gazbold
Active Member
Oct 2010
I just replaced all 4 shocks on my '98 5.4 Vin L Expy 2/4/all wd (with air suspension) A relatively easy project but I thought I'd share the experience for those of you who would like to know.. I enjoy being able to read about projects before attempting one so I'm giving some back.
It's amazing what you get used to as far as your ride goes and how it feels and sounds etc. So much so, it takes a complaint from your kids in the back seats about the much better ride in Johnny's dad's truck to finally have a look. Not to mention a knocking rattle from under the body back there, without the kids, driving on bumpy surfaces. Upon inspection the front shocks were well rusted with one of them leaking fliud. The rears were visibly OK but equally rusted. A sure sign they've been the same ones for some years.
I did some reading to find it should be a straight forward job without needing specialist tools. Then after a little more buyers research I bought the shocks from Advance Auto Parts. They stock the alleged tried and trusted Monroe brand without being too expensive.
The rears Monroe Sensa-Trac Light Truck Shock Absorber Part No. 37202 @ $86 a pair
The fronts Monroe Specialty Ride Control Unit Part No. 40004 @ $172 a pair
So, at home with the parts and a few spare hours in hand, I began.
Of course it should be mentioned, as everyone else does, that the vehicle should be wheel chocked and the air ride switched OFF before jacking and setting on axle stands. All lifting equipment should be rated to hold a good deal more than the vehicle weighs. (Mine are 4 ton jack and stands) And work on a good level hard paved area. It's also a good idea not to work alone.
Wrench and socket sizes were 18mm and 13mm
I could only find the torque settings for the front shocks - 57 to 76 lb/ft for the lower bolt and 22 to 29 lb/ft for the upper retainer nut. I used common sense and thread locker on the rear.
I started with the rear shocks after setting the rear axle on stands. First off I sprayed the anchor nuts/bolts with a shot of Kroil (better than PB Blaster).
Letting it work in for a few minutes I removed the upper anchor first. It wasn't too bad to release by wrench alone (I don't have all the fancy air tools).
Note that the nut side is closest to the wheel and is a 'captive' type attached to a spring steel clip that slips over the mounting point outer side so its easy to
reassemble with one hand. You don't need to hold it still with a second wrench or socket. Then release the bottom anchor and remove the old shock.
Years ago I was told to 'exercise' new shocks before fitting them. Like, fully compress and pull back out to fully extended 3 or 4 times to supposedly work them in a little after being on a store shelf for who knows how long. Truth or myth, I do it, perhaps it was just for the oil filled type ?
With the rear shocks the only difficulty I found was laying on your back trying to reach over the fuel tank to get at the upper anchor on the driver's side. A couple of extensions on the socket wrench did the deed. For what its worth, on things that don't see the light of day, just salt, water and dirt, I have a habit of going the 'extra mile' when I have time to. Cleaning up the mounts etc, descale, degrease and a new lick of epoxy paint. Its a peace of mind sorta thing. Re-assembly with the new shocks is simply a reverse of removal. So the rear shocks were pretty easy, now for the front.
I was worried that the air system had to be de-pressurized to change out the front shocks but it was NOT the case. I had visions of me pulling out the air line with dramatic results or the shock making a pressurized leap for unbolted freedom ! - Just have the air ride system turned OFF. Every source I read said nothing special had to be done. Depressurization has to be done by sending a code to the air ride system and is usually only done to change out the compressor and such.
Chock the rear wheels. Now jack up a front quarter enough to remove the wheel and set a stand under the chassis beam as insurance.
Remove the wheel and right there behind the rotor is the shock. It has a black air hose plugged in the side. You can reach both upper and lower anchor points without squirming on your back. Yay !
First task is to spray up those rusted nuts etc if you have them.disconnect the air line. Once again, no fancy tools needed. You have to press in the little inner plastic collar and gently tug out the connector tube at the same time. I used the flat side of a small open end wrench a little bigger gap than the dia' of the tube, flat against the collar. That allowed even pressure on the collar end. While pushing the (green on mine) ring in, pull out the hose. Now wipe clean and protect the tube end from dirt and whatever entering. I used a couple of laps of masking tape that's easy to remove. Tuck the hose out of harms way while you get the unit swapped out.
I employed a little forward strategy here and using a second, small jack I lifted the wheel hub a few inches. Using strong copper wire (one core from 12/2) I tied the top half of the shock to the bottom so when it's time to pull it free after lowering the second jack below the axle it won't expand, making it easier to manage. You'll see. Do the same with the new ones, compress them a few inches and tie them off before you put them in. It's a heck of a lot easier than struggling to compress the shock during fitting to get it in. Cut the wire and remove it when the new one is fastened in place.
