Fitting Shock Absorbers...

**stuee** · 11th April 2014, 04:27 PM

I picked these up from the post office this morning:

The rears:

The fronts:

I've fitted one rear shock so far. The rear shock compared to the original ones is below - make sure you keep the factory rubbers from the lower mount or organise some replacements as they can be used on the standard 4wd shocks (Ironman in my case). They will work a lot better than the rubbers that come with the new shocks. The new ones are almost small enough that they'll simply pull through the mount unless some wide washers were used on each side of the mount.

I first cut a 14x2 thread as per Ron's post linked earlier in the thread. Since I had the chassis galvanised, one of the shock mount tubes on the rear filled with zinc and I had to drill about 40mm out so I could get the required thread depth (its why thers not much thread depth for the first few threads as due to air pockets the drill had a tendency to jump around. Thankfully all the others are clear.

Next I tried one of the ironman upper rubbers. A bit of dish washing liquid on the shaft and it popped on quite easily. The ironman bushes look like they are made for a 19mm shaft where as the 101 shaft is 23mm. I re-lubed the shaft with dish washing liquid, placed the shock over the first rubber and the second one slipped on just as easily. You'll note that I wire brushed the shafts first to get the paint off (still a galvanised finish) and to help smooth the shaft so the rubbers slide on easily.

Next it was a case of putting in some washers to get it seated nicely on the rubbers. I've used two of the original bush retainers and 4 24x2mm washers. I'm not very happy with how it looks at the moment although it does work. I will see if my mate can help me out by making up some bushing for me or I might hunt some tube down with the correct ID and use it in place of the washers. Ultimately the washers work though, I just don't think it looks very nice.

The bottom mounts came up nicely and don't need any other work.

I'm confident the fronts will fit as the eyes are the same and the mounts are the same as the rear top mount. The only issue is I may need to drop the lower mounting plate off the front axle in order to tap the thread but I will give it a crack first and see how I go.

I'm not sure how long the rubbers will last stretched over the 23mm shafts. There is also much less rubber than a factory shock but its by no means difficult to change the rubbers if need be and I doubt they are very expensive. These sort of shocks may not be the greatest alternative but they are relatively cheap compared to the re-manufactured shocks and do not require any serious modifications to the chassis.

I was having a think the other night about what options I may have if the rubbers didn't stretch over the mounts. One idea I came up with is to cut the shafts off flush with the chassis mount, tap the remainder of the shaft with the 14x2mm thread and get some new 19mm solid round bar mounts made with and 14x2mm thread cut on one end to simply screw into the chassis mounts with some thread locker. Another thread on the other end plus a washer and nut and your're sorted. But with how easy it was to fit the ironmans I'll probably just replace the rubbers when needed and when the these shocks flog out I'll be more inclined to spend a bit more on bilsteins or koni's. The advantage of these would be getting them valved to suite as well.

Unfortunately I cant tell you how it rides with these shocks as I'm still a bit of getting the 101 on the road but hopefully this shows that the shocks fit and will help others choose a replacement option.

**101RRS** · 11th April 2014, 05:18 PM

Thanks for that Stuee - what are the shock model numbers.

I have not had any issue getting the split pin through the shock mounts so not sure why you needed to drill the shock mounts.

When I last replaced my shock rubbers I was surprised at their cost so went to a local truck parts supplier and bought some generic yellow nolothane rubbers with the 23mm centres for a $2 each and they fitted Ok.

Cheers

Garry

**Sitec** · 11th April 2014, 08:10 PM

Great info Stuee.. If you were to shift one of those larger washers to the other side of the rubbers (yeah it'd b a ***** to drill), it'd even them up and it might look a bit better.. I wouldn't cut the stub shorter to suit in case you decide to refit the originals. Garrycol, the part numbers are on the ends of the boxes in the pics.. I screen shotted those two photos and they'll go in my '101 notes' book!

