2WD Aerostar - Front shock bolt size & spring insulator parts store request.

[sam.g]

Hey all,

Proud owner of a new-to-me '97 XLT here, 144k miles and a lot of overdue maintenance.

I've been overhauling the brakes and suspension and am going to tackle the front shocks and springs next. I want to make sure I have all the parts on hand before starting the job and I have these two issues:

I found a thread on this forum detailing front shock replacement. The parts list on that is M8-1.25 30mm flange bolts and M8 jam nuts for the lower mounting points. However, the shocks that are currently on there are installed with bolts that take a 10mm wrench, so definitely smaller than M8 (which normally take a 13mm wrench I believe). Anyone know for sure what the correct bolt size is? My Haynes is quiet on the subject.

Secondly, anyone know a good source for front and rear coil spring insulators?

Thanks!

Sam
Oakland, CA

 

[BrooklynBay]

The bolt size listed in that thread is what is on my 1995 van. Maybe your 1997 uses a different size bolt or maybe the hex head is different. Could you remove one bolt to check the size?

 

[Josh P]

A few options for the front coil spring insulators, Dennis Carpenter sells a rubber insulator that fits. Part # 8A-5415-A. I've read but not verified that the 96-98 rear insulators for a toyota rav4 work, and fox body mustang front insulators.