Front shocks upgrade alternative

Yatesy

Member
Hello,

I have just upgraded my front shocks to a different model from the Hilux ones and thought some of you may be interested. I checked out the Hilux ones that have been mentioned in store and discovered these ones to be an even better fit. Just had to change the pivot eye from a 12mm to a 10mmby driving through and replacing. They’re now fitted and are a perfect fit. Seems a whole lot stiffer than the other Hilux ones when I compared them but won’t be able to mention ride quality for a while.

They are off an Isuzu Bighorn and the Monroe model number is D5464168C1403-3D32-45F0-A0D1-DBE5AAF5FD46.jpeg168C1403-3D32-45F0-A0D1-DBE5AAF5FD46.jpegAC39A8AE-0A3E-42D1-8B50-0F410F67C100.jpeg37365B25-5C89-4427-BBD1-4241EBD95F52.jpeg
 
That's excellent thanks for sharing. Could you possible post a link to the suppliers please, to make it easier for others to find them. I've made this thread sticky for future reference.
 
Excellent, thank you.
At least you will know they will last a long time and pay for themselves eventually.
 
Thanks! after my latest outing I was thinking about upgrading the front shocks to try and improve the handling. Rachaels describes the van as being like a "rollerskate out of control"
 
I was looking at the above and the requirement for a 10mm pivot eye and was wondering if there was a urethane kit with the correct size hole available to buy already that would fit correctly in the Monroe shock.
I don't have any measurements to try and find any but will get a pair of shocks soon and have a look for a set that is a "factory" fit.
 
Hi Saul,
I too looked at this and asked at the shock shop if we could just slide in a pre-made 10mm eye set in urethane but he explained that the urethane is absolutely bonded to the metal surround similar to an engine mount where as the pivot eye is just glued and slides out quite easily.
I’m not gonna lie it was a bit of a hassle but I pushed the old pivot eye out with a bolt and some washers and my tie rod separator and slid the new 10mm one in using the same method.
It was a tight fit so it’s not going anywhere and looks factory.

I was looking at the above and the requirement for a 10mm pivot eye and was wondering if there was a urethane kit with the correct size hole available to buy already that would fit correctly in the Monroe shock.
I don't have any measurements to try and find any but will get a pair of shocks soon and have a look for a set that is a "factory" fit.
 
Hi Yatesy.
If I was to pick up a pair of these shocks to replace mine could I send them to you to sort out the eyes..? I've got No idea or the tools to do.
Is this something you'd consider? I'd obviously pick up all carrage costs & sort you out.
Many thanks
Terry
 
Hi Terry,

Firstly I’d love to help you out however i’m down in New Zealand so it’s a bit out of the question sorry with postage costs involved.
So I have had a bit of a think about it and really the easiest way to fit these replacement shocks without any modification required would be to drill the mounting holes out bigger in the commer mounting bracket to match the crush tube/eye size. You could use a step drill for this. The bracket is quite thick steel but definitely achievable. From memory you’d only need to make the hole 2mm bigger and get a couple of new bolts.
If you didn’t want to do this then you’d need to find the two tubes that the bolt slides through. These are called crush tubes and the ones I fitted were measured 10mm internal diameter, 35mm long and 16mm external diameter. Any sort of engineering shop would be able to press the factory crush tubes out and press the new ones in. I tried hammering them out but definitely wouldn’t budge. So I used a setup of a threaded rod and nuts to push it out using a tie rod/ball joint separator.
I had a wee search online and the closest I could find to the crush tube is here and you’d just have to cut to the length of the pivot. (35mm).

http://gigglepin4x4.net/crush-tubes-337-p.asp

Otherwise maybe just take the original commer lower shock mounting brackets to an engineering workshop and get them to make the holes slightly larger. Might be a whole lot easier than fussing around changing the factory shock.

Good luck and let me know if you need any help.

Cheers,
Adam
Hi Yatesy.
If I was to pick up a pair of these shocks to replace mine could I send them to you to sort out the eyes..? I've got No idea or the tools to do.
Is this something you'd consider? I'd obviously pick up all carrage costs & sort you out.
Many thanks
Terry
 
How did these work out, and can anybody give me dimensions? Extended, and compressed lengths? My Monroe rep here in the states can not look up interchange by Europe P/N’s, I need shocks badly!
 
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