Darkmint's Suspension Replacement

For my own future reference.

 

Above: old Diver side vs new

Below: pics of old Pass side




Screwdriver pry bar broke a couple more times after this.

Old vs new hardware. Husky HD ubolts are marked Dayton. Shackle bolts&nut remain 19mm, all new Husky hardware uses 7/8".

 

Great work sir! Although the difference in the full kit price front and rear for Monroe quick struts and Bilstein 5100’s is only about $150 or so. The Billies do require you to reuse your factory spring (which you appear to be missing).

 

I don't have the confidence to use an at home portable spring compressor and reuse the dubious old Monroe spring (wasn't OEM to begin with) so I didn't really look into buying individual front struts at all. Gotta go with the cheapest, simplest job for now (especially with apartment workers on the prowl! Car repairs in the apartment lot are a no-no )

 

Replaced old unknown manufacturer rear shocks with KYB gas-a-just. Old top nut was a bitch to remove, had to use nut splitter from Amazon. Was unable to break the nut off fully due to how it clamps but splitting part of it released enough nut pressure. After that, parrot nose pliers with a 14mm wrench hammered onto the bulged/split top nut allowed me to unscrew it.
The old shock didn't have an Allen head slot, but rather a janky "rectangle" to hold on to. Pliers mangled that tiny rectangle head so it was worthless trying to unbolt that way.

Both sides used parrot nose pliers to clamp on the shaft of shock (cut away the shock cover with pocketknife).

Deep 7/8" socket to torque the U Bolts. I originally found 80 ft/lbs for all bolts but based on @KNABORES thread and pic, I used those torque values. I had not torqued down the leafs until now.

Can't really torque down the new top nut because KYB shocks also have that stupid rectangle at the top and spinning the nut just spins the shock shaft.