Kingfish et al,

On top of each front shock on my 02 F150 2WD is a plastic fitting which holds a plastic brake line. Is there a secret to getting these off? Sorry for what might be a dumb question.

Bill

 

Sorry, I don't remember any kind of fitting that was attached to the top shock attachment post. It was just a standard post type fitting.
Maybe someone else here can shed some light in it.

 

That plastic brake line holder just has plastic threads to screw on the threads on the shock. Unhook the brake line and unscrew it off the top of the shock. The worst part is catching your finger on the edge of the fenderwell as you spin it.

 

OK. Thanks guys.

Bill

 

All done. Now the front shocks have been replaced as well as the rear, with Bilsteins, although 6 months apart. I was really amazed at the poor shape of the OE shocks after only 24K miles. The Trailering Package is supposed to include "heavy duty" shocks, but I wouldn't call what I removed "heavy duty" at all. Front and rear were easily compressed by hand.

Thanks again to several members for all the helpful advice from someone not as mechanically inclined as many of you.

By the way, my Bilsteins came from AJ-USA.com out of San Diego. The price was $65 each with no shipping charges. They were shipped from CA to VA in less than a week and AJ-USA called today to make sure everything was OK.

Bill

 

Congrats! Always feels good to tackle a repair and the feeling of accomplishment when it's finished and better than before. Calls for a nanner.

 

Glad to hear you got them on. If you haven't driven it yet, it's going to feel like a new truck. I just received bilsteins for my 04. I will probably do the rears tomorrow, but I am not going to attempt putting the fronts on with coilover. I'll pay someone that has the proper tools.

 

Kingfish,

I don't know why you had difficulty with the front shocks on your other truck...my installation went smoothly. I did not have to compress the shocks to insert them in the coil as I think you did. The secret to my installation was to jack up the front of the truck so the tires are a couple of inches off the florr, rest the frame on jackstands, allowing the wheel arms to fall and the old shocks to extend. After removing the wheels everything was easy to get to and the old shock came right out and the new one went right in with clearance to spare. After tightening the lower nuts, I jacked up the wheel arm slightly to compress the shock a bit so the upper connection fit snugly before tightening the top nut. Best of luck and thanks again.

Bill

 

Unfortunately at the time I did not have anything to jack at the frame. I had to jack at the regular jack point which means everything is still compressed. If I had it to do over again, I would have bought a floor jack at that time. By the time I figured that out, the truck was up in the air, and it is my only transportation.
Live and learn.

 

everyone with bilsteins,

how do these new shocks improve your ride and drive. I have stock FX4 shock and i dislike the ride. i get a lot of quiver in my steering. one member, marshy i think, said this stopped with his intallation. i just need a good reason to upgrade to bilstein. don't want to waste good mod money, but i want a great ride that i'm not getting now. explain your experience with bilsteins in detail if you don't mind.

 

My ride is noticeably stiffer, but not uncomfortably so. I have not have a chance to tow my boat with all 4 shocks installed, but with only the rear ones, it was noticeably less bouncy. Since the old front shocks I took off appeared to be in worse shape than the rear ones I took off 6 months ago, I expect the ride when towing to continue to improve. With all 4 Bilsteins installed now, the ride unloaded is definitely more truck-like. That's about as detailed as I can be. Hope it helps.

Bill