Well today the weather was pretty nice for working outside. Mid 70's. I purchased the suspension max coil spacer kit about 4 months ago. I also purchased new shocks about 2 months ago on amazon.com. And I got my new wheels today.

So I start tearing into the project. Get the shock assembly out and take it apart. I take the new shock out of the box and to my surprise it's 2" shorter and it has no spring perch.

So I think it's not that big of a deal so I go to Autozone. I take the old shock with me to compare. They pull 2 from their stock and again it's the wrong one, 2" short and no spring perch!

That was the only option they had.

So off to Oreilly autoparts. The have none in stock, not even at their regional warehouse. They have some in a warehouse here in Houston but there is no store front so I can't go get'em. They ordered them and they'll be here Monday.

But that's not all... They cost $82 each!

WTF, why are parts hit or miss with the 355's? This isn't the first part I have had trouble getting.

Oh well, I did as much as I can today so Monday hopefully all I have to do is assemble the shock assembly and bolt it back on. Then I can go get my new tires and get an alignment.

I am going to assume that the shocks I have are for the Z71. If so I have a pair for sell

the perch comes off the old shock brother. as far as the lentght not sure,

Are you sure. I really don't think it comes off the old ones. It appears to be clamped to the old one and if I did get it off there is nothing on the other shocks that would have held it in place.

Here is a pic from rock auto.

Yup, the stock perch comes off. Ron has had his off and put on his QA1 coilovers.

it is just pressed on. you can tap it off with a dead blow hammer, or block of wood. true story

You guys are a big help! I just need to figure out how to line the perch on the new one. Back to the autoparts store. Hopefully they have shocks with the seat for the perch.

So the shocks I have don't have the seat for the perch and they are 2" too short. I guess I'll sell them on ebay or somewhere.

It still sucks I couldn't find new ones with the perch already installed in stock anywhere.

Thanks again.

you wont find them, the perch seat is just 2 raised areas on the shock body. alignment is non-issue, cus you can line it all up when assembling.

Here's the deal. I still couldn't find shocks that would accept the spring perch. Thinking about it it would be hard to find a similar sized diameter shock with the same mounting point, unless it was the same brand.

I went to Oreilly, and Autozone again to find one and couldn't. I didn't bother with Advanced. I called Pep Boys and they could order them, but didn't stock them and there would be a 4 day ship time.

So I try Napa, there a bit far from my house but at this point I will try anything if they have them in stock. They do, and most Napa locations in Houston have them. They are Monroe sensa trac 71353 I paid $146.03 total.

did they have the perches on them?

Yes, the one's I bought did. The old spring perch wouldn't slide over the new one because the new shocks are a larger diameter.

Here's a pic of the new shocks.

that looks hella short in the pic. when you have them dis assembelde take side by side pic please.

The shaft is actually longer by about a half inch or so. I have already installed the drivers side. It took me a long time to get it in because I had to do a lot of grinding on the bump stop mount to install the 2.5" suspension max spring mount spacer.

I'll get some pics when I get home.

Here's a pic of the shocks. From left to right, old shock with spring still assembled, old shock without perch, new correct shock with plastic spring guide on top of flat spring perch, new shock I purchased a few months ago from amazon.com that for whatever reason a few auto parts stores and online vendors have listed for the Z85 2wd coil suspension and bottom, spring perch from old shock.

cool man, thanks for the pics. im sure this will help some others out.

No problem. Got the other one on today. I test drove it around the neighborhood and they are quite a bit stiffer, not sure how much the 2.5" lift has to do with that. They also need to get broken in. I need new tires BAD so I haven't driven it except for in the neighborhood. I'm getting new tires tomorrow morning and an alignment right after that.

post up some pics when its all done.