Hey gang, I have another question. my truck (1991 f150 , 5.0 2wd) is jacked up, was like this when I bought it, and it needs shocks. Can I use stock shocks, or do they have to be specific to the current ride height?

thanks
racer

 

They definately have to be ride height specific. They are designed with a certian amount of travel built into them, when they are fitted properly they ride in the middle of the shock so that there is an equal amount of movement in either direction. If you try to use too short of a shock you will have to little, or no travel depending on how jacked up the truck is.

 

Right. Jack the truck up by the frame so the wheels hang down not touching the ground. Get the extended length of each shock, or of one front and one rear.

Chose your brand (Bilsteins will make you happy you paid their price), find the listing number for your truck as stock, and then look for mextended length models that will fit YOUR truck.

It doesn't matter what brandname but it DOES matter that both mounting ends are the type you need (lots of F150 fronts have a threaded rod top mount with eyelet bottom - obvious that a shock with eyelet mounts top and bottom won't work, right?).

Or, if you know how much lift you have tell the counter guy you need new shocks for a '91 2WD F150 in plus [that much] lengths and let him make the mistakes........or not.

 

do you know how much of a lift? what brand springs? and part number maybe?

 

I dont know how much lift I've got, or brand name or even part number. I bough the truck this way and so I know nohting of it. I guess I'm gonna have to go and get measurements of a one of the fronts while fully extended, and see what I get.

 

The shock part numbers should be stamped into the housing.

 

can you post some pics of your suspension set up (under the truck) I can probably tell you how much lift you have...

 

I will as soon as I get a chance. Im not close to my truck till the weekend.
thanks!

 

Been trying to get a camera and my fon doesn't take them, so I had to do it the hard way. seems that my passanger front shock is blown, I can wiggle it with my fingers. either way its 24" fully extended. They are both way too corroded to tell of any stamping. This is my beater, what brand can I get or a take off from a newer truck that is about 24" in lenth? any ideas? these shocks are threaded tops and bolt throught bottoms.

 

The best way to do this since you don't have any info on what you have is this. Remove one of the shocks and fully extend it. Measure from the center of the eye to the mounting surface at the top mounting stud. This is your fully extended length. After that fully compress the shock and do the same measurement. This is your fully retracted length. From there start calling around to any good 4x4 shop, and to a lesser extent 4 wheel parts. Just give them the info on the truck (year, model, drive, etc) and your shock extended and retracted lengths. Any good sales person will easily be able to match the lengths up to a replacement shock. It may not be the original brand that you have now, but it will have the same specs.