Spent some time wrenching today, for "Fun" instead of "I Have too wrench in order to survive".
The rear Rancho 9000's were not making me happy anymore. I discovered the right rear was blown, and there was a dent in the can. that dent must have caused it to fail. So I spent time searching & searching, and searching for replacement shocks. I found nobody makes diddly for our rigs in the higher line of shocks. So....
When I come across situations like this, I think out of the box, and search some more. Happened upon a thread where Brian1 had made a set of pin bar eliminator mounts so he could run an eye to eye shock of his choosing. He was able to mount the Bilstein 5125 series. I thought well, that's sweet. Then I found his post that said they were to much to make, and he wasn't making anymore. I thought well, that's not so sweet. Now what?
Back to searching for an aftermarket set of those. I found a few diff brands, but all were for Jeepers. Darn it! So I take a chance, PM Brian, ask him about them. He agreed to make me a set, but of a totally dif design, and I was the test mule. I thought well, hell yeah, that is awesome! True to his word, they arrived shortly after. And they are simple, yet refined for even the finickiest of shockaholics.
If your interested in a set of these, send Brian1 a PM, and ask him nicely to make you a set.
They arrive raw, so I primed and painted them with rustoleum hammer finish. I didn't want to crack open a new can of POR15 for these as I am not ready to use it yet on an upcoming mod. Included was a nice hardware shopping list, and instructions with a picture showing how they should go together. Nice touch Brian!
So now to find a shock of my choosing after I got my extended, travel, & collapsed numbers. It came down to $$ for a new set. I have other things to spend on as I have a budget for Moab this year. So it was between a set of Bilsein 5125's, Rancho 7000MT's, or Bilstein 5160's. I really wanted the 5160's, but they were twice as much as the others. Then I read reviews on the bushings & seals on them. If they go bad, you really can't rebuild them yourself. All the reviews on the RS7000MT's were positive, and off roader's loved them, and the bushings and sleeves are replaceable easily if needed. RS7000MT's were ordered, and delivered.
I found out today that not all bushing sleeves are of the same width. Guess all I have worked on for the past decade has been Explorers, and I never even thought about it. Imagine that. Brian's tab width's were in spec with the Ex widths, found on the lower mount tabs. I had to remove about 4mm off all sleeves, but grinding 2mm off each side.
Once the mounts were installed per Brian's instructions, they were bolted up with grade 8 hardware. I even replaced the lower mount hardware with new grade 8. I couldn't run the boots as the pass side was too close to the exhaust (not touching) and I was afraid it might melt, so off they came. I never ran them before because they can hold water and silt, and ruin a seal/shaft, but these are black, and I liked how they looked. lol. Oh well, I'm most likely better off w/o them.
I kept the shocks strapped until after the top was mounted tight, then cut the strap, and let the shock lower into position, and stabbed it with the bolt. Much easier then fighting the fully extended shock to mount the lower. Worked like a charm.
So on with the pictures.