**DasLandRoverMan** · 12th April 2014, 05:52 AM

I believe bottom bushes are the same as RRC/Disco body mounting rubbers.

I think part numbers are different but the same size.
Or, put another way I've fitted poly body mount bushes on the lower end of a 101 rear shocker before.

**stuee** · 12th April 2014, 11:38 AM

On using the split pins, since the rubbers are made for 19mm shafts they are bulging on the 23mm shaft. I can't push the final bush in far enough to get a washer and split pin because it wont fit in the shock eye, hence the need for the bolt. Had the rubbers been going on 19mm shafts it probably would have been fine.

Also on the shock numbers I ordered off vehicle models via the 4wd1 website using the info I found in the previous post. I didnt see the part numbers until I went to pay for the goods and they show up on the invoice. Doing a quick search on the numbers the front shocks, 24094FE, suite the following vehicles:
Nissan Patrol GQ Y60 LWB Wagon 1988-1998 Rear shocks (pair)
Nissan Patrol GQ Y60 SWB Wagon 1988-1998 Rear shocks (pair)
Nissan Patrol GU Y61 Cab Chassis & Ute 1997 On - (Coil Springs Front & Rear) Rear shocks (pair)
Nissan Patrol GU Y61 Wagon 1997 On Rear shocks (pair)
Toyota Landcruiser 76 Series Wagon 2007 On Rear shocks (pair)
Toyota Landcruiser 78 Series Troop Carrier 1999 On Rear shocks (pair)
Toyota Landcruiser 79 Series Trayback 1999 On Rear shocks (pair)

The rear shocks, 24640FE, suite the following vehicles:
Landrover Defender 110 Trayback 1984 On Rear shocks (pair)
Landrover Defender 110, 130 County/Dual Cab 1984 On Rear shocks (pair)
Landrover Defender 90 Series 1984 On Rear shocks (pair)
Landrover Discovery Series 1 1989-1998 Rear shocks (pair)
Landrover Rangerover 1971-1995 Rear shocks (pair)

So they look like rather generic shocks.

For the washers when delving around my parts bins last night I realised I only have 6 of the large washers, I thought each shock eye would have had two but nope, so it means it needs another two 24x2mm washers for each eye or one of the front shocks will miss out on the large washers which are spot on size wise for holding the bush in place.

That's good info on the lower mounts. It means it would be easy to source some new ones if needed. It does look like the tops rubbers will flog out a lot quicker than the bottoms though

**Brute** · 12th April 2014, 04:11 PM

Stu,
I have a new set of shocky rubbers that I got from 101 parts in uk.
You could use them as a sample to get some urathane ones machined up locally
If you want before I fit them
Cheers
Ian

**puma130tc** · 12th April 2014, 07:30 PM

AJ in Melbourne, supplied some nylon hand type replacement bushes for the original 101 shocks, however they are bigger and require the spindles to be tapped as you have already done, only the outer washer is then required.
I'm sorry I can't recall the brand, at this moment, I used them until I stripped my vehicle down, they were a great mod!
Possibly another option...

**Sitec** · 12th April 2014, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by puma130tc

AJ in Melbourne, supplied some nylon hand type replacement bushes for the original 101 shocks, however they are bigger and require the spindles to be tapped as you have already done, only the outer washer is then required.
I'm sorry I can't recall the brand, at this moment, I used them until I stripped my vehicle down, they were a great mod!
Possibly another option...

They r these.... Kept the packet in my 101 folder!

**puma130tc** · 12th April 2014, 09:28 PM

That be them!
I nearly had the name earlier.
I have the packet at work, was going to look for it tomorrow.
What did you think of them?

**stuee** · 13th April 2014, 06:43 AM

The standard 101 shock rubbers look like they will be too big for the ironman shocks. I have some flogged out ones which I did try but the OD means the shock eye doesn't cover much of the bush. I'll measure the eye ID's of the originals compared to the ironmans later today and put it up.

Thread: Fitting Shock Absorbers...

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