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Can't believe my luck. Just scored a NOS John Baker exterior shock mount kit. Finally got a solution for the front end with well thought out suspension tuning in mind, instead of just clearing air bags.
Anyone have pics of this installed?
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you have a set of the best shocks ever made for our trucks - those orange shocks were specially built by Monroe for the ram / mm trucks for John Baker. They were the best riding shocks I ever had - the Tokicos are good, but not as good as those are. If anyone has this installed, it would be Ragragtimetime or Yamahlr. Can you make templates for those pieces - they were well made?
I don't have them in my hands yet but I will definitely send them up to Area 51 if people want copies. Maybe we can try to find a substitute for the shock too.
How long did the shocks last when you had them?
i received only a few years of service from those shocks...but i was towing a boat http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...1&d=1404642948 & new england weather causes stuff to rust like its on fire. i'll take a pic of installed exteriors for you asap....i remember using a crappy shock just for welding alignment purposes (just to get a tack weld in place at "full droop").
exterior shock pics added to this album:
http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin...hp?albumid=305
Thanks, RRTT. Man, those winters just murder vehicles.
The only person I trust 100% to install these correctly is Camoit, because of his experience with trophy trucks. Maybe I can hire him to install them and he could make replica mounts and get the measurements for replacement shocks. I've been meaning to check out Area 51 anyway. I also want to drop the truck off at DG headers which is close by him. But every time I think I have some free time or money, something comes up. Soon...
I only got 3-4 years out of them on a daily driver with lowered baker coils. But they would last longer on an airbagged vehicle not driven daily.
I was going to use 2" drop spindles and stock coils. Maybe now would be a good time for an air bag. I got air shocks and lowering leafs for the rear.
RRTT, I noticed you used a second shock in the standard mounting point. Why?
The benefits of having extra shock absorbers is that any extreme force encountered is divided between the two shock absorbers for a more comfortable ride & using twin shocks is also beneficial when carrying loads (like a vip vindicator boat with a 235hp ford v8) as it improves the load carrying ability of the vehicle. Air schocks (shown in pic) gave the truck maximum lift when needed/desired & took pressure off of the sway-a-way "powerbarz" (yet i still managed to break a 2nd set...1st set was covered under warranty). & yes those are john baker upper control arms in the pic. In retrospect I should have never worked the truck as hard as I did...the current 1983 4wd prospector project will be the recipient of many parts from the 86 & will be my 2nd chance to respect the "mighty" truck.
Would having dual shocks help for street use? The streets in Oakland are horrible -- potholes everywhere.
Should I get a steering stabilizer too?
both can't hurt...I recently transferred the john baker steering stabilizer to the 83 (come to think of it...it uses the same manufacturer of shock in your above pics)...never could understand why they didn't just come with a stabilizer...there's a frame mount already in place:shrug: (on the 1st gen 4wd's)
I got the shocks and mounts in today. These are really well made.
The codes stamped on the cylinder are:
SPX-30
COJ13E2A
I did some Googling and it appears SPX-30 is a heavy duty twin tube truck shock made by Koni. I'm assuming the other numbers are the date of production and lot number (same code on both shocks). I know Pennyman said they were Monroe shocks but maybe he was mistaken? Today the SPX line is only made for Mercedes and Land Rover. Maybe that's why the ride was so good? These are absolute top of the line shocks.
http://www.koni-na.com/HeavyTrack.cfm
Maybe if I send the mounts up to Camoit and we can do some more sleuthing to see if these shocks are still made or there's a comparable one on the market, we can get reproductions made so everyone can enjoy their trucks more.
On the other hand there is a Made in USA stamp on the cylinders and I don't think Konis were ever made here.
well I know the regular shocks he sold were Monroe - the externals could be konis - they were orange at that time too...
Maybe RRTT could cut one of the rusted out ones open and see what the internals look like? Maybe there will be more clues.
I no-longer have them......the white shocks in the pic are gabriel air hijackers:Quote:
Originally Posted by noahwins
http://gabriel.com/light-vehicle/products/hijackers/
Is anyone interested in buying this from me? PM me.
I am interested in buying them.