How to replace shocks the easy way: TRD Pro Fox

Recently I was lucky enough to buy a newly rebuilt set of Pro Fox Shocks from a TW member to replace my 80k worn, sagging OR shocks. There are many reviews on these shocks on the forum and my experience is no different - more controlled on the road, slightly stiffer on road imperfections, much softer on big bumps, rocks, speed bumps, etc., and nose dive / body roll dramatically reduced. Love them!

I know there are hundreds of threads on TW about suspension swaps, however I personally found I had to do quite a bit of digging across TW and YouTube to get a clear sense of what needed to be done. With so many options for lifts, AALs, etc., it was more confusing than helpful to me in many ways when ultimately I was doing a stock swap without messing with rear height or significantly raising the front.

I'm somewhat mechanically inclined, like to do my own maintenance unless it's something big that requires tools I don't own or whatnot. It's been so long since I've done any kind of suspension work (>20 years) I wasn't exactly sure where to start. Figured the rears would be a pretty simple swap (they were) but was a bit daunted by swapping the front coilovers.

Happy to report, the install wasn't too bad overall and I followed the below videos to guide me along with the attached instructions to confirm washer / bolt / nut placement and torque specs.

Lessons learned:
1. Unless your truck is relatively new, you may need to spray some penetrant (I used Liquid Wrench) on the top and bottom bolts and let it sit for awhile, hit 'em with a hammer / mallet to let it sink in. Makes it way easier to break things free if they are seized as mine were in the rears specifically.
2. Make sure you have a solid pry tool handy, small enough to fit in the lower mounting holes. I spent 1/2 my time installing just trying to wedge the bottom of the shocks into place so the bolt would slide through. I could not find my pry tool, so it took a lot of patience to get them into place. Many of the videos I watched showed folks inserting the bottom of the shock to secure it, then hand-compress the shock to get it in the top. I could barely compress the Fox's at all by hand, much less enough to fit... YMMV
3. No need to do any more than disconnect the sway bar end-links and UCA/ball joint from the knuckle (but make sure to unbolt the 2 brackets holding the ABS line to prevent damage). It's still a tight fit, but you can hold up the UCA and slide the front coilovers out and up. Doing it this way the only alignment spec affected was a bit of toe, when I took it to get an alignment the next morning.
4. Make sure you have a torque wrench that goes high enough to ensure proper torque (>140lb/ft)t to ensure the upper ball joint is properly secured to the UCA (and don't forget to replace the cotter pin)

Videos that helped me through the process:
Fronts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=qj1ab-FlkqY
Rears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exWfp36p9nw

Most shops will charge around $400 to do the swap and there's nothing especially hard about the install and can be done with one person. Took me several hours learning and being careful, but could probably knock it out in ~2hrs the next time.

 

Thank you, helpful videos. I just picked up a set off of '21 Pro. Did you install a sway bar relocation or did they fit without?

 

You keep your front springs? I just used a jack to compress them why there were still mounted and then slowly lower the jack to release. Really safer this way then those stupid spring compressors they loan out from the auto parts stores.