Koni installation

[Commish]

If Workhorse ever does decide to stop building Chassis's, etc. then I sure do hope they will "Bronze" those impact wrenches they use to put on the factory shocks. Those #$@^! are special, promise. Wow! It took all 225lbs I got to break a few of those nuts loose while switching over to the Koni's. Amazing how truly tight these things are, especially in comparison to the U-bolt's. You would think those would be the tighter of the two. Not true. I truly think the shock bolts must hold the whole thing together. haha.

For my new-to-me baby, I got her all fixed up this weekend. Koni FSD's, F/R Trac Bar's, Rear Sway, Koni Stabilizer, Trojan T-125's, OEMY's Filter/Adapter, and a fresh pan of synthetic oil/filter. Yes, I'm worn out. Did it all in one day.

While spending the entire day under, noticed one thing, right front caliper is leaking. Anyone ever experience that on a W22? Thinking of either taking a look myself or carrying it to my local Wkhse Shop.

Thanks for all the good reads that allowed me the "stuff" to get all this installed. Took it on a 30 mile ride after, what a difference in every aspect. If you have a Workhorse....you have to treat yourself to the Koni's.

Thanks again Guys.

[Commish]

If Workhorse ever does decide to stop building Chassis's, etc. then I sure do hope they will "Bronze" those impact wrenches they use to put on the factory shocks. Those #$@^! are special, promise. Wow! It took all 225lbs I got to break a few of those nuts loose while switching over to the Koni's. Amazing how truly tight these things are, especially in comparison to the U-bolt's. You would think those would be the tighter of the two. Not true. I truly think the shock bolts must hold the whole thing together. haha.

For my new-to-me baby, I got her all fixed up this weekend. Koni FSD's, F/R Trac Bar's, Rear Sway, Koni Stabilizer, Trojan T-125's, OEMY's Filter/Adapter, and a fresh pan of synthetic oil/filter. Yes, I'm worn out. Did it all in one day.

While spending the entire day under, noticed one thing, right front caliper is leaking. Anyone ever experience that on a W22? Thinking of either taking a look myself or carrying it to my local Wkhse Shop.

Thanks for all the good reads that allowed me the "stuff" to get all this installed. Took it on a 30 mile ride after, what a difference in every aspect. If you have a Workhorse....you have to treat yourself to the Koni's.

Thanks again Guys.

[oemtech]

Commish,

First let me Welcome you to IRV2 ...

Second,

Next about the shock nuts and bolts.. I used my foot the first time and it cost me a trip to the orthopedic surgeon (final chapter after 40 years of abuse). The last time I used a 1/2" impact that will crank out 625 ft lbs.

[Commish]

Tell ya what, Dale, I am 40 and in my 40 years I have never tied onto anything that tight. I could not believe it. To make matters worse, last bolt on removal, the top left front, cross threads while removing nut, ?? That was probably the best head-scratcher of the day, removing a nut installed by factory and it cross's, wierd. Luckily my hardware guy had a grade 8 in the exact size with lil different theads, worked out well. Almost changed all of them to that bolt!! haha.

Hey, that filter worked out great. That is a nice piece you have there. Took me 10 min. tops to change the entire thing out.

Thanks for the welcome, glad to be here.

[NeilV]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by oemtech:
Commish,

First let me Welcome you to IRV2 ...

Second,

Next about the shock nuts and bolts.. I used my foot the first time and it cost me a trip to the orthopedic surgeon (final chapter after 40 years of abuse). The last time I used a 1/2" impact that will crank out 625 ft lbs. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

A Thunder or EarthQuake etc 625 ft lb impact wrench is almost a requirement when working on a motorhome chassis. I got the EarthQuake from HarborFreight and everyone who uses it usually ends up getting one of their own shortly afterwards.

I too have learned to get a tool to take the beating for you. If they break the pain is usually just in the wallet and easier to recover from.

[knebrdr]

Commish,
If the fasteners are as tight as you say and one of them cross threaded coming off my guess would be that WH is using red loctite on those fasteners. That is the only thing I have ever seen that will cause a fastener to cross thread coming off, unless they started to turn the threads inside out when torqueing.
Randy

[oemtech]

I think you will find the WH uses what I call "crush nuts" (don't even think about going there). This style of nut distortes the top of the nut or adds small distortion to the sides. This eliminates the need for any kind of lock washer ans is cheaper than a plastic insert. But, it also means you will need a wrench to complete remove it as it can't bue turned by hand.

[Carvin Marvin]

I had to cut the upper shock bolt. A thread piece tore loose and jammed the nut after I got it loosened about a 1/4 inch. A 500 wrench wouldn't move it any further.

[Commish]

Well, I'm not sure what happened on the "cross thread" issue. The way it happened was, I was backing off the nut and all of a sudden it got really tight mid-way off. I used my homemade "persuader" as my impact would not cut the mustard on these and slowly got through it. When I removed it, looking at the actual bolt, it had an entire "round" of thread removed and bunched up in an area. Basically I had pulled the threading on the bolt away from the bolt and it had gathered at a stopping point, at which the nut came off freely. Identical it appears to Carvin Marvin above.

On this pesuader. I took my handy welding machine, had an old non-working floor jack, took the handle apart and welded an old wrench into the tube. Not anything OEMY would want to retail, but it sure worked good when the socket wouldn't do the trick.

I ordered a factory bolt/nut combo for the top left this AM from my local Baton Rouge wkhse dealer and will change back to that next weekend. he told me to bring the bolt in to show him what happened. Also, going to check out Harbor Freight later today, thanks for that.

After all that, man it was worth it. Those Koni's all the way around are a ride changer.

[rickandcheryl]

Had the same thing happen, top left nut cross threaded when taking it loose, about half way off. Had to use a hand held air grinder with a cut off wheel to cut the bolt.

[Bigdaddy]

When removing lock nut, first get out your wire brush and clean the threads. Then put some oil on them. The "crush nut" is a grade 8 lock nut. A plastic insert nut is a grade 2. If you think that you might have problems removing the nut, take your little LPG tourch and heat the nut a bit. Only heat the nut, then turn it off. Most people only use the lock nut once and replace them with a new one. If you cannot find a new lock nut, then you can use a GR8 nut with locktight.