The Ford Barn

bunnyc · 07-09-2015, 07:41 PM

Spent the day installing this kit and have a few random observations.

I started with the front, since that seemed the easiest. The instructions that came with the kit had an incorrect photo (fig 4) on the orientation of the upper mounting bolt. The photo was corrected in the on-line instruction pdf. Not a big deal except the instructions said "assemble as in illustrations", which I did, and thought "that can't be right".
The front shock mount bolts did not line up in the vertical plane. The shock had to be pulled forward about an inch to be attached to the lower mount. This puts the rubber bushings in a twist.

None of the rubber shock bushings had metal inserts. I thought I usually saw this in other shocks to keep the rubber from being too compressed.

A couple things about the rear:
Washers as spacers between the bracket and axle housing. Seems a little shade tree to me. Could have tack welded a boss onto the bracket and it would have looked better.
The bolts used to hold the bracket onto the axle were a little short. I had to re-use the original castle nuts and could still only get half a cotter pin through the hole. The original castle nut slots are deeper than the ones in the kit; they extend down into the flat of the nut whereas the kit nut slot stops at the edge of the flat.

Oh, lucky me, both rear drum/hubs came off without the use of the puller I bought.
Just thought I'd ramble on about my experience. Your results may differ.

07-09-2015, 07:41 PM	#1
bunnyc Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: KY Posts: 296	Snyder's shock kit install Spent the day installing this kit and have a few random observations. I started with the front, since that seemed the easiest. The instructions that came with the kit had an incorrect photo (fig 4) on the orientation of the upper mounting bolt. The photo was corrected in the on-line instruction pdf. Not a big deal except the instructions said "assemble as in illustrations", which I did, and thought "that can't be right". The front shock mount bolts did not line up in the vertical plane. The shock had to be pulled forward about an inch to be attached to the lower mount. This puts the rubber bushings in a twist. None of the rubber shock bushings had metal inserts. I thought I usually saw this in other shocks to keep the rubber from being too compressed. A couple things about the rear: Washers as spacers between the bracket and axle housing. Seems a little shade tree to me. Could have tack welded a boss onto the bracket and it would have looked better. The bolts used to hold the bracket onto the axle were a little short. I had to re-use the original castle nuts and could still only get half a cotter pin through the hole. The original castle nut slots are deeper than the ones in the kit; they extend down into the flat of the nut whereas the kit nut slot stops at the edge of the flat. Oh, lucky me, both rear drum/hubs came off without the use of the puller I bought. Just thought I'd ramble on about my experience. Your results may differ. Last edited by bunnyc; 07-10-2015 at 08:25 AM.