My shocks did not show any leaks, but at 83,000 miles they were worn out. I was feeling every bump, every jolt. I ordered Bilstein replacement for a 4X2 for about $270 and installed the rears myself, about 3 weeks ago. Just the rears made a huge difference in the ride. I never got the chance to do the fronts and the more I thought about it, the more I decided I would need some help. So, last Sunday afternoon, I drove the hour and 20 minutes South, and met up with Patrick at his friends house. They installed the fronts in about 3 hours. It really makes a big difference in the ride quality and handling. Very pleased with the Bilsteins.

 

If you decide to do your fronts yourself, be sure to get a strong spring compressor that will handle the larger springs. Must be an outside compressor, of course. Also, every write up I had seen said you had to drop the lower ball joint and take off the sway bar mounts, but we just knocked the tie rod end off. Much easier and quicker.

 

Jim, you worked too hard!


That's how I did it. It's easy when the entire front is off the ground, makes it easier for the coilover to come out.

 

So who was the other kid that Pat suckered into doing Jim's work?

 

So let me get this straight... Patman did all the work on your truck, while you took pics and drank all his beer I'm guessing?

 

I can't wait until later tonight when I'm going to a buddies and putting my new shocks in for the rear, it should really improve the handling I'm hoping. I just wish Icon made just the shocks for the front instead of coilovers.

How much are 4 Bilstiens going to run someone?

 

thats pretty cool lol

 

im hopefully getting my front bilsteins in tomorrow. my lower bolt on the shocks that are in there (the factory "ranchos" that have 73k miles on them) is rusted into the metal bushing sleeve. so tomorrow at my auto class me and my teacher are taking the torch to them to heat them up so i can hopefully bust them loose.

i got the rears in last week and theyre a big improvement.


with the buy 3 get 1 free special, i got all four of mine from shockwarehouse.com for $205 or so shipped

 

That deal is not available for the 4x2 bilsteins. Bluejay tried.

 

They have the buy 3 get one free special for my truck... for the rear shocks only.

 

Your truck probably would not notice if you bought 4 rears and put rears on the front.

 

I forget the exact cost. It was $275 or so with free shipping. I checked several web sites and this place was the cheapest for the 2 wheel drive.

 

Yeah, Josh is a friend of Pat's and they would like to open a shop together. Yep, I mostly watched, chased a tool or two. Oh, I took one wheel off. I had to keep my hands clean so I could take the pics!

 

LOL... shocks are more of a suggestion on my truck. They don't do much. Or it could be because mine desperately need to be replaced.

 

I think we could have done them alot faster then we did, if we didnt have those pesky instructions to deal with :o