Hi All,

Posted this on the suspension board with not much traction. Figured I try here.

About 3 years ago, I put a set of Monroe Quick Struts on my 2005 SCREW. I have noticed that my ride has been pretty rough lately, so I'd figure I would change them out. I also wanted to get rid of the rake, so opted to order a set of Bilstein 5100s.

Now reading through instructions, it says to reuse the OEM upper and lower strut mounts.... well I dont have those any more. Is it possible to reuse the spring and strut mounts from the Monroes?

I cant imagine I am the only one to run into this situation.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Joe

 

Honestly as long as the bushings are in good shape, I'd just reuse them. Same for the mounting bolts and hardware. The only new stuff you should get if your new struts don't come with them is the 3 mounting bolts for the top side of the quick struts.

 

My biggest concern is the lower spring seat. In their infinite wisdom, bilstein did not include the lower spring seat and want you to use the OE spring seat. I am not sure if those will pop off the quick strut or not.

My other option is to go to the Junk Yard and pick up driver and passenger side strut assemblies.

 

You could buy some tubing at home depot and slide it over the lower spring.

 

I believe all of the upper components will work fine. My concern is the lower seat (where the bottom of the spring sits) is welded on or cannot be pried off.

just curious if anybody has done this yet? Can't imagine I am blazing new trails with this

 

Sounds like a PITA. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of quick struts at that point since that would involve taking the assembly apart to install the base. I wouldn't screw with it personally, I'd look for a full assembly that didn't involve all of the extra curricular activities. Good luck.

 

Are you talking about the lower support for the spring? This is typically welded to the strut. Even on the original equipment one.

 

Yeah, I would just go with the Rancho quick lifts and be done with it. I have the RS9000XL's...no complaints at all.

 

They typically are welded, but according to Bilstein, for the 2004-2008, the lower spring seat is not welded on and can be knocked off with a hammer.

ive priced some from the junk yard and they are about 30-50 a piece.

i just don't understand the stupidity of bilstein not to include it. How many people would still have stock struts on a 10+ old vehicle?

 

I'm at 9 years on mine. They're probably due to for a change, but they show no signs of leaks and there's not really any noticeable bounce. I'd wager there's a better chance of finding that 10-yr old trucks have the original struts than of finding them with new/upgraded components. Suspensions are usually the last thing to get attention on a vehicle unless you are having tire wear/driveability issues.

 

I have the complete pair out of my '07 with a little over 50K miles on them. I was going to toss them. Shipping would be the biggest expense...

 

I changed my factory ones out 3 years ago. These monroes are garbage. I am pretty easy on a vehicle and I am shocked (no pun intended) how rough the ride is.

i will most likely just hit the junk yard to get a set of struts and replace them with the bilstein struts.

these shocks better be as good as the reviews I have seen. Not impressed with the fact that I need to reuse spring seats... especially when most seem to use a welded strut seat.

 

Well for what it's worth, I have bilstein's all the way around.

And yes, they are great. Love these shocks.

 

I replaced the shocks on all four corners of my 05 F150 XL 4x4 Regular Cab (175k miles) with the Bilstein 5100 series a couple of months ago. I really like the ride. Firm but still somewhat cushy. It seems like the rear gas shocks raised the rear of the truck a little bit but not enough to notice the difference in the aiming of my headlights... maybe because the front was equally lifted by the internal gas pressure?

Compressing the front strut springs and beating off the lower spring perch was a bit of a pain. My truck either had the original front struts or stock Ford replacements. It was owned by the local electric utility company.

Make sure you put the spring perches on right side up or the compressed strut springs will seem to be too long to fit. The fronts are adjustable for ride height at three different levels. I used the lowest level (stock). If you want to 'level' your truck go one notch up (the middle groove) on the c-clip notches. I think Bilstein gives you a good shock for the money. Sure, you don't get new springs or the lower spring perch but you do get a quality shock absorber. You will probably be very pleased with your ride quality and the extra effort will be worth it. The Bilsteins I've bought in the past were always quality shocks. That's why I went to them for the replacements on my (new to me) F150.

 

I also used the Monroe quick struts on my previous s-crew. Rough ride. Won't be doing that again.