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Post by redraif on Feb 5, 2015 15:55:02 GMT -5
I got the 285/75r16s on the sport finally. The mechanic mentioned on the phone that I might want to look at replacing the front shocks soon as he can feel it with the new tires on. He had driven it home to get a good read on the transmission leak issue we were having, so he had some time with it. We got this rig with 225,000 miles and horrible maintenance records. Have they been replaced at all? I have no idea... As I'm new to 4x4's and even to driving this rig, I'm not used to what they "should" feel like. Everything else I have is lowered sport/muscle cars. They obviously produce a totally different feel. I know to look for leaks or bottoming out when a shock is blown. But what do I look for to know when they are simply worn and are in need of replacement.... I'm not the type to just replace cause a mechanic says too. I prefer to understand and make the educated choice myself. I've spent so much $ getting this thing on the road to begin with I don't want to spend more unneccessarily, but I also don't want to be unsafe. I realize the larger tires are going to change the vehicles characteristics and wear. But the bank is running dry, so to speeak (spouse will kill me if I say it needs MORE repairs so soon). Plus I would like to get some FUN parts for it!  Also he did not mention the rear, but when the time comes to replace them, I will be looking at a suspension lift. (probably OME HD springs) So what do I need to look for wear wise with the rear as well? Again just want to be educated to replace when its really time. Thank you! |
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Post by ES_97Sport on Feb 5, 2015 16:18:40 GMT -5
... The mechanic mentioned on the phone that I might want to look at replacing the front shocks soon as he can feel it with the new tires on. ... Have they been replaced at all? I have no idea... Probably not. My '03 is still on the originals. They suck. Sigh.  Its not how they 'feel', its how they behave. The typical test is to get the front end bouncing real good by hand and once you stop the front should come to a stand still in 2-3 more 'bounces' at most. If it just keeps going then the shocks need replaced - BOTH shocks; never replace just one even if its the same brand/model. On the road its usually easy to tell. If you hit a bump and the thing just keeps bouncing - then the shocks are shot. Even on my '03 with the stock super squishy POS shocks, if I hit a speed bump it'll bounce one to two times and then stop. They're crappy shocks, but they're still good (for what that's worth). Feel your pain. Much larger tires are going to overpower the stock shocks and increase the wear and tear on the shocks. I hate to be the one to say this, but along with bigger tires usually comes a raft of necessary upgrades - a vehicle is a system of interconnected and inter-working parts. Changing one affects all the others connected to and working with it. Trying to run a heavy 33" tire on stock shocks isn't going to work for long. You need heavier shocks with different valving to control those tires/rims. And, yes, it'll also cause adverse wear problems with your new tires. Yep, you'll need to do both ends. If you're planning on putting year's wear and tear on it before a suspension lift, the time is now. It doesn't work that way with tires. Once you start getting funky wear - especially cupping - you're tires are done. You can't replace shocks and then everything if fine. A tire with weird wear only gets worse, not better nor does it just stay the same. Edward |
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Post by redraif on Feb 6, 2015 22:03:36 GMT -5
So while I was checking the tires I decided to check the bounce from the shocks. Well if I think they are in good shape. I stepped up on a stool and used my weight to get a good bounce going and then let go on the down stroke. It went up and back down returned to rest position and stopped. I plan to go find a decent speed bump tomorrow and pop it over a few times. I will have the spouse film it so I can watch what happens from inside and out.
Now what I did notice when the shocks tested ok.... I got under the front and grabbed the front sway bar and tried to rock it around . I did it on both sides. The sway bar moves in its bushings. Significantly moves. It does not clunk though. It will move right to left. I'm not familiar with this style, so I'm not sure how much play is normal.
The rear was tighter. It seems to only squeak a bit when I attempted to shake it. I can see the end links shift, but they seem to have normal play. Though I did see cracking in the end link bushings.
Now I'm thinking back to what the mechanic said. I believe he indicated it was on the turns that made him think the shocks were due to replace. Side to side is a sway bar thing.... body roll right?
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Post by tirill on Feb 8, 2015 2:59:29 GMT -5
My original sock absorbers started to feel bad when the car was 8-9 years old. Particularly the rear ones. It could easy be felt when U had some 100-200Kg of load in the back. Then it did hit the rubber cushions at every dump in the road.
I changed these with some efforts (hard to reach the upper bolts!!) and the result was just amazing.
I guess the front shocks are more difficult to diagnose, but I am quite convinced that the lifetime of them are the same as the rear ones, so they should really need a change as well.
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Post by russiankid on Feb 8, 2015 12:38:52 GMT -5
I am convinced my front ones are shot. It passes the bounce test when I put my weight on the front, but backing into my driveway or going over speed bumps, it bottoms out and hits the bump stops.
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Post by r0llinlacs on Feb 8, 2015 12:40:10 GMT -5
When I first got mine, the U-bolt seat had a broken stud where the shock mounts, so my rear shock was just dragging on the ground, and it also had another bad front right shock. I was riding on a bad shock in the front and just a leafspring in the back, trust me, you'll know if your shocks are bad. The ride was bouncy as all hell like a trampoline and the front right would dip horribly under heavy braking. Needless to say, I replaced the U-bolt seat and shock on the rear and replaced the front shock and all is A-okay now. Both shocks I replaced were on the passenger side so the two drivers side shocks are still original, with 200k, they feel just a TINY bit weaker than the new ones, but that's to be expected, and it still rides just fine. I know they recommend doing them all or both left and right but I just can't bring myself to replace something that still works. I'm too frugal  |
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Post by russiankid on Feb 8, 2015 13:23:49 GMT -5
I have some heavy dipping under braking. I can be at a stop in traffic and let off the brake, the front lifts a bit, if I reapply the brakes, it'll dip down.
