dobbslc
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You might have seen my new shocks and springs in the "today I acquired section" well here's a bit of a write up on changing the rear suspension on a 3rd gen Toyota Surf if you're interested.
The old back end was very saggy after 23 years of stirling service and would hit the bump stops easily with only a couple of fat mates in the back! So off to Roughtrax for new Monroe Trackryder shocks and some Pedders springs all the way from Australia.
Best part of £200 but it's quality gear from a shop I trust not to sell me crap from some far eastern sweatshop!
First job was to jack the truck up high enough to work on then get some axle stands under the chassis rails, then I had to unbolt the bottom shock mounts and they came out very easily. Next the top mounts......
The servo for the high/low damper adjustment has to come of first and with very little room to access the small clips I had to lever them off with a screwdriver,
Then the top mounting nuts come off but are a complete cow to get at!
Anyway they came out eventually, I had to grip the drivers side one with some large pipe grips to stop it turning with the nut!
You can see the top mount is very worn on one shock!
They still had plenty of damping left in them after 23 years service! Toyota quality shining through, imagine a Vauxhall that age with it's original shocks!
The next thing was to get the springs out so the lateral bar/tie bar needs the left hand side bolt removing and then dropping out the way to allow the rear axle to be moved down a bit with the aid of a bottle jack.
A quick clean up and a splash of red oxide paint on the top spring seats and the new springs went in, to look at against the old ones they are about 5mm shorter BUT they have a much thicker diameter.
Next the new Monroe dampers went in, bottom bolts first and I only did them up loosely as they need torquing up with the weight on the wheels to prevent the rubber bushes getting twisted (same with the lateral bar) Then jack the axle up to get the top damper shaft in through the chassis mounting hole. Getting the torque wrench in was a PITA! The metal cups that the servo motors clipped into aren't needed as the new dampers and bushes fit perfectly without them, I only noticed I hadn't fitted the first one after the shock was in place
but after looking at the other new shock the cup wouldn't have allowed the bushes to fit properly if it was used so I was ok!
The wiring for the servos was cut as it's not needed anymore and I put some heat shrink tubing over the ends then cable tied them out the way. I put the plugs back in to stop any water getting in.
Drop the truck back down and torque up the bottom shock and lateral bar bolts.
Then admire the finished job.
The truck now sits about 35mm higher than it did, the springs are standard length not high lift ones so it shows how much it was sagging before!
The back end now feels much nicer without the bottoming out over speed humps etc.
The only problem is that the front now needs doing......
The old back end was very saggy after 23 years of stirling service and would hit the bump stops easily with only a couple of fat mates in the back! So off to Roughtrax for new Monroe Trackryder shocks and some Pedders springs all the way from Australia.
Best part of £200 but it's quality gear from a shop I trust not to sell me crap from some far eastern sweatshop!
First job was to jack the truck up high enough to work on then get some axle stands under the chassis rails, then I had to unbolt the bottom shock mounts and they came out very easily. Next the top mounts......
The servo for the high/low damper adjustment has to come of first and with very little room to access the small clips I had to lever them off with a screwdriver,
Then the top mounting nuts come off but are a complete cow to get at!
Anyway they came out eventually, I had to grip the drivers side one with some large pipe grips to stop it turning with the nut!
You can see the top mount is very worn on one shock!
They still had plenty of damping left in them after 23 years service! Toyota quality shining through, imagine a Vauxhall that age with it's original shocks!
The next thing was to get the springs out so the lateral bar/tie bar needs the left hand side bolt removing and then dropping out the way to allow the rear axle to be moved down a bit with the aid of a bottle jack.
A quick clean up and a splash of red oxide paint on the top spring seats and the new springs went in, to look at against the old ones they are about 5mm shorter BUT they have a much thicker diameter.
Next the new Monroe dampers went in, bottom bolts first and I only did them up loosely as they need torquing up with the weight on the wheels to prevent the rubber bushes getting twisted (same with the lateral bar) Then jack the axle up to get the top damper shaft in through the chassis mounting hole. Getting the torque wrench in was a PITA! The metal cups that the servo motors clipped into aren't needed as the new dampers and bushes fit perfectly without them, I only noticed I hadn't fitted the first one after the shock was in place
but after looking at the other new shock the cup wouldn't have allowed the bushes to fit properly if it was used so I was ok!The wiring for the servos was cut as it's not needed anymore and I put some heat shrink tubing over the ends then cable tied them out the way. I put the plugs back in to stop any water getting in.
Drop the truck back down and torque up the bottom shock and lateral bar bolts.
Then admire the finished job.
The truck now sits about 35mm higher than it did, the springs are standard length not high lift ones so it shows how much it was sagging before!
The back end now feels much nicer without the bottoming out over speed humps etc.
The only problem is that the front now needs doing......
