DESPERATE-Front shock question

[Ghostrider]

i tried to put my rancho rs5000's on the front tongiht, but they were the wrong ones. sears supposedly gave me the right ones but they were 4 inches shorther than they should have been. has anyone put these on a 95 or later model? also, that cross piece on the bottom that goes though the loop and mounts to frame with 2 bolts, can you use the stock one, like does it come out of other shock? or is that supposed to be part of the shock? i forgot to check it cause i was so pissed last night. if anyone can help, please let me know, i have to get these shocks done. thanks

 

[Ghostrider]

ok, well i finally got the correct shocks. stayed up until 2 last night installing them and cant tell you what a huge difference they make. for anyone considering the rs5000's, front model number is rs5229 and rear is rs5185. the front ones are hard to get so call a few days before you want to start itl

 

[ETJAFFE]

How was the installation of your shocks? I have read from people on this site that you don't even have to lift the truck, but that doesn't seem to make sense. How did you do it? What year truck do you have?

 

[Ghostrider]

the install was not that bad. some of the botls were on there pretty dang tight thought, they must has really torqued the old ones down. i used jack stands and a jack. if you did it with no jack, first off, you could not take the front tires off and that in itself would be a total pain in the ass. also, when the front is on jackstands, you have to take the jack and jack up the A-frame by the wheel once you set the new shock in to get it to fit, becuase that piece hangs down too much. on the back, i put two jack stands on the axle, but those werent really needed. just did it for more room to work. on this, be sure to take spare off becuase it makes the job so much easier. it took me about 2 1/2 hours, but i had never done anyting like this before. hope this helps

 

[Ghostrider]

i have a 95 sport

 

[S.Matsushige]

Glad to hear you like the RS-5000 and that you were able to get the right ones. I've had them on my '91 for some time now and can't imagine why I didn't change them earlier. I was told and shown a write up from a consumer magazine which stated that a new cars shocks will last anywhere from 3K to 10K. I had a bunch of miles on my stock shock and was getting tired of the side to side rocking when goiing over uneven surfaces. I think that the RS-5000s are a very good buy.