Shocks for stock height '95

[Geolander]

I've seen tons of thread on shocks for lifted trucks, but not much for stock height, hence the new thread.

I'm pretty sure I need new shocks - my front end dives like a submarine whenever I hit the brakes, and I feel like I'm going to roll every time I take a corner at more than 10mph. However, Big O wants to charge me ~$350 to install Monroes. Bleh. So I'll probably be doing this one myself. The problem is, there are just so dang many shock options out there. Apparently, the OEM shocks are KYB Gas-A-Just, which I can get for a decent price on Amazon (~$150 for the set). I was all set to go on those, but looking at reviews, people seem to think they're pretty meh and were still recommending Bilsteins at more than twice the price ($310 at 4wheelparts). And then there's everything in between - KYB Monomax, ProComp, Skyjacker, etc.

I could probably swing the Bilsteins if they're that much better than everything else, but it would be tight and I'd probably have to do them in pairs rather than the full set at once, which would drive up the price by about $50 total (the 4wheelparts price was for a set of 4). So are the Bilsteins that much better than all the other options to be worth $100-$150 extra? Or would I be ok going for something a bit cheaper? The vast majority of my driving is on-road, with the occasional dirt road and off-road jaunt.

Edit: oh, and if anyone has opinions on Yokohama Geolanders vs. Big O Big Foots I'd love to hear them. I also need new tires and I've pretty much narrowed it down to those two.

 

[KidVermicious]

I like my OME Nitrochargers.

I ran a set of Bigfoot ATs for a while, they were decent. Good traction, not much road noise. Make sure you get a set that's at least C, I bought P-rated tires and ended up replacing them after I pinchflatted one in a spot that it really shouldn't have happened.

 

[Geolander]

I like my OME Nitrochargers.

I ran a set of Bigfoot ATs for a while, they were decent. Good traction, not much road noise. Make sure you get a set that's at least C, I bought P-rated tires and ended up replacing them after I pinchflatted one in a spot that it really shouldn't have happened.

From what I've seen, the OMEs are designed for lifted trucks. Do they work at stock height too? Also, ouch - nearly $400. That's even more than the Bilsteins.

And definitely getting C-rated tires - that's the lowest you can get in 31x10.5 anyways.

 

[Harleydoc]

I pick up a set of Gabriel pro Guard at auto zone for 25 each all around they ride good a lot better then the worn out rusted ones that was on it. They do have a better ride then my lifted 96 with ome all around the 93 is all stock with 31 I am happy with the ride.

 

[Footofgod]

I pick up a set of Gabriel pro Guard at auto zone for 25 each all around they ride good a lot better then the worn out rusted ones that was on it. They do have a better ride then my lifted 96 with ome all around the 93 is all stock with 31 I am happy with the ride.

Damn it, you beat me to the punch! I had Gabriels before I lifted and was very happy with them on and off road.

 

[Border4Runner]

I had a set of Geo's and they held up really good and drove out nice as well. I use Bilstiens at work for fleet vehicles and they are great shocks.

 

[Geolander]

Ended up going with the Big Foots. Price on the Geos jumped about $60 from the quote I got the other day, and the Big Foots were already less expensive. Bad news is that my ball joints are apparently shot - the shop said that they couldn't do an alignment because of it and quoted me almost $900 to fix them. So I'll probably be going the cheap route on shocks.

 

[Footofgod]

Are you fixing them yourself? I'll be in Leavenworth sometime in August if you need help fixing all that. It's really not that hard.

 

[Geolander]

Are you fixing them yourself? I'll be in Leavenworth sometime in August if you need help fixing all that. It's really not that hard.

I might be - just checked out some videos and it doesn't look too hard. Should be able to rent the pullers from the parts store, and I'm pretty sure I have all the other tools I need. I'll definitely be doing shocks myself at some point as well; $70/shock and $80 labor is highway robbery for what they were trying to sell me.

Not sure if I'll be able to put it off until August though - there's a decent chance that I'll be driving to North Dakota or Texas at the end of the month, so we'll see how it drives in the next few weeks. Definitely feels a little squirrely with the new tires on, but I'm not sure if that's the ball joints, the shocks, or just the effects of getting rid of old, worn-out tires.

If I do end up putting it off, you're certainly welcome to come out and lend a hand. Might need to borrow a friend's driveway though - mine's too steep to do much work on, and my garage barely has room for the truck what with all my roommates' crap lying around it.

 

[KidVermicious]

Ball joints are easy stuff, but do yourself a favor and start hitting every bolt and nut you can find with PB Blast at least once a day for a couple days before you start the job.

Frozen bolts can ruin an easy 2 hour job and have you teaching yourself new swear words.

 

[Geolander]

Ball joints are easy stuff, but do yourself a favor and start hitting every bolt and nut you can find with PB Blast at least once a day for a couple days before you start the job.

Frozen bolts can ruin an easy 2 hour job and have you teaching yourself new swear words.

Yeah, that's probably a good idea, considering the age/state of my shocks. I have no idea how old the ball joints are, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the shocks are original, or have maybe been replaced once. And I'm at 230k.

 

[Geolander]

Ball Joints

Ok, looking at ball joints now. I can get Beck/Arnley for $130, Moog for $150, or OEM Toyota for $235 ($210 if I can convince the dealership that they don't need to ship them 40 miles). Which one is the best deal? I know OEMs are going to be the highest quality, but are they good enough to warrant an extra $80-$100?

