Suspension questions

[mahleek87]

Im in the process of trying to add a little more life to my suspension. My van is an 86 with 327,000 miles is still on its original springs and my mechanic told me not to change them but instead change the rear shocks and add heavy duty ones instead of the Toyota OEM which are not available anymore. I called toyota and the springs are still avail but my mechanic said your better off just changing your shocks even though the springs are still original. I plan on also changing my front shocks and my mechanic also added that he would not feel safe adjusting the height of the van by the two bolts that adjust it just incase something breaks or bends. Im sick and tired of moving all over the place whenever I take a turn or hit a bump.

My questions are, what shocks would you recommend for the front and back?

Also how difficult is it to change the upper control arm bushings? They are noisy. Also which ones should I buy? My mechanic says I may get some stability by changing them.

[Burntboot]

Measuring ride height will tell you if you have an issue with springs.

They may be fine, being NLA makes for an easier decision, though.
You should verify availability, do a little legwork online.

I know, for a fact, that the rear shocks are available, I ordered rears for my 4WD and they supplied the 2WD variant.
They are going cheap if you want them.

As for heavy duty, KYB is probably a good bet, hopefully someone else will chime in.

BB

[wirewrkr]

I always liked the KYB gas shocks for "saggin' waggins"

[RawbSpear]

is your an 2 or 4wd?

[wirewrkr]

Mines a 2WD

[mahleek87]

Mine is a 2wd. I'm probably going to go with the kyb's front and back and I will also look into replacing my front upper bushings if Toyota still offers them. With everything running good I feel as this maintainence will be essential in my goal to break 400k.

[Bones]

Has anyone considered getting custom springs made? I have found a few places online, but I don't have any info on the van springs to supply for a quote. I was hoping to incorporate the 2.5" of lift I want on the rear, instead of relying on Mr. Gasket.

I am running KYB's all around on my 4x4 and I like them.

[mahleek87]

779

I just got my bushings in and plan on having my mechanic do them next weekend. I will post pics of how the original ones look compared to these after 26 years.

[davidgracevan]

is gas type better than the fluid type shocks?

[Burntboot]

In a word Yes. In reality all shocks are hydraulic (fluid filled), but a gas charged strut has a gas chamber as well.A strictly hydraulic shock will dampen movement only, whereas a gas charged unit will want to increase to maximum travel.When installed it is always somewhat compressed, and will provide a slight increase in ride height compared to non-charged shocks,they will also improve the dampening ability of the shock. OE shocks were gas charged, it is always better to stay with the same caliber or better, downgrading is not recommended.BB

[mahleek87]

Started doing the upper control arm bushings on my van today with my mechanic. To me and him it is definitely not an easy job. We were able to do the right side which took almost 4 hours by itself. Once we started to do the left side the torsion bolt was stuck and started spinning. We may be in trouble here, any advice from someone who has done the job before will help.

[mahleek87]

Finished the upper control arm bushings tonight on the left side. So now both sides are done. It is easier to access the bolts to remove the control arm from the engine bay instead from underneath. Van rides pretty smooth.

[mahleek87]

959

Whats left of the upper control arm bushings on the right side. The left ones were even worse (didnt picture them)

[timsrv]

Lol, I suspect there's quite a few vans driving around out there with similar looking bushings :dizzy:. Tim

[mahleek87]

Given that it is such a difficult job I would have to agree. :thmbup:

[foreverly]

So Mahleek - what method did you use to do the bushings? Brut force? Or did you take them to Toyota?

[mahleek87]

I bought the bushings from toyota but my mechanic used a tool that connects to an air gun which is kinda like a high powered chisel that pushes them out. I dont know the name of that tool maybe someone can help me with that but thats what we used to knock them out

[Wrench]

Are the upper control arm bushings NLA? I only see "front lower" on RockAuto.

[JPERL]

Are the upper control arm bushings NLA? I only see "front lower" on RockAuto.


48632-27010
Upper still available from Toyota $30 2 required

48632-28030
NLA

[Wrench]

48632-27010
Upper still available from Toyota $30 2 required

48632-28030
NLA

Is the NLA part the arm itself?

[Jdelgado]

972797289729

I plan on replacing the entire control arm, I was kinda stumped on how to remove these 17mm bolts the other day when I inspected it. Are these the bolts that are easier to remove from inside the engine bay?
(in the bottom 2 photos)

[Tan Van]

-you get pretty good access on 2wd from above ...(under the seats)
-make sure you "unload" the spring first, and mark your starting point on the double-nutted threaded spring adjusting stud so you can approximate where to crank the springs up to when you're done
-I've always had good luck buying "loaded" control arms from aftermarket- and these "Centric9732" brand uppers are working really smooth like new.
-I took off a set of "KYB monotube" front shocks that had only 1600 miles on them because of their harshness on every road seam and bump ... now I'm using classic "Monroe gas matic plus" and it rides like a 1976 Cordoba (smooth!) ... (I want to impress my passengers, so, the smooth ride was necessary now that it's no longer a work van and I re-installed the swivelling captain's chairs and bench.).9731
this weekend we do the lowers !!!

[Tan Van]

...update -- the new Centric lower control arms are in --- they have a really accurate and beautiful fit at every attaching point
...going in for alignment tomorrow, however, I must say that "dropping" the van (not literally) off of the jack and back onto the garage floor once the wheels were back on was a pleasant experience. The van settled with NOT A SINGLE sound of any kind... no clack or cluck or creak anywhere-- just the muted rubbery sound of tires touching the ground

--after a couple test-drives I'll be able to submit a final review of the new loaded lower control arms...9733

[originalkwyjibo]

I wish this stuff was more available for the 4WDs.

Hey just an FYI, and maybe you already knew this. It is generally recommended to tighten control arm pivot bushings with the suspension at rest in it's normally loaded position. This could be accomplished by leaving the bolts a couple turns loose and either setting it on the ground and then reaching under to give them final torque or by supporting it with jack stands as near to the tire as possible to mimic the normal loaded resting position of the bushing. If you tighten the pivot bushings with the suspension drooped and then lower the vehicle the bushing is in a constantly twisted state and will typically wear out faster.

[Tan Van]

Thanks... good point.
Yes, I left the big cam-bolts pretty loose, and, when everything else was finished being installed, I lifted each side of the van with an additional hydraulic jack under the brake rotor to simulate final ride height (one side at a time). Then I torqued down the control arm bolts last. I had all 4 of my jack-stands and the bigger hydraulic jack set up on the opposite side from where I was working for safety.

[OliGT90]

Quick question, do you know what size and type of bolts are used fasten the shocks to the control arm? Went to get tires today and much to my surprise, I noticed my driver side shock is not fastened on the bottom.