Hello:

Just got my truck and the only mod outside of Xm that I plan is Bilstien shocks. Can anyone tell me how difficult they are to change?

Thanks

Tom

 

It was a bitch... gotta remove the springs. Cost me a few hundred bucks including the alignment.

 

If you do not have HEAVY duty spring compressors, take it to a shop. I install my Rancho's all around in a couple of hours by myself, but I have air tools and multiple sets of spring compressors. To me it was not very hard, just time consuming by myself But again any doubt take it to a reputable shop and get an alignment after anyways at the same place

 

since you didnt specify i'd have to say as bout as difficult as a drive to a mida's.. although if you really wanna be cool about it you could always park a tire up on one of there curbs

 

I changed mine in about 2 1/2 hours, using 2 sets of spring compressors from Autozone (FREE!). It's easy to remove the strut to the front side. You will need an impact, or a really big breaker bar, to remove the bottom bolts. I placed 4 compressor bolts around the coil, and evenly tightened them until the coil was loose, slid the shock out, put the new one in, and loosened them the same way to remove them. No alignment was needed on mine (I had it checked). Easy deal, if you are at mechanical.

 

Hello,
So, how did the bilsteins change the ride quality? Stiffer? Smoother? Handle better? Worth it? I've been thinking about replacing the shocks on my 04 for a while now, but the shocks weren't available for it when I last look a year or so ago.
Thanks
Arthur

 

Much improved and totally worth it! I am however gonna sell these 2 month old shocks soon and gets some Donahoe's coilovers as soon as I measure my garage to see if the 2" front end rise is gonna make me scrape exiting my parking structure. Interested in buying them?

The Bilstein ride is not harder or stiffer, I would call it more controlled. Less nose dive and corners flatter. The only slight downside is the bed shake can tend to increase just a hair, but its hardly noticeable and may be because I'm running 3 ply sidewall tires now.

I dont know about the new Bilsteins that just came out that are height adjustable. To be honest, I dont like the idea of stretching or compressing a stock spring to adjust ride height. It's gotta change the spring rate to some extent I'd think.

I've lowered cars using aftermarket lowering springs and the stock shocks. It was never a good combination or felt spot on I thought. I've also lifted a few trucks in my day. I realized that you do get what you pay for when it comes to a lot of this kind of stuff. I'm sure there are plenty on this board who think placing those pucks are a great (and inexpensive) way to get the front end rise out of the truck, but compressing the spring with a foreign object is not what I personally want to do.

I just feel there is no comparison for a custom mated spring and shock that has been researched and developed to work together. Blah Blah Blah... sorry, Im tired and rambling off topic