 

[Harleydoc]

Ok, looking at ball joints now. I can get Beck/Arnley for $130, Moog for $150, or OEM Toyota for $235 ($210 if I can convince the dealership that they don't need to ship them 40 miles). Which one is the best deal? I know OEMs are going to be the highest quality, but are they good enough to warrant an extra $80-$100?

Look online for the OEM ball joints a lot of guy have had problem with part store parts failing after a few 1k miles

 

[Geolander]

Look online for the OEM ball joints a lot of guy have had problem with part store parts failing after a few 1k miles

The price I listed is the online price for the OEM parts - cheapest I can find them for is $52 each, plus shipping. I might be able to convince one of the dealerships selling them for that price to let me pick them up rather than shipping them, since they're only about 40 miles away, but I'm not sure if they'll let me do that.

For the parts store ones, I've seen mixed reviews. Some have had crappy ones, but others have had no problems. Given that people are more likely to comment if there's actually something wrong, I'm not sure if the percentage of bad reviews is representative of the percentage of bad parts. I know that 555 (OEM) branded parts are most likely fine, but there's no way to check online purchases for that beforehand, and the local parts shops want roughly the same for the mid-grade aftermarket parts (Moog, Beck/Arnley, etc) as the dealership wants for OEM at MSRP.

I'm leaning towards to OEM, especially if I can convince them to let me pick them up, but if enough people have had no problems with the other brands, then I'm willing to chance it to save $100, especially since I don't put many miles (~5k) on it every year. I am a poor college student after all, and I wasn't expecting to have to fix the ball joints yet - I've had two alignments done in the last two years, and no one's said anything about the ball joints. They've already had me replace the idler arm, and new tires were recommended at my last alignment a few months ago, so I know that they're checking things. Not to mention the new shocks that I still have to get.

 

[KidVermicious]

I think Moog and 555 and Sankei all come off the same production line. I've opened Moog boxes and found parts stamped 555 with identical part numbers.

I ran Moog on my last 4Runner and on the Explorer too, no complaints.

 

[pajamawally04]

i just picked up a 94, 3.o 4x4....had to replace shocks, and boots.
i went with Monroe shocks in front...drove it to the dunes yesterday and they seem to work good. sent like 60 bucks for both.

now i need to buy sway arm repair kit cuz one of the end links is broken and the bushings for it too. that way i dont have no more noise or boat rocking action

 

[delgadog]

Hey Geolander, if you go with the dealership shocks, they don't need to ship them. if you tell them you're going to pick them up, they'll leave it aside for you. all you have to do is prepay over the phone, shouldn't be a big deal. then again, idk how that dealership works. good luck!

 

[Geolander]

Quick update on this and a question.

I've got everything torn down doing shocks and ball joints right now. Both front shocks are done (or near enough) and the passenger-side UBJ went in without a hitch (note to anyone else doing this: stick something between the upper control arm and its bump stop before jacking your runner up. Makes getting that UBJ in less of a PITA.)

However, I'm running into lots of stuck bolts, and before you ask, they've been soaking in PB Blaster and WD-40 (after my can of PB Blaster ran out) for the past 4 days. Hit them with it on Friday planning to do this on Saturday, but everything was still stuck fast. So I hit them again on Saturday and one more time yesterday. Managed to get most of them, but 4 are still eluding me. The two holding the brake hardline/steering rods on the driver side and both swaybar endlinks. The brake hardline bolts are just stuck. No amount of elbow grease, even with an 18in breaker bar, has been able to get them to budge. I'm stuck on how to even remove the swaybar endlinks though. I can't get a ratchet (or breaker bar) on the upper bolts due to clearance issues, and the lower bolts are just frozen solid. I tried a breaker bar on the lower bolt with a crescent wrench above the bushing, but all that succeeded in doing was rounding off a couple corners on the upper fitting. Anyone know any tricks?

 

[Footofgod]

Good to see you tackling this yourself!!! Go to Lowes or Home Depot and pick up a propane torch. Heating the bolts can certainly help. That being said, some of the bolts (depending on rust and what-not) may practically be welded in and you may just have to drill them out. Get a BFH and some beer (not too much with a BFH in hand) and got to town.

 

[Geolander]

Good to see you tackling this yourself!!! Go to Lowes or Home Depot and pick up a propane torch. Heating the bolts can certainly help. That being said, some of the bolts (depending on rust and what-not) may practically be welded in and you may just have to drill them out. Get a BFH and some beer (not too much with a BFH in hand) and got to town.

I'll give the torch a shot tomorrow evening, but if that doesn't work, I'll probably put it back together and cough up the labor fee to the shop. Don't want to destroy the bolts since I don't have spares on hand. Also not sure I can fit a drill in there.

Honestly, they don't look rusty. The ones that I've removed have been mostly clean, with some dried up remnants of thread lock compounds in them. No rust at all except some surface rust on the bolt heads. The endlinks seem to be mainly an issue of poor positioning and lack of leverage with a short crescent wrench. If I could fit the breaker bar in, I could probably get them off. Really wish they were set up like the links on the pre-'90 trucks, with the nut on the top of the link rather than the back side. Then I could at least get a socket on. Not sure why the steering linkage bolts won't come loose - they seem like something that should have been removed fairly often for servicing the brakes since they hold the hardline bracket in place.

...what's a BFH? Big F**** Hammer?

Edit: Ugh, I just realized that getting a torch means I have to put everything back together again just for a trip to Home Depot. There's an Ace around the corner, but they don't carry propane torches, just those dinky little butane deals. And a MAPP torch, but that's $50 and comes with no gas vs $20 for a propane torch with a gas bottle.