So both the Haynes manual and the Toyota manual say to install the front shocks just as shown below. You'll notice the cap, we'll call it a washer then the bushing, then another washer. On top the same thing, the bushing sandwiched between two washers.

Last week during my work on the truck I was putting the shock back in and two friends who have years of experience on cars told me I wasn't installing it right. They both noted that the bushing should be touching metal and that you never want metal on metal. It sounded logical but this is what the book calls for - has anyone else ever wondered about that or did anything different than what the manual notes?

Thanks - OJ

 

The 2 washers in the middle, between the rubber bushings, face opposite each other and have ridges on the bottom that fit into the hole in the chassis that the top of the shock goes through. The washers lock in to the hole, while holding the rubber bushing, and keep the top of the shock centered in the hole. So from the top, just under the nut, you a cupped metal washer, the rubber bushing, then there is the cupped washer with the lip in the middle that faces down toward the hole in the chassis. On the bottom side of the hole comes the cupped washer with the lip in the middle that faces up toward the hole, the rubber bushing, and finally the last cupped washer that supports the rubber bushing.

 

yea, where the to washers meet in the pic, that is where the chassis is..

 

I knew there was a reason they made it that way and why it's in the manuals to be done that way - thanks for answering the question friend.

 

np, thats what were here for

 

Thats what I was thinking too lol...I went & looked at my truck to make sure!