift is done. I had waited a long time to get new shocks because I didn't want to burn a whole set of shocks before a lift. This method means I only have to replace the rear shocks once I repurpose them for the front. Hopefully that will help anyone else out that may be in the same boat.
