The new shocks are in and I am a very happy man. The Ironman shocks were pretty tired, but these do feel much nicer than the Ironman units ever did. When there is a big bump or undulation in the road the truck rises and I expect it to bounce once or twice... but it settles almost instantly - it reminds me of those trophy trucks that do the big jumps and just settle instantly when they land. I haven't had it offroad yet, but have managed to pick out every pothole and manhole cover in the area - you feel them just enough to know that they are there, but you could sip a drink going over them. Cornering is obviously also much improved, and I find myself doing 10mph quicker on local bends without hanging onto the steering wheel with both hands. Wish I had bought these before our big trip...
Getting the old rears off was a challenge as always, but with the 1" body lift I could at least get a spanner in there from under the truck (with a 2" body lift you could do this from the wheel arch). The top threads were a bit of a mess though so I had to find a way to hold the shock body so that it didn't turn. First I tried an oil filter wrench (one of those chain and handle jobs) which worked until it let go in a big way and I ended up with something looking/feeling like a golf ball size fluid sack on my elbow.
The missus heard the colourful language from the house and came over to see what was going on, and suggested putting ice on it. This is excellent advice, and really works to get the swelling down. Then I scratched my head for a bit as my left hand was now too weak to use the chain tool, and I remembered that I have a large pipe wrench which was made for exactly this situation. If you aren't going to re-use the shock, this must be the easiest way to get them off. I know some people just bend them back and forth until the stud snaps, but I didn't want to risk damaging the shock mount in any way. Putting the new ones in was a piece of cake.
For the front I jacked the chassis up slightly and then supported it with an axle stand. With the wheel off I supported the lower control arm with another jack and undid the drop link. Next I let the lower control arm down to full droop and undid the lower shock mount, followed by the 3 top strut nuts (note, do NOT undo the big middle nut yet!). This allowed the whole strut to come out. With the strut clamped upright in a vice I used two coil clamps/spring compressors to take the tension out of the strut so that I could undo the top nut. This presented a new challenge because as with the rear shocks, you need a way to hold the shock body still while you try to undo the nut that for all intents and purposes has welded itself on there. The little flat bit at the end of the stud is a good idea only, but nowhere near sufficient to get good grip on. In the end I slacked off the spring compressors to get tension on the spring/strut again, and used an electric impact wrench to "shock" the nut loose, before putting the clamps back on again. Once the nut was cracked it was much easier. I re-used the Kings springs that I have in front as I really like the ride of these springs. They have sagged a bit though and I am going in on Thursday for the factory to check them. I just love living near the factory that makes them - I drive in, they will take the struts apart, test the coils on their rig, and fit new coils foc if there is a problem (and I know that they have sagged at least an inch). Putting it all back together takes ten minutes. If you're going to do this too, remember to only tension all the suspension bolts once the wheels are on the ground and carrying all the weight again, otherwise the lower bushes carry unnecessary tension and won't last as long.
I was also going to remove the lower control arms to re-grease the squeaky poly bushes, while I was doing half the job anyway... but halfway through taking the steering rack off I noticed that the pre-load adjuster was so loose I could undo it with my fingers. This distracted me from the task at hand and by the time I had read up on the topic and adjusted it correctly, I decided that I wasn't in the mood to take the control arms off after all (it was a pain in the arse last time). With everything back together, all the squeaks have disappeared though! Bonus result!!! And my truck is steering MUCH better. Double bonus result!!! As I said, I'm a very happy man today
