First a little (probably unnecessary) background...

I have a 1996 T100 Ext cab 4x4, manual tranny with ~172K on it.



Its been very well taken care of but the suspension is still the original stuff, so the ride quality is harsh. After talking about this for the past two years, I finally have the money saved up for replacing the shocks (no torsion bars or leaf springs through) and got started this weekend on the work.

I bought new sway bar bushings to replace the now dime thick, squeeky ones but went ahead and removed the bar completely to see how the ride is. I also replaced the stock steering damper with a Monroe replacement from Napa. I wanted to use an Old Man Emu one. It was not clear if the OME unit would fit, as OME does not technically make anything for the T100s, but as far as a I know, that part is the same across all of the 86-94 IFS trucks, which our T100s share a lot of parts with up front. Anyway, $37 was much more affordable than $83, so for now I'll be happy with something beefier than the blown out screen door damper that was on there. Getting the stock unit out was fairly straight-forward with just hand tools (14 and 19mm nuts), but I did need to use a pickle fork and a mallet to get the driver's side stud to pop out of the relay rod. The install went smoothly but I am looking for some advice on a "loose" washer.



The washer pointed to is loose enough that it can be spun by hand. The passenger's side was torqued to 20 ft-lbs and the driver's side to 45 ft-lbs, according to spec. It does not seem right that this washer can be spun. The stock unit (like the Old Man Emu one) was such that for the driver's side, the front of the mounting assembly is completely sealed and rearward side has the stud. The stock unit just had the castle nut go directly against the relay rod with no washer in between. The two washers in the picture had different inner diameters, so the configuration you see pretty much how it had to go. The part number on the box is SC2954, and this shows up on Napa's website as exactly what the part should be: link

So, I don't think I got the wrong part, but it seems wrong to have that washer not be pressed tight against the relay rod. Does anyone have experience with these Monroe replacements, or with this type of thing in general?

I'll be posting a write up on the other mods once they are done (from a rookie's perspective), and in the meantime, any advice is appreciated!

Usually those go together with a large washer up against either side of the shock bushing. Looks like you stacked the inside washer and the spacer (jam nut?) in the wrong order.

You do want it snug, but not so snug that you crush the bushing, so don't take the torque settings to close to heart. They're probably fine, but if the bushing bulges, you probably want to back it off a hair.

Thanks Adam,

I originally had it the way you mentioned but with the washer on the other side there was a noticeable gap where the body of the damper assembly was not mating against the relay rod, so I figured the washer was what filled the gap. Perhaps I need to pound on the damper a bit to get the stud to go deeper into the relay rod hole, but there is currently enough thread sticking out the other side to get the castle nut and cotter pin on, and I figured torquing to 40 ft-lbs would have pressed it in.

I know what you are talking about with the gap.

Do not pound it into your relay rod because the relay rod will deform.

I agree that something should be bearing there, but the taper seems to be fine (3 years.)

Thanks eleet,

I take your comment to mean that you have the same damper and encountered the same gap? I guess I'll just swap the washer back as Adam suggested and call it good...

Yes, I have the same damper. I bought it online from the NAPA web site.

When I took the truck for the center tie rod recall, the dealer techs reinstalled it the same way.

I kept telling myself I was going to get a washer or two, but I never got around to it.

I wonder what others have done with this part? I did get the advice to buy it from here. At any rate I'm still happy.

IIRC, the stud is tapered like the original and it simply seats in the tapered hole just like any tie rod end.

The '86-95 trucks use a shorter steering damper, so the OME one wouldn't have fit.

Thanks Eric,

That was it. This weekend I took the new damper off and yes, the stud is tapered. I certainly did not know or see this when I started the work, so thanks for pointing it out.