BlackGMC

iTrader: (31)

The remaining parts finally came in for my QA1 shocks... The truck rides great so far. I have them set on Front 5/Rear 4... These ride alot better than the Belltech street performers i had previously. Here are the PN#s I used

Front Shock: HAL-TC1958P (extended: 14.380 in, compressed: 9.380 in.)
Front Shock Bushing(s): 2 x HAL-MK02

Rear Shock: HAL-TC1661P (extended: 21.000 in., compressed: 13.500 in.)
Rear Shock Sleeve(s): 2 x HAL-9033-108


These were for a 2/4 drop with springs up front and hanger/shackle in the rear. The rear static length of the rear shock was 17 3/4 so i choose some that were the best fit. I still plan on making some upper shock extenders to get an even better shock angle, currently they are at 31*... I ordered the front ones that were the same lengths as my previous drop shocks...

Here are the install pics and notes...

First off the shocks for the rear come with a Tbar in one of the eyelets, i ended up removing it and swapping it to the front shocks since the rear Tbar was beefier... Also those damn snap rings are tough, i ended up breaking my snap ring pliers and i had to go get a beefier one just to get the damn things off...

Front shock on the left, rear on the right...


I used my vice with a big socket to get the Tbar out after i removed the damn snap rings....


You can see the difference here between the two




checking to make sure it will fit


Tbar installed.


Next the bushings that come with the front shocks are toooo small and oddly shapped... The ones that come with the shocks are on the right.






Installed shock, this is a crappy pic but the adjuster can be seen, I will just need a screwdriver to adjust them... But the truck has to be jacked to do it thou




Now on to the back.

After removing the Tbar, i needed to install a sleeves for the upper and lower... Only 1 sleeve comes with the shock and it needs to be drilled out a little for the stock bolt to be used... That was a PIA.... I ordered another set of sleeves for the other end...

I used the vice once again to install the sleeves.


Installed
sorry my finger got in the pic





I am going to the track tomorrow to see how they do... I am gonna start out of Front 1/Rear 6, then work my way up/down on the rear to see how it does

fastnblu

iTrader: (2)

"Next the bushings that come with the front shocks are toooo small and oddly shapped... The ones that come with the shocks are on the right."

The ones that come w/. front shock are toooo small... huh? So u swapped the bushings from front & rear? I can't make heads or tails what u mean here.

Why do u need a screwdriver? Mine u just turn the *****.

I just noticed how close your adjuster is to A-arm in the pic. No way to get your fingers up in there, cause it looks to be pretty tight.

dlt76028

iTrader: (13)

They look nice, but damn that's alot of extra work for an expensive shock.

fastnblu

iTrader: (2)

Corey, it looks like the bolt is in the lower brkt crooked. Or lower brkt on rear sitsoff at a slightly different angle. Maybe it's not as drastic as it appears. See last pic I quoted, the 1 w/. your finger in pic.

You seem like u went to more trouble than I did on my rears.

While yes, mine are double adjustables, even if I used singles, I did it another way. True, they come w/. 2 sizes of 1 sleeve & 1 of another sleeve. I wanted to run a larger diameter bolt, not the stock size the the OEMs use. I had a sleeve machined to match the larger size (cause I didn't wanna wait for QA1 to ship even if it was a few days later, plus it cost me nothing). IIRC, pressed out stock QA1 sleeve, installed the larger, supplied QA1 sleeve & my machined one. Ran some high grade bolts, used washers to shim / space & some nuts & I was good to go.

I sometimes drop the washers when I put them on as I run the bolt thru mount, but I'm OK w/. that. The driver's side is a breeze, but I dropped the washer on the pass. side (where it's a lil tighter since it's near exhaust & staggered forward, & tried to catch the washer before it hit the ground. Don't do that!!! Down the shock swung, since affixed at top, & it dented my forehead.

It's a tiny hassle to change shocks before winter & in spring, to keep them lookin nice, but where u are, your weather, u don't have to worry bout salt corroding your alum. shock bodies like I do. If this wasn't my DD, I'd just leave em on.

BlackGMC

iTrader: (31)

On the fronts i swapped tbars on the lower shock mount. On the upper stud mount the bushings were too small for the mount on the truck

The screwdriver is to adjust the front shocks. You put it threw the coil to turn the ****

fastnblu

iTrader: (2)

Maybe the fronts are different due to where the **** lies. The rears are just a turn of the fingers; it takes less than 30 sec. It takes me longer to get onto the ground than to adjust. The pass. side is more confined, but doable as u know. And obviously, no A-arms in the way. I never got round to ordering QA1s for front just yet, cause I got into my cam swap, so QA1s up front just took a back seat; but they're on my list.

I wish QA1 didn't put that **** where it's so inaccessible on the front.

I guess it's gotta go somewhere; I just prefer not jacking to do my shock adjustments. If I have to for the fronts, oh well. It is what it is, & I'll do so for the tunability.

fastrt

iTrader: (48)

looks good man!! maybe my next mod

BlackGMC

iTrader: (31)

Ya the fronts are alot different, there is a coil spring around them... Although, i could try spinning the shock around and have the adjust point the other way and just turn it from the bottom. If i have time i may try turning it the other way tomorrow.

In this pic the adjuster is pointed to the right... Notice how much bigger the left side is...

BlackGMC

iTrader: (31)

I just turned the shocks around, now i can make adjustments rather easily without jacking up the truck. Just turn the steering wheel all the way and adjust one side then turn the steering wheel the other way to adjust the other side. Easy fix

fastnblu

iTrader: (2)

Glad it worked out.