Hey all,
I've been working on fixing up some things on my truck. I'm to the shocks. The truck has 200k miles on it and I'm about 99.9% sure they're the original shocks (bought it with 27k miles on it).
I'm pretty sure it's the"heavy" F150.

What do you all recommend for shocks? Is there a way to get a little bit of lift with a different one (I know you can on jeeps, not sure about these)?

 

You can only "lift" if you do things with the suspension shocks do not "lift" unless you were to get air shocks and that is not a good way to go. Any shock you get at this point will make a huge difference. You'll be shocked.. Be ware the nuts on the top of the rear shocks are very hard to get at and with never been replaced and all it might come down to cutting them off. Rip saw with a metal cutting blade works well for that.

 

Yeah I didn't think I could lift with shocks but I wanted to make sure.

Is there a really good bang for your buck shock?

I've been having to cut everything out it seems so I'm mentally preparing myself to do it again for those.

 

Depends where your budget is...Do you want to spend $40 each or $100+ each

2wd or 4wd?

If all your after is OEM quality ride then there is KYB, monroe, gabriel, rancho.. and the most recommended is the bilstein 5100's

There is a sub section for suspension if you want to poke around there for first hand reviews of particular brands.

The bilsteins are highly recommended but I have heard they ride a little stiff.
Again, depends where your money is at really and what your after.

 

Mine is 4x4.

I'd like to stay under 70-80 each. OEM is fine, but if it can be improved in the price range, that is preferable.
It's not a daily driver. It's basically my weekend toy / hunting truck.

 

Got pro comp es9000's on mine on sale for like $130 for all 4 and I think they are a nice ride

 

Bilstein.

Bilstein, Bilstein, Bilstein.

Did I mention Bilstein? Riding the 5100's now. Check Ebay. Buy them. With your money.

 

My vote is for bilstein 5100's or KYB KG series

 

i recently threw on pro comps es9000's as well, they are smooth, only downside you gotta buy the boot covers separately

 

that sucks, my boots came with mine.

 

I have the rancho 9000s on my truck, love the way they ride and you can adjust em to your own liking. You have to crawl under and do each shock unless you get the my ride kit which ive been debating doing just way down on my list

 

I will just say one thing, if you want Bilsteins, you may have to wait a while. I ordered my Bilsteins from 4wheelparts.com at the beginning of March, and just after I ordered them, something happened with the Bilstein manufacturing plant (something about changing their production process I think). I ordered mine over a month ago, and am being told to wait until possibly the end of May, I checked several other companies, and they all tell me the same...I have never had Bilsteins, but off to a bad start.

 

Give eBay a try- had some crackhead at a schmuck 4x4 shop tell me they could get me some at cost to make up for some egregious errors they made and they gave me the same price I could buy for on the 'Bay. Better hurry though...I see them there today!

 

yea idk, maybe they at some point offered them with the shocks or maybe it was where i got them, either way i think i only paid an extra like 12$ for all of them. annoying though

 

I'm in complete agreement with Simply67X on recommending Bilsteins. I've put them on every truck I've owned over the years and they always did a fantastic job-improved handling, and lasted forever. When I gave my '89 F150 to my uncle to use on his farm a few years ago the Bilsteins on there were over 10 years old and had over 300K miles on them, and they were still going strong. I put them on my '98 as soon as I bought it some 4 years ago, and they're great. I have the HDs on it, got them from Shox.com for $250 shipped for 4. They were a little stiff at first, but once I threw some weight on them after pulling a trailer a couple of times they smoothed right out.

I'm not the one to ask about lifts, so IDK if they'll work with that if that's what you're thinking about, but there are few things as set and forget as bilstein shocks.