To work the nut on the top anchor stem, the design gives you flats on the stem end to stop the upper portion rotating while you hold it with a pair of locking pliers or whatever. That wouldn't work for me because of the sheer force I needed to apply to get the nut to go up the rusted threads. I didn't care about scraping the body of the old shock so I held it still with an oil filter gripping plier. Worked great. The bottom nut and bolt were an easy deal similar to the rear upper anchor. A nut with an offset wing washer stops it rotating allowing you to work with one wrench.
Fitting the new one is just a reverse of removal. Just make sure those rubber isolators and steel washers are right side around and in the right order. With the new unit in your hand put a steel washer on the threaded stem first, cup up toward the threaded end, then a rubber isolator. Note -The rubber moulding has different sides. a large center ring extrusion on one side and a little one on the other side. The larger center extrusion locates into the hole on the mounting bracket. Fits right in there, centering the stem through the hole. So the first rubber isolator on the stem goes large extrusion UP.
Set the unit centered in the upper mount and then on the other side of the mount plate, on the stem, place another rubber isolator and then a steel washer cup toward the rubber. A mirror of the lower set. Of course then the nut. I finger tightened the lower anchor first, giving you some movement to center the stem and rubber isolating washers on the upper. Torque up top and bottom and push the air line back into the new unit. The tube-end section went home easily 90% of the way, then apply pressure with a small click feeling at the end as the last 3/16" or so went in.
And that's just about it.. I always double check my work since my wife and children ride in the truck, not to mention anyone else ! After you are happy with the job and have the truck back on the ground, turn the Air Ride switch back on and test drive.
I have to tell you, the ride after this project was just like night and day ! Wow. Like a different vehicle. Sure, I've read the blurb about handling and tire wear issues with worn shocks, all true but the difference in the ride really brings it home. Like I said it's amazing what you get used to without realizing before it gets extreme.
The whole project took about 6 hours without rushing it and cleaning and re-painting mount areas.
If the formatting/layout turns out looking wierd its because I wrote it in Notepad and pasted it in
Hope this helps someone !
I just replaced all 4 shocks on my '98 5.4 Vin L Expy 2/4/all wd (with air suspension) A relatively easy project but I thought I'd share the experience for those of you who would like to know.. I enjoy being able to read about projects before attempting one so I'm giving some back.
It's amazing what you get used to as far as your ride goes and how it feels and sounds etc. So much so, it takes a complaint from your kids in the back seats about the much better ride in Johnny's dad's truck to finally have a look. Not to mention a knocking rattle from under the body back there, without the kids, driving on bumpy surfaces. Upon inspection the front shocks were well rusted with one of them leaking fliud. The rears were visibly OK but equally rusted. A sure sign they've been the same ones for some years.
I did some reading to find it should be a straight forward job without needing specialist tools. Then after a little more buyers research I bought the shocks from Advance Auto Parts. They stock the alleged tried and trusted Monroe brand without being too expensive.
The rears Monroe Sensa-Trac Light Truck Shock Absorber Part No. 37202 @ $86 a pair
The fronts Monroe Specialty Ride Control Unit Part No. 40004 @ $172 a pair
So, at home with the parts and a few spare hours in hand, I began.
Of course it should be mentioned, as everyone else does, that the vehicle should be wheel chocked and the air ride switched OFF before jacking and setting on axle stands. All lifting equipment should be rated to hold a good deal more than the vehicle weighs. (Mine are 4 ton jack and stands) And work on a good level hard paved area. It's also a good idea not to work alone.
Wrench and socket sizes were 18mm and 13mm
I could only find the torque settings for the front shocks - 57 to 76 lb/ft for the lower bolt and 22 to 29 lb/ft for the upper retainer nut. I used common sense and thread locker on the rear.
I started with the rear shocks after setting the rear axle on stands. First off I sprayed the anchor nuts/bolts with a shot of Kroil (better than PB Blaster).
Letting it work in for a few minutes I removed the upper anchor first. It wasn't too bad to release by wrench alone (I don't have all the fancy air tools).
Note that the nut side is closest to the wheel and is a 'captive' type attached to a spring steel clip that slips over the mounting point outer side so its easy to
reassemble with one hand. You don't need to hold it still with a second wrench or socket. Then release the bottom anchor and remove the old shock.
