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.