Hi all.

I have a 2003 F-150 FX4 4x4. I only recently bought it, and have logged 8,000 miles putting it at 152,000. I totally understand that it's a truck and all, but damn this thing rides harsh. Almost every road imperfection is transmitted to my seat. Driving in the city or cruising on the interstate is just bumpy, and it doesn't smooth out unless I'm doing 85mph. I'm fairly certain that it has the Rancho shocks, and I'm absolutely certain that they suck.

I love the firm ride. I'm a pretty aggressive driver, and I was really surprised how well the truck handles being thrown into a corner. My passengers usually don't notice the minimal body lean, but that's prolly cause my driving scares them.

I use the truck mainly as my daily driver. I don't tow, the truck is almost always unloaded, and I've been known to occasionally plow through any field I happen to stumble across... I would like a shock that keeps the firm, controlled ride, but reduces harshness. I've ridden in 2WD F-150's and there's a clear difference, but they just don't handle as well.

I was thinking Bilstein??

 

Go with bilstein hd's.

 

I would like to order tonight. Can anyone confirm these part numbers? I'm ordering from Shockwarehouse.

F4-BE5-2489-H0 Front

AK2284 Rear

 

BAM! The rear shocks were quite possibly the biggest pain in the *** job ever.

 

Looks good man, and yea the rear shocks are no fun, I had to cut one of mine out when I changed it last haha.

 

Been there w/ my '97. Starting to think its worth the $35 to pay the local shop to just put them on this truck for me... lol Since I dont have access to a cutting torch anymore.

 

The new Bilsteins ride SOFTER than my 157K stock ***** Ranchos. So happy...

The rear shocks were so corroded, that I managed to snap the mounting stud on the shock.

 

yeah... that seems to be the easiest way to get them off! lol

 

My OEM rears came off easy according to my mechanic. I sprayed them down with some WD40 a few times a few days before the install date. I love the ride on the bilsteins, big difference.

 

I cant wait to get mine put on, they came in end of last week, but I Was busy all day sat. & didnt get them put on yet.

 

Yea, definitely the most noticeable ride improvement for the price. The hardest part of the install was guessing the torque for the mounting nuts. I guess I should invest in a tiny torque wrench.

 

I have really enjoyed my bilsteins HDs. They have really smoothed out the ride and seem to work great for the mild rock crawling moves I have done off road so far.

The torque on the shocks should be pretty easy w/out a torque wrench. The fronts you watch the bulge on the rubber bushings, IMHO most folks probably have a tendency to over tighten the nuts, but that will over compress the bushings leading to later issues with cracks, dryrot, premature failure. I try to get the bushing to bulge out just about even with the edge of the large metal washers. The bilsteins come with nylock nuts so they should not loosen. Sometimes I put the old nut on top as a locknut just for insurance. I guess the rears on our trucks would be the same as it has the threaded top rod instead of the round eyelets with bushings like most vehicles.

But, you want an accurate torque wrench for other things like, plugs, etc. They are cheap now at harbor frieght and on sale everywhere. You can always calibrate a cheap wrench against a known good one if you have a mechanic friend w/ good tools.

 

^^ True. I tightened the shocks until the bushings were flush with the washer.

 

glad the project worked for u bud, Im getin mine installed tomorrow ,basically the same shocks on a 2wd super crew. the smooth ride report is real reassuring brother!

 

Hope the install goes smoothly!