replacing L320 shocks

[hardhead320]

Has anyone tryed replacing the front and rear shocks ? I did a goggle search and that didnt get me anywhere ! Rockauto.com did not have anything either. So hopefully one of you 320 owners will grab a rag and wipe off the road grime and tell me what you got on your lil baby!

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Somewhere i have a close up pic of the front shock thats on the 320 Guy & myself are restoring. It may have a part #. Lemme locate it & ill post it up.

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Ok heres that pic..........

these ARE the stock shocks BTW. Good luck with your search.

[oldsklminitrk]

It looks like Monroe shocks ran one shock from 1968-1983 for a Datsun that fit 520,521,620,720 58417 is there part number that was for the rear.I talked to my Monroe rep and he is gonna do some research for me pre 1968.

Gabriel 81478 is the part number for the front.

[Pacific coast Datsun]

Good info oldskl. Us 320 owners need to stick together

[hardhead320]

Thanks all of you for the info with pics and numbers I will see what my parts supplier will come up with. A monroe # would really be cool.:lol:

[zenndog]

I am keeping an eye on this thread. I have to redo the king pins in my truck and when I do the work I want to replace bushings and shocks.

[oldsklminitrk]

OK I dunno if this will help but I did some research and I have come up with the shock numbers to the 520.I know some of the 520 stuff was interchangeable so I went with a 1967 520 with a J13 seeing that eventually they went with the L16 which was a heavier motor so the shocks might be bigger.

Monroe 31162 rear

Monroe 32206 front

Which falls back on my original post meaning they must have done a part number change over the years from one of the older books I have and the newer books I have.

[AZhitman]

Good info - I'm collecting parts for a frame-off resto on my NL320 and want to be ahead of the game with all new goodies on hand...

 

Has anyone looked into a comparable shock that's shorter? A lot of us lower our pickups, and it's not good to operate a shouck outside of its designed range of stroke.

[burrito213]

anyone still following this; just bought some and cheapest is autoparts123.com for the fronts. i got 2 Monroe 32206 for $36.50 shipped.

[dp320]

OK I dunno if this will help but I did some research and I have come up with the shock numbers to the 520.I know some of the 520 stuff was interchangeable so I went with a 1967 520 with a J13 seeing that eventually they went with the L16 which was a heavier motor so the shocks might be bigger.

Monroe 31162 rear - incorrect, should be Monroe 32262

Monroe 32206 front - these will work

Which falls back on my original post meaning they must have done a part number change over the years from one of the older books I have and the newer books I have.

 

The rear shocks need to have stud ends both top and bottom.  31162's have a loop connection on one end, they won't work.  32262's are studs on both ends.  On the old rusted set I'm replacing the compressed length was 10.0" and the extended length was 17.5".  The 32262's have a compressed length of 10.875" (which is sufficient) and an extended length of 18.0".

 

The Monroe 32206 will work for the front shocks but the loops and lower brackets will have to be modified.  The lower brackets inside width is about 0.83" while the shock loops are about 1.25" wide.  Monroe stated it is a common practice to simply grind the loops to the correct width when OEM items aren't available.  Also, the 32206 takes a 12mm bolt, so the holes on the lower brackets will need to be drilled to that diameter.

[Conner]

Good information in this thread. 

 

For my truck, which is a 64 320, I bought some KYB shocks for a 520, haven't installed them yet, but DP's right, the 520 shocks have eyelets on one end and won't work.  You can see a good pic of his frame set-up from his project thread here:  http://community.ratsun.net/topic/43665-dp320s-project-status/?p=802054

that shows the little ears on the rear frame crossmember (just behind the diff) that the upper end of the shocks have to thread through with stud ends.  One could probably remove those and weld on some studs to attach the newer shocks with eyelets to, but before getting involved in that I'd like to see if there is a shock out there off the shelf with studs on both ends like the originals that works with the original set-up.

[dp320]

Monroe 32206 Prior to grinding the bottom loop:

 

After grinding.  I did one with a bench grinder only (slow) and the other with a 4" cutoff (quicker).  Crude but I don't have a milling machine.

