Need advice on rebuilding shocks

[Jhollowell]

I found a deal that might be too good to be true. There's a local guy selling a set of front shocks for $65.00 for the set. He said he was going to use them for table legs in a man cave (WTF??). They look like they're in decent condition cosmetically but who knows what they're like on the inside. I figured for 65 bucks its worth pulling them apart and trying my hand at rebuilding. Anything to look for that might make these unsalvageable or not worth the effort?

 

[TAC71]

Are they still charged with nitrogen?
He probably cleaned them all up, so if they were leaking oil you won't know. If they are still charged that would be a good sign to rebuild them.
I did mine using info from this forum. I bought a second set to rebuild that had about 75000 miles on them. They work great now. You will need some special tools but the seal kits are cheap. I would recommend the shraeder valve upgrade also.
If you decide to rebuild them check around for someone to charge the nitrogen for you. I already had my own filling setup for my other vehicles.

 

[Jhollowell]

Not sure if they’re still charged but I’ll ask. I’d likely replace the shafts since i don’t really have a good way to check them, plus it seems like a good thing to replace anyway. How do you do the shraeder valve upgrade? Do you just buy the valve and tap the shock body and thread it in?

 

[TAC71]

Try to push in the shaft. If charged it will be very hard to move it a short distance and it will push back out. If discharged you can push in the shaft with some effort and it will stay in.
There are 2 types of shraeder conversions ....one is a direct replacement for the pellet/plug and the other requires retheading the pellet hole to 1/8 NPT

 

[TAC71]

I should add... The fill port is the little plug in the side of the blue lower mount.
Read up on how to do it on this site. It has plenty of info.

 

[Blu Bug]

If they're shot and not rebuildable a table with fox shocks would be cool for a man cave.

 

[Big Blue]

$65 is a great deal in that condition, you can't pass it up.