Years ago I was told to 'exercise' new shocks before fitting them. Like, fully compress and pull back out to fully extended 3 or 4 times to supposedly work them in a little after being on a store shelf for who knows how long. Truth or myth, I do it, perhaps it was just for the oil filled type ?
With the rear shocks the only difficulty I found was laying on your back trying to reach over the fuel tank to get at the upper anchor on the driver's side. A couple of extensions on the socket wrench did the deed. For what its worth, on things that don't see the light of day, just salt, water and dirt, I have a habit of going the 'extra mile' when I have time to. Cleaning up the mounts etc, descale, degrease and a new lick of epoxy paint. Its a peace of mind sorta thing. Re-assembly with the new shocks is simply a reverse of removal. So the rear shocks were pretty easy, now for the front.
I was worried that the air system had to be de-pressurized to change out the front shocks but it was NOT the case. I had visions of me pulling out the air line with dramatic results or the shock making a pressurized leap for unbolted freedom ! - Just have the air ride system turned OFF. Every source I read said nothing special had to be done. Depressurization has to be done by sending a code to the air ride system and is usually only done to change out the compressor and such.
Chock the rear wheels. Now jack up a front quarter enough to remove the wheel and set a stand under the chassis beam as insurance.
Remove the wheel and right there behind the rotor is the shock. It has a black air hose plugged in the side. You can reach both upper and lower anchor points without squirming on your back. Yay !
First task is to spray up those rusted nuts etc if you have them.disconnect the air line. Once again, no fancy tools needed. You have to press in the little inner plastic collar and gently tug out the connector tube at the same time. I used the flat side of a small open end wrench a little bigger gap than the dia' of the tube, flat against the collar. That allowed even pressure on the collar end. While pushing the (green on mine) ring in, pull out the hose. Now wipe clean and protect the tube end from dirt and whatever entering. I used a couple of laps of masking tape that's easy to remove. Tuck the hose out of harms way while you get the unit swapped out.
I employed a little forward strategy here and using a second, small jack I lifted the wheel hub a few inches. Using strong copper wire (one core from 12/2) I tied the top half of the shock to the bottom so when it's time to pull it free after lowering the second jack below the axle it won't expand, making it easier to manage. You'll see. Do the same with the new ones, compress them a few inches and tie them off before you put them in. It's a heck of a lot easier than struggling to compress the shock during fitting to get it in. Cut the wire and remove it when the new one is fastened in place.
To work the nut on the top anchor stem, the design gives you flats on the stem end to stop the upper portion rotating while you hold it with a pair of locking pliers or whatever. That wouldn't work for me because of the sheer force I needed to apply to get the nut to go up the rusted threads. I didn't care about scraping the body of the old shock so I held it still with an oil filter gripping plier. Worked great. The bottom nut and bolt were an easy deal similar to the rear upper anchor. A nut with an offset wing washer stops it rotating allowing you to work with one wrench.
Fitting the new one is just a reverse of removal. Just make sure those rubber isolators and steel washers are right side around and in the right order. With the new unit in your hand put a steel washer on the threaded stem first, cup up toward the threaded end, then a rubber isolator. Note -The rubber moulding has different sides. a large center ring extrusion on one side and a little one on the other side. The larger center extrusion locates into the hole on the mounting bracket. Fits right in there, centering the stem through the hole. So the first rubber isolator on the stem goes large extrusion UP.
Set the unit centered in the upper mount and then on the other side of the mount plate, on the stem, place another rubber isolator and then a steel washer cup toward the rubber. A mirror of the lower set. Of course then the nut. I finger tightened the lower anchor first, giving you some movement to center the stem and rubber isolating washers on the upper. Torque up top and bottom and push the air line back into the new unit. The tube-end section went home easily 90% of the way, then apply pressure with a small click feeling at the end as the last 3/16" or so went in.
And that's just about it.. I always double check my work since my wife and children ride in the truck, not to mention anyone else ! After you are happy with the job and have the truck back on the ground, turn the Air Ride switch back on and test drive.
I have to tell you, the ride after this project was just like night and day ! Wow. Like a different vehicle. Sure, I've read the blurb about handling and tire wear issues with worn shocks, all true but the difference in the ride really brings it home. Like I said it's amazing what you get used to without realizing before it gets extreme.
The whole project took about 6 hours without rushing it and cleaning and re-painting mount areas.
If the formatting/layout turns out looking wierd its because I wrote it in Notepad and pasted it in
Hope this helps someone !
