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I should mention up front: this is not a "recommended" or "approved" approach—it is purely experimental at this stage, although I will probably report back later with more conclusive results, especially if they're positive. So I've complained for a long time about the regular bumps and bangs up front, especially when taking the Warrior on extended trips. I would set the torsion bars to spec, with proper ground clearance up front, and then do some test drives—all felt good. However, once we were loaded with all the humans/dogs/gear on a real excursion, the suspension travel would virtually disappear and we'd all take a beating on rough roads. (Basically, like some of you have probably already realized, our torsion bars were not up to the job anymore and couldn't really handle the weight of the fully-loaded rig. And, by the way, lifting the rear-end higher by increasing pressure in the air bags, only exacerbates this kind of front-end problem.) So, the only replacement option out there these days for a '90 chassis, far as I know, is the always-backordered, $300+ Sway-A-Way bars. Which I probably should go head and do, yes. Goshdarnit. But, instead I did a bit of research and measuring and then came across a set of these Gabriel #34073 Front Load Carrier shocks at a discount price of $72 for the set. The extended/compressed dimensions are correct, the mounts are pretty close (more about that in a sec), and they're typically used on big hoopties from the 70s-80s, along with Suburbans and a few GM cargo vans, etc. The biggest reason to use these, of course, is that they add a few hundred pounds of lift to the front-end, which should be enough to maintain some decent suspension travel on an overloaded Toyota pickup, in tandem with the existing t-bars. Installation was not very difficult: the shocks slide in just fine from below and the upper mounts bolt up per usual with nut + locknut. The only real hurdle was that the lower mounts have a slot that needs to be opened up (basically to match the lower mounts on, for example, the KYB KG5458 shocks that I installed about 6 years ago). Modifying the lower mounts took less than 5 minutes with a hacksaw, and I made sure all that was very securely bolted to the control arms by using thick fender washers on the bottom, Grade 10.9 M8 flange bolts, with locknuts on the top side. It's too soon to say if this is "a real fix," but the initial driving that I've done has felt good, with less swaying/rocking in turns and more general smoothness. We'll continue to test with some actual, fully-loaded-camping around southern MO this Fall. That's all for now...!

Hi everyone, I posted about a month ago about my suspension causing damage to the vehicle. I fixed the part of the carb that had fallen off, but now the actual weber carb that is on there has wiggled loose and has created a massive vacuum leak while I was on a 1200-mile trip. I didn't have too much of a way to fix this, but now I am stationary and am going to rebuild the carb and replace the gasket. I will be using Loctite on the screws this time as well. I definitely need to do something about this ride because, even if i don't have any more issues with the carb from this, I am not enjoying the ride. Every little bump feels like a big pothole and it can make driving stressful. My question is: should I just go ahead and replace the leaf springs, add helper springs, and get new shocks, or could I just get away with helper springs and new shocks? Any combination of airbags, new shocks, new leaf springs, and helper springs I guess would be possible, but I just purchased this camper recently, so the funds are a little tight. Also, I have gathered that bilstein seems to be the way to go with shocks. Has anyone has good experience with other brands? Any specific product recommendations are welcomed Thanks!

In several weeks we will be heading from Oklahoma to UP Michigan, 19hrs of drive time, appx 1135 miles. I have enough money to replace one or the other, the shocks or the springs. The shocks look old and the springs look flat. What do yalls think is the most important to prioritize for the trip? Also, I'm doing the job myself... Are they both relatively easy jobs?

Hello all, I've tried finding the right shocks for my Dolphin and I'm still not sure of exactly what the right models are. Can anyone recommend the correct KYB shocks I should get for my 1984 Dolphin? Thank you so much.

I plan to change out the original shocks on my 1992 Winnebago Warrior. Any recommendations?

Hey everyone 1981 Huntsman 20' 4 cyl 4 spd dually what happened was this, vehicle handled well and I replaced the relay rod, tie rods inner and outer, both sides on tie rods, because of a popping noise when I turned to the right. it was the relay rod and idler arm connection, it was very loose and falling apart so, since I had to do the one thing I just did everything..pain in the rear but done and done steering is tight and not pulling I did get one cog off on my pitman arm to gearbox because my steering wheel is now cocked slightly to the right BUT, I have an issue that I do not understand and it is this, now when driving if I turn ever so slightly when driving in a straight line I get a "rocking" from side to side of the top of the camper.. as if I had a massive full tank of water on the roof.. what can cause that? .. a sway bar or a stabilizer? I have bags on the rear that I aired up to almost full which before was what I had to do to get a smooth ride that wouldn't bounce the "cheechee's" off my female riders, was not comfortable for my ostomy either. I have not had it very long and drove it to the Ozarks when I bought it .. and when I learned the airbags smooth out the ride and keep the bouncing to a bare minimum .. but this rocking left to right from the top is kinda scary.. definitely a safety issue and causing me concern as I don't want to roll over because I tried to avoid an obstacle in the road.. which before the repairs was never an issue.. So I think I fixed one and created another problem.. but more likely I already had the problem and fixing one thing only made the other much more obvious.. at any rate I have no clue how to stop it and do miss driving it regularly.. any help is greatly appreciated Thanks

I just bought a pair of billstein shocks from eshocks . went to go put them on the front and the bolt holes don't line up and are too wide. And the tube is too big to fit through the hole in the A arm. Bilstien shows they fit from 84 up to 95. the cab of the truck says it's an 83 even though it's titled as an 84. Has anyone ever had this problem before? has anyone ever had to modify the A arm to get other shots to fit. Thanks.

I did a search for KYB brand here on the forum and came up empty. Getting new shocks for my home and Les says they have no Bilstein in stock from their current suppliers. They siad KYB are equal to Bilstein, is this true?