has any body changed the s/s tower on the right front?
my '95 4x4 has a broken on, so now she is rideing on one shock on that corner.
picks or video would be great

ken

 

all you have to do is take the spring/coil spring off, then remove the rivets holding the bracket to the frame either by drilling, torching, or grinding them off. Then mount new bracket to the frame using either grade 8 hardware or by welding it on. If you know how to weld, should be a pretty easy job.

 

just did this last weekend, but on my 2wd. here was the bracket, almost rusted the whole way across. heres some info hope it helps



the shock comes out pretty easily, i recommend letting the nuts soak with some pb blaster for a few minutes and use an air gun on the bottom if possible.
i think the torque specs are 30 for the top strut and 35 or so for the bottom bolt.

the spring has that 1 1/8" nut on the bottom that torques to 100 ftlbs it can be a bitch. you need a deep socket because the stud sticks up far out of the nut. i dropped a small extension and socket down through the top hole and then got my 1/2" drive ratchet between 2 coils. i put a nice 3 foot pipe over the handle of the ratchet and it came out relatively easily. soak it in some pb blaster if you can for a few min first.


there are 6 rivets you have to get out. 4 on the face side of the bracket and 2 on the bottom. the bumpstop thing is also bolted through the bracket and framerail so it needs to come out. i cut the heads off the rivets and punched them out with my 5lb sledge. i used a grinding wheel for the 4 rivets on the side and actually used the sawzall for the 2 on the bottom and to cut the bumpstop. it all went back together with 7/16" hardware that i used lock washers on and tightened to like 45 ftlbs or something similar to that. the bumpstop i just drilled another hole in the metal center and tapped it so i could just drop another bolt down through and tighten it up. it worked like a charm.


the brake line goes through the bracket. i didnt feel like messing with it for many reasons so i just cut out the bracket around the brakeline and zip tied it to the hole in the new bracket making sure it was tight and no part of the line was rubbing on anything and wouldnt wear a hole in the line.

not the hardest job but it was mildly annoying. i got totally covered in dirt and rust shavings. def. wear goggles and a mask/respirator while grinding. good luck

 

I thought about mounting the spring towers an inch or two lower to raise the front. Also thought about mounting them higher to lower it.

 

ok, Matt, thanks for the great right up!!
the frame has to be on jack stands right?
and the axle loose so it can be lowered to remove / replace the spring ?
Iam also thinking about replaceing the springs with those from a 250 hopeing it will make the ole girl seet level??

thanks ken

 

yeah the frame should be supported on stands. plus that will free up your floorjack to help compress the spring/shock which helps when u put the nut on the top of the shocks.

as for the axle im not sure how the 4wd is set up so i can say for sure