Before:



After:





I installed the rear shocks myself... easy... took me longer to take the wheels off.

Ford quoted me 1.5 hours to install the front ones. Not easy. Need a spring compressor. Need a wheel alignment afterwards.

The shocks feel great. Not too harsh. Barely noticeable on "regular" roads but, over ruts and potholes, the truck feels planted and doesn't jump around. Not that the stock F-150 is bad... but these are better.

 

Sweet!

 

Now that looks great. I better order mine asap. So having the dealer/alignment shop would be better to let do the fronts?

 

Looks good!!! Must of got ya some new mirrors I see?

 

Yup. 2008 F-150 trailer tow mirrors. Shoulder checking is so a thing of the past for me.

And Darren... The guy at the shop (which, presumably, replaces shocks and struts ALL the time) couldn't stop complaining about how hard it was to replace mine. He said the springs are so much harder to compress than the ones they're used to (you know, cars mostly)... They spent three hours on it.

I figure that'd be at lease five hours in my hands then.

 

Damn, guess that they will really make the labor charge a nice one.

 

Funny thing is , when I went to Midas to get mine put on, it bent their compressor. Then they refused to do it. Then I took it to Big-O tires, and they had it installed in about 20 minutes. They had a heavy duty one unlike Midas claimed they had.

 

well that truck looks really good.. i like it alot!! now get some 35's lol
ps i love the mirrors

 

Thanks.

But...

If I put 35's on... I'll have to chainsaw 6' off the back end of my trailer.

 

Where did you get the kit?? I want one for my 03 fx4 scab. Is it just a Blistein 5100 series or another name?

 

The Bilsteins aren't a "kit"... they are a replacement shock absorber (manufactured by Bilstein) which relocates the bottom "spring perch" higher than the factory shocks.

Since you have an '03, however, I don't think this solution works for you. I don't know s*** from shinola... but I believe your truck does not have coil-over-shock front suspension, it has torsion bars. You should be able to level your truck with $0.00 investment just by ratcheting up the torsion bars.

But somebody who knows something about '03s would be a better source of info on that.

 

kevin, did you install the front at stock spring height or at 1 or 2 inches of lift? if stock, did the front height change? if with lift, did you really that much heght? ive heard that the 5100s are like 1 inch shorter than the oem struts physically.

 

I installed the Front Bilstein 5100 shocks using the 2" lift setting. I forgot to write down my before measurement... but it seems like the nose went up about 1 3/4" though.

 

How are the ball joint angles?

 

Congrats on raising a 6 y/o zombie thread!

BJ angles are acceptable up to 2.5", anything over 3" will cause severe strain and damage.