This post is part rant and part public service announcement. I've been able to button up my suspension rebuild over the holidays and went today to swap the rear shocks. My wife agreed to let me splurge on a set of Bilstein RCD's 55-R082 front and 55-R093 rear to go with the PST 1.03 torsion bars. So I get the rear shocks out of their boxes and immediately notice that the rubber bushing ID's are not the same at each end of the shock. I definitely don't know it all, but every Mopar I've ever wrenched on has taken a roughly .7 ID bushing for the shock mounts, top and bottom. The smaller ID bushings were in the top of the shocks and I went ahead and tried to install but no go. I ended up swapping the larger bushing to the top of both shocks and was able to assemble the bottom by installing the bushing on the pin about halfway and then manhandling the bottom of the shock on to the bushing as far as I could. I then was able to press the shock and bushing home using a large socket on the OD of the shock loop along with a c-clamp. I'm certainly no ace mechanic but it shouldn't take several hours to install a pair of rear shocks. I don't remember if I purchased these from BAC or PST but I don't think it really matters as I know they are just distributors. It's obviously frustrating to spend $500ish dollars on a set of shocks that don't actually fit properly out of the box. Maybe some cars have a smaller pin at the top but I'm certain these were ordered for a 1973 Duster so I feel they should at least come with bushings that will fit, even if they need swapped out, which is easy.
PSA - If you purchase a set of these, I would advise checking the bushing sizes when you get the shocks so you can get the proper size bushings on the way if necessary. I really should of just waited until I had the proper parts but I was ticked enough to make it work. Thanks for listening and hope you've all had a good holiday.
PSA - If you purchase a set of these, I would advise checking the bushing sizes when you get the shocks so you can get the proper size bushings on the way if necessary. I really should of just waited until I had the proper parts but I was ticked enough to make it work. Thanks for listening and hope you've all had a good holiday.
