Shock upgrade ?

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Kestral
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Shock upgrade ?

Postby Kestral » Sun Jul 20, 2014 2:07 am

I mentioned in another post that in time I will add the Airlift 1000 air bags to my Pathy at that time I plan to upgrade the rear shocks to some Bilstines. Can I get away with just replacing the rear shocks or do I have to replace both the front and rear at the same time to avoid handling problems from the shocks being different front to rear?


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ShipFixer
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Postby ShipFixer » Sun Jul 20, 2014 12:08 pm

As long as you do pairs (fronts and rears) you're fine. This is what I do to space out the work.

Some people consider the fronts easier since the rear top bolts can be difficult to access but I think it's easier since you don't have to mess with a spring compressor or replace the rubber bushings in the shock mount...

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Sun Jul 20, 2014 3:17 pm

The fronts aren't particularly bad performance wise. Something about the rears is terrible. I swapped Bilsteins to the rear around 20k and it made a big improvement. I still have the OEM fronts at 115k and they just started to deteriorate this winter. It's on my list of things to do but I haven't made it a big priority at this point.

Kestral
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Postby Kestral » Mon Jul 21, 2014 12:17 am

Thanks for the info I think I will change out the rears before the snow flies. Is it a difficult job to change out the rears? Or is it better left to a professional?

skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Mon Jul 21, 2014 5:17 am

Mine weren't that bad but it was only a year or so old. I've heard they get rusted up pretty badly and the access to the bolts isn't the best.

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:10 am

Left side is a little easier than the right, because of the exhaust. The procedure is simple, but the nuts are on pretty tight. Torque spec for the rear shock nuts is 129 ft/lbs for the top nut and 165 ft/lbs for the bottom nut. Even with a 1/2" air gun, I couldn't break mine loose and they weren't rusted at all. I had to use a long breaker bar with an extension and swivel socket.


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