Racing4thesun
New Member
The Monroe rears with the Bilstein fronts work great with my 2 inch lift.
L300 Shocks Options
- Thread starter daisy
- Start date
hardknockgarage888
Member
Thanks!
midijunkie
New Member
Hi,
I recently got a L300. As the leaf springs were too rusty I had to replace them. I ordered new hardened springs with 5 layers as I want to build a small camper (that was a recommendation from the leaf company). Now my rear is a few! cm higher than my front and my (old) shocks seem to be little bit too short.
I already tried to adjust the torsion bars in the front to lift it a little bit but it's still not enough. Where can I get the lift spacer plates for the front (in Europe)?
What else would you recommend? I would have liked to have Bilstein front + rear but this seems very expensive (if at all possible to buy). Just go KYB? Are they long enough? Or Bilstein + Monroe? I've no experience with air shocks so I'm quite unsure.
Thanks
I recently got a L300. As the leaf springs were too rusty I had to replace them. I ordered new hardened springs with 5 layers as I want to build a small camper (that was a recommendation from the leaf company). Now my rear is a few! cm higher than my front and my (old) shocks seem to be little bit too short.
I already tried to adjust the torsion bars in the front to lift it a little bit but it's still not enough. Where can I get the lift spacer plates for the front (in Europe)?
What else would you recommend? I would have liked to have Bilstein front + rear but this seems very expensive (if at all possible to buy). Just go KYB? Are they long enough? Or Bilstein + Monroe? I've no experience with air shocks so I'm quite unsure.
Thanks
Sputnik
Well-Known Member
How many centimeters higher are you now?
The rear should be about 2cm higher than the front according to shop manual spec when measured from hub to body line.
Illustration from the manual:
The rear should be about 2cm higher than the front according to shop manual spec when measured from hub to body line.
Illustration from the manual:
midijunkie
New Member
I would suggest building out the camper before changing the suspension any more. You got extra lift springs to compensate for the extra weight you're going to be adding... it doesn't make sense to negate that because the van is empty at the moment.
Otherwise, what you need to do is lower the rear end, not raise the front; maybe remove a leaf temporarily...
midijunkie
New Member
You're right, I should wait till it's done. I just worry that the added weight is not going to bring it down enough. What would be an acceptable height? Right now the old shocks are at about their max. length (45 cm, if I remind correctly).
You don't really want to be much higher than 60cm IMO. Even that will require longer shocks, but the front can be matched by adding 24mm spacers; and the rear driveshaft can be re-aligned w/o too much fuss/wear.
If you are going to be driving it in the interim my big concern would be rear driveshaft angles/u-joints.
active.world
Active Member
Bought some Monroes and they arrived yesterday, gonna try to figure out how to get the pins out this weekend without a vice... or will be buying a vice as well. I only have the OEM original bushings in the shocks that came on the van. Can I keep the new bushing from the Monroes in if I don't destroy them pulling out the pin? If I do destroy the Monroe bushings, does anyone have a suggestion for replacements that will work? Or should I just re-use the old crusties from the OEM shocks? Thanks.
Sputnik
Well-Known Member
Those pins are in there pretty good, but if you don't have a vice, they can be persuaded with lubrication and precision violence.
This thread discusses split bushings (don't use the old ones, they're probably rock hard), a method of persuasion and some links to other Monroe installation tips.
Monroe MA 708 on L300??
I hear so many recommendations for this shock but it has the wrong mount. Or did they mis-ship?? There's no number on the shock.
delicaforum.com
Be sure not to tighten the lower nuts; the lower pin can break off unless it has room to move a bit. Also get some nyloc nuts or some blue loctite for the lower nuts or they can unthread themselves.
Last edited:
I just drilled them out to the right diameter.
midijunkie
New Member
I'm still looking for a competent mechanic in my area ... what would be your opinion on the angles of the joints?
Any idea for longer shocks? From my understanding all of the replacements have mostly the same length?
Attachments
The high lift from the overbuilt springs has messed the angles up.
That's also a manual transmission, which means when you correct the rear axle angle it will pull the yoke out from the transmission more (but IDK about it being "too much"). But again, I'd worry about it after the build out unless you're driving it a lot now.
There's a lot on the driveshaft angles here: https://delicaforum.com/index.php?t...graph-your-driveshaft-please.3403/#post-27824
I don't know much about any particular shocks for lifts... I didn't lift mine, and I don't plan to. Most are the same length because most are installing (essentially) the same 1" lift.
midijunkie
New Member
Thank you very much for pointing it out. I'm going to chime in there.
active.world
Active Member
By any chance do you remember what that diameter was? These bushings that Kellyn posted in the other thread say they have an ID of 15.91 mm / 0.63 Inch, but he also said he trimmed them? If thats not 100% accurate, should I just eyeball it with some drill bits next to the mounting pin on the underside of the van? I presume its better to keep a snug fit and size down my drill bit instead of making the new hole too big? Thank you for your insights. Looking forward to getting to this project this weekend!
active.world
Active Member
Ended up drilling out the stock bushings (recommended by @Thomb ) and buying some of these (recommended by @Sputnik ). Drilling out the stock bushing was definitely the easiest solution as the local shop couldn't wrap their heads around wanting to modify the shocks and wanted to charge me a lot of money to press out the pins. Will be installing this weekend.
As far as getting the van up off the ground, the safest way to do this is to put the van on jack stands at the lift points just in front of the leaf springs, correct? I noticed that when using my stock hydraulic jack (placed under the rear axel) compared to when the van is sitting on the jack stands, the leaf springs have different tension. Jack stands certainly is safer overall, but is the tension on the shocks safe to remove from this point? This is the first time I've ever done something like this. Thank you.
As far as getting the van up off the ground, the safest way to do this is to put the van on jack stands at the lift points just in front of the leaf springs, correct? I noticed that when using my stock hydraulic jack (placed under the rear axel) compared to when the van is sitting on the jack stands, the leaf springs have different tension. Jack stands certainly is safer overall, but is the tension on the shocks safe to remove from this point? This is the first time I've ever done something like this. Thank you.
The OEM shocks are not charged... they remain in whatever position (extension) they were in when unbolted. And they will compress and stay there for easy removal.
You only need to jack the vehicle as necessary to get the new shocks inplace. Which may not be necessary at all if you can keep them compressed.
Definitely best done at the lift points (front of springs).
GreeneMachine503
Member
Everyone still recommending the Bilstein B6 24-013321 for the front? Fount some but they seem a little pricey so want to make sure no one figured out a better option before I pull the trigger.
delibruh
Active Member
Yes!! They are incredible for these vans. Make them handle a lot better than whatever you are currently running. Definitely don't get procomps.
RivaRidge17
New Member
Hi,
What hardened leaf springs did you use to replace the old ones. I'm having trouble finding any.
Thanks