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Post by r0llinlacs on Feb 8, 2015 13:40:31 GMT -5
I have some heavy dipping under braking. I can be at a stop in traffic and let off the brake, the front lifts a bit, if I reapply the brakes, it'll dip down. Do some heavy braking and if it keeps bouncing after you stop then they're bad. Or if you can go slow and pump the brakes and it bounces excessively, they're bad. |
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Post by russiankid on Feb 8, 2015 13:50:38 GMT -5
Yeah mine are definitely blown. I haven't got around to replacing them, been working a lot and fixing other more important items. I just adjusted the steering box and that made a world of a difference in the steering feel.
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Post by r0llinlacs on Feb 8, 2015 13:54:33 GMT -5
Yeah mine are definitely blown. I haven't got around to replacing them, been working a lot and fixing other more important items. I just adjusted the steering box and that made a world of a difference in the steering feel. What did you adjust and what was wrong? My wheel has at least an inch of play and I was wondering what could fix that. |
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Post by russiankid on Feb 8, 2015 14:07:46 GMT -5
The steering box has an adjustment screw on it, after years of use the box gets some slack in it. The adjustment screw takes out the slack. However, you have to be careful in adjusting it because not only will you increase responsiveness of the wheel but you can also over tighten the adjustment screw and the steering wheel won't return to center on its own due to the box being to tight.
With that said, look at the top of the steering box on the drivers side frame rail. You will see an adjustment screw with a flat head on it, and a nut to secure it. The nut can be accessed from inside the wheel well, there is a cut out in the splash shield for access to it. I used a wrench and a very long flat head to hold the adjustment screw and loosen the nut. Once loose, I turned the screw in small incriments (maybe 1/16 of a turn), clockwise. Then, I checked how much slack was taken out of the steering wheel by having the key in the ingition and moving the steering wheel left and right. I also kept a close eye on tire movement, no response from tires with the wheel moving means I need to take out more slack. I ended up only need a quarter of a turn from the adjustment screw to take out 95% of the slack and have response from the wheels when the steering wheel moved.
Take into consideration that adjusting the box incorrectly will not only cause issues as I explained in the first paragraph, but you will also cause excessive wear to the box. So be careful and do not adjust the screw in large incriments. Worst case scenerio, give it a small turn and go for a drive. If you're not confident and are afraid after the adjustment that you didn't do it right, then before doing anything, mark where the adjustment screw is in relation to the whole box with white out so you can return to where it was. I didn't do this but I have adjusted steering boxes before so this isn't a new practice.
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Post by jkdv8 on Feb 8, 2015 15:34:32 GMT -5
I replaced mine after buying new tires. Didn't want them to get chewed up. 2 years now tires look brand new. However some of my baja excursions I think busted the passenger side front. You could hear massive amounts of air when the where compressed as well as on the rebound. Had like 120k on it at the time.
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Post by redraif on Feb 8, 2015 22:02:15 GMT -5
Well I have never had it bottom out... not even when taking a speed bump briskly. I tried hopping it over a few this weekend and it seemed quite controlled. I also have about an inch of play in the steering. I will read up and try and adjust and see how it goes. |
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Post by redraif on Feb 24, 2015 17:29:59 GMT -5
Pictures of the sway bar bushings.... are they bad enough to allow for body roll?  So is this outer front sway bar bushing supposed to be this loose?  Rear endlink bushings? Cracking... replace?  |
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Post by ES_97Sport on Feb 25, 2015 21:40:27 GMT -5
[quote author=" russiankid" source="/post/57868/thread" timestamp="1423422466".... Take into consideration that adjusting the box incorrectly will not only cause issues as I explained in the first paragraph, but you will also cause excessive wear to the box. So be careful and do not adjust the screw in large incriments. Worst case scenerio, give it a small turn and go for a drive. If you're not confident and are afraid after the adjustment that you didn't do it right, then before doing anything, mark where the adjustment screw is in relation to the whole box with white out so you can return to where it was. I didn't do this but I have adjusted steering boxes before so this isn't a new practice.[/quote] Yea, what russiankid said. Over tighten or undertighten this and you will eventually end up replacing/rebuilding the box and that is an expensive proposition. Turn the vehicle off. Get a short machinists ruler. Use a grease pen to make a mark on the top of the steering wheel. Turn the steering wheel with your (one) finger tip all the way to the right and position the ruler at the mark. While holding the ruler stationary, turn the wheel with your fingertip to the left. Measure the distance. Should be like 10-15mm if I remember correctly. Its in the FSMs. More than that and steering is sloppy, less than that and you're wearing out the box prematurely. After a couple hundred thousand miles everyone should have this done to their Sport(s). redraif: Learn how to do this. This is one of those things like tire pressure that you'll need to keep an eye on and probably have to adjust once a year or there in abouts. Edward |
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