Boge shocks for stock springs?

[Ashwin]

Hi folks,

At almost 160K on the clock, and recent uncomfortable rides has me thinking on replacing the stock shocks on my AU. I am leaning towards Boge as its had quite a good rap on here, however:

a) Can i get the boge on the standard springs ? I am not interested in lowering the car and the springs appear good as far as I (and Pedders suspension tests) could tell. Also would there be any drop in any form with ride height ?

b) Are the procedures to change the front and rear (live axle) shocks simple enough ? Will I have to meddle with the springs and/or compressor stuff ?

I haven't costed this yet - but shall I expect the full set(x4) of stocks to be well under the $1K mark ?

Thanks!!

-ash

[blueoval]

a) Yes BOGE will fit on stock springs no problem. There will be no drop in ride height as the it is the spring that gives you the stance your car is in now not the shock.

b) rear replacement of shocks is simple in live rear. There is a few tutorials placed here in this forum about it. The front how ever is a tad more complicated and you will need spring clamps, or alternatively you could approach you local tire mob to remove and replace your springs to the new shocks. Placement of shock/strut assembly is straight forward enough. But allow yourself plenty of time if you are attempting this for the first time.

The BOGE shocks I paid for a few years ago was about $440inc gst. They had the shortened front shocks to allow for better travel when I lowered the car. If you were going the standard BOGE you should get them a bit cheaper. This price was from Car Torque here in SA. I would suggest to hit up the site sponsors here for the best deal. But I would imagine the shocks will be well under 1k.

For about 1k you would be getting Koni or Bilsteins I would imagine.

[robbyj]

i recently went boge short shocks all round, but they mucked up the order on the front shocks, so i have boge in the rear and they gave me "better" monroe shocks in the front (for the same price as the boges)

the monroes have a 3 year warranty and the boges have a 2 year warranty

Cost me $435 for the shocks and $225 labour .. so well worth doing it yourself if you can.

These are the shortened shocks however. But prices for the standard should be similar if not cheaper.

[Ashwin]

Thanks blueoval !

Yes - I will doing this for the first time though I might get some help with the fronts as it does look involved for a 'newbie'. Had a read of GK's howto for the rear at http://www.fordforums.com.au/vbporta...article&id=314. However since I am not doing the springs could it be as "simple" as :

* Jack up one side at a time
* Pull back rear seat(s)
* Undo the bolts (top) and maybe bottom(?)
* The shocks/strut drops
* Replace shock/strut and redo the bolts

?

-Ash

[blueoval]

Nah Ash, get yourself some chassis stands, jack the back of the car right up from the centre of the diff high enough to stick the stands under the chassis, that way you can drop the diff down low enough to remove the shocks and springs once you undo them. Thats the way I have always done it for the rear and you do both at the same time at the rear. BUT make sure you chock up the front wheels prior to jacking up anything.

Of course someone else here may have a better way to do this. But this is what has worked for me in the past.

[Ashwin]

Just got the boge shocks from gsa suspension over here in Bris.

Will have a go in the next week or so and update .

[WannabeXP]

I did my front struts today, it took half the day but i went into town and did a balljoint in that time, It is time consuming but easy enough,
Simple step by step.
Remove wheel, undo UCA balljoint and remove bolt and swing the UCA upwards to get it out of the way, then unbolt the sway bar which is mounted to the lower part of the suspension, If you do bothsides of the car then you can spin it round out of the way, now just unbolt the strut from the top and bottom and the lower part of the suspension (lower control arm?) should swing down enough to remove the strut along with the spring.
Now my XR springs were short enough to apply pressure from the top and unbolt without blowing a bolt through my eye. this may not apply to you as yours are standard so be careful!!,
So remove the spring fit to the new strut spring compressors may be required but i got away without it. Now dont forget anything when you put it back together :P
I went Boge as well, which i was told have a lifetime warranty by Fulcrum suspension in melbourne. So far so good but i found the back to be a little soft, but it all depends on the springs(i also have gas).
Cheers Jason

[blueoval]

Post pics when you do the job please.

[nstg8a]

im running boge in my ef, quite low and they still give a very good ride.

try tuffcarparts (site sponser) i got my shocks and springs through him for very good prices.

[Ashwin]

hi all,

i had a failed attempt (removing the rear shocks/live axle) last evening using mainly blueoval/Shavs method. As it was getting dark - i made a hasty retreat :-(
Basically ran into 2 main problems:

1) couldn't get the dam nuts off - those 18mm ones at the bottom securing the shocks. Do they use loctite on those things or what ? Tried wd40 without luck. Didn't have a breaker bar around but would that help in take 2 on some sunny weekend ?

2) At the top - couldn't get the center shock nuts off (17mm?) - that pesky washer kept spinning while undoing the nut. Any recommended tool/wrench to keep that thing at bay while undoing the center bolt. Of course i am also assuming that's the only nut to undo - not the whole upper mount if you are NOT doing the springs.

Lastly for educational purposes why are we raising the rear axle/diff before undoing the bolts and is there any recommended minimum ?

Thanks folks!

Ash