 

 

View from behind, New brake lines visible.

 

 

View from front:

 

 

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I just cut them off the control arm and weld new tabs on.

[XXL]

The rear shocks need to have stud ends both top and bottom.  31162's have a loop connection on one end, they won't work.  32262's are studs on both ends.  On the old rusted set I'm replacing the compressed length was 10.0" and the extended length was 17.5".  The 32262's have a compressed length of 10.875" (which is sufficient) and an extended length of 18.0".

 

The Monroe 32206 will work for the front shocks but the loops and lower brackets will have to be modified.  The lower brackets inside width is about 0.83" while the shock loops are about 1.25" wide.  Monroe stated it is a common practice to simply grind the loops to the correct width when OEM items aren't available.  Also, the 32206 takes a 12mm bolt, so the holes on the lower brackets will need to be drilled to that diameter.

 

 

Using the data your provided, I parsed the current Monroe catalog for any shock with "S4" top and bottom mounts (the stud mount that's on the shock you referenced), and then narrowed them to anything with compressed of > 9.74 and < 20.  The following are ALL part numbers in the Monroe catalog that comply with these values.  They DO not give an indication of valving rates, so they may not be a good fit for the lightweight truck

 

[dp320]

XXL,

 

Yes, not only are the length specs important but the damping behavior also.  I didn't find anything other than general design principles after doing several searches.  I suspect that in the range of regular passenger vehicles and light trucks that the valving characteristics are suitable, so it just becomes a matter of selecting lengths.

 

I received the 32206's yesterday and installed them.

 

There is one problem that forced me to leave the top nut off for now.  I have no bed on the frame.  Without that weight the distance between the two attach faces is 18-3/4".  Even with the rubber bushings these shocks are 1/4" too short with the frame in this state.  If I sat on the frame I compressed the leaf spring about 1/4".  I'm pretty sure the bed will compress quite a bit more. I think I'd be tempted to go with a slightly longer shock like the 31125, again not knowing the damping specs.

 

These shocks "seem" about like the old ones that were on there in terms of size and how much force it took to move them by hand.

[burrito213]

so i got the Monroe 32206 and had a heap of help from Wayno but maybe this will help others who will eventually run into this issue.

 

so go ahead and grind the loops?...the shock wont loose integrity?... i could try to fabricate the bottom bracket but that'd be a long endeaver

 

 

 

[wayno]

I would do what "dp320" did in the post above, grind it down just enough to fit the lower shock mount, and then I would at the first opportunity buy another set of LCAs to make any modifications needed for the future.

 

One must keep in mind that I will do just about anything to make something move under it's own power, if it will not run, move forward, and stop, it drives me crazy, so keep that in mind when I give advice.  :mellow:

[XXL]

so go ahead and grind the loops?...the shock wont loose integrity?... i could try to fabricate the bottom bracket but that'd be a long endeaver

 

 

The part of the loop you need to grind isn't integral to the structure.  All you're doing is taking shoulder material off the loop so it will fit the bracket.  The loop itself is a rolled ring, and spot welded to the body tube only at one point.  Taking material off the shoulder won't affect that weld.  Just take care to stay off the tube with the grinder.  It's got fluid in it... so you don't want an accidental hole.

[burrito213]

The part of the loop you need to grind isn't integral to the structure.  All you're doing is taking shoulder material off the loop so it will fit the bracket.  The loop itself is a rolled ring, and spot welded to the body tube only at one point.  Taking material off the shoulder won't affect that weld.  Just take care to stay off the tube with the grinder.  It's got fluid in it... so you don't want an accidental hole.

 

cool, thanks. great advice :thumbup:

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Someone out there makes a tab for everything.

 

[emceefarlane]

Australia doesn't get 32206's but i spoke with a bloke from Monroe yesterday and the equivalent in AUS is a 15-0329, the only difference being the overall length, 

32206 = 317mm 

15-0329 = 328mm. 

 

 

KYB also have an equivalent 343322