Going to replace my shocks tomorrow.
Believe it or not, I've never replaced shocks before.

Any hints, tips or tricks I should be aware of?

Got some PB Blaster and going to hit the nuts a couple times this afternoon so they are nice and unfrozen tomorrow.

The shocks (Bilstein 5100's) have a strap on them to keep them compressed,
when I remove this strap, are the shocks going to extend themselves like really fast?
Will I be able to compress them back down by hand or will I need some special tool?

What is easiest or best, connecting the bottom first, or the top?

This will be done in my driveway, as I don't have access to a lift or a garage tall enough for the truck.


thanx


phox

 

Mine's a 4x4 3500, so what I do is take the towers loose first than pull the bottoms loose. Pull the whole thing up thru the top and reverse putting them in. I just wait till I'm good and set back underneath and cut the straps. Push the bolt thru when it gets close. You can handle compressing them. but it's not fun.

The rear on mine is a little tougher. The swaybar gets in the way. The last time I changed them, I had to compress the suspension a tiny bit to clear everything. (I used the front end loader on the tractor and pushed down on the hitchball)

PB BLaster is your friend.

HTH,

Ed

 

The shocks won't shoot apart when you cut the straps....like sherod said, put the towers on the fronts first, then you can push them down after you get the lower bolt through. Helps to have someone get a few threads on the tower nuts for you while you push down.

On the rears, I do the uppers first and then collapse the shock until I can get it into the lower mount.

IIRC, they run the shipping straps through the eyes, so you'll have to cut them first.

 

When I installed mine they said to compress them by hand 3 or 4 times before installing, to charge shock.

And when I did it they actually changed response from first compression, they got stiffer and slower to return.

 

I had to drop the passenger side of the rear swaybar and pry it out of the way to get the lower bolt on that side.

As for getting the old fronts off, a Sawzall makes real short work of the lower 4-5 inches of the stock dust covers, then a pair of vice grips clamps tight to the old shock shaft made getting the nut off a breeze with an air ratchet.

And for the fronts, I had to compress the spring via floor jack under the lower control arm, to get the top shock bolt into position and the nut started, then lower the jack until the lower bolt hole lined up.

 

You'll probably want to have some swivel or u-joint attachments for your socket wrench ready, that'll likely save you some headaches. On the fronts, both times I've had to use a large screwdriver to pry the eye of the shock into the lower mount far enough so that I could beat the bolt through with a hammer. Sounds bad, but the bolts are very hard and don't seem to be hurt by it at all. In both cases this was with Edelbrock IAS shocks, so it may not be necessary if the bushings aren't as tight on other brands.

 

Thanx for the tips thus far.

Just to add, I don't have access to an air ratchet, so it will all be powered by armstrong.
Also don't have access to a sawsall.

Also, how do you get the front driver side shock out with all the brake lines, fuel lines, PDC
etc. in the way?



phox

 

Yours must be a different setup being a 4X4.

All my bolts were accessed through the fenderwell.

 

Get a nut splitter for the front shocks.

I don't even bother trying to loosen the top nuts on those things.. I just use a nut splitter to break the nuts off and in about 2 minutes you have the tops off and sitting on the floor. Well worth the investment..

I never had any problem with the rear sway bar, must be a different mount on the newer rigs..

J-eh

 

On the LF shock, you can usually weasel it out between the lines. I don't remember having to remove anything. Remove the tower from it first. On the lower mounts, they can be ugly if someone has ever overtightened the bolt. You may have to spread the 2 mount parts that the bottom of the shock sits between. Having said that, the lower bolt calls for 100 ft lbs. torque, but I've occasionally found that's not enough to prevent the clunk.

 

Never needed a nut splitter on any of mine.

Never had a problem with the rears, but did with the front ones. Drivers' side was the worst for me. Had trouble getting the bottom end into the bottom bracket. Didn't want to slip into place.

Some of the nuts have ears welded on them (front, lower end, IIRC), so you won't need a second wrench on them.

Also did mine by hand. Not too bad. No frozen bolts.

 

Going to tackle it after my daughters soccer game and after I mow the lawn.
Gotta get the important stuff done first.

The nuts don't look too bad as I had the lift put on just 2 years ago, so it's only 2 years of salt instead of 4,
and I've hit them with PB Blaster 4 times now, and once more before I head to the soccer game.


phox

 

OK, I give up, throwin' in the towel.

Decided to tackle the driver side front first, since it looked the most challenging.

Got it out no problem.

Tried the passenger side and proceeded to break 2 sockets on the bottom bolt.
No, they weren't my Crafstman's, didn't have a Craftsman big enough, they were just el cheapo's I've had for years.
PB Blasted it again and let it sit while I put in the driver side Bilstein.

Dang thing is too wide at the bottom.
Only a couple millimeters, but no way I could wedge it in on the bottom.
I don't have access to a grinder, tried filing both sides down but it would have taken forever to file off enough.

Put the driver side skyjacker back in and torqued it down I hope enough to last a week.

Didn't even feel like tackling the rears after all that, not to mention I probably don't have a socket big enough anymore, don't want to break my last one 'cause I need it to get my lug nuts off.

I'll take it to the corner garage on my next day off, he shouldn't gouge me too much.


phox

 

4X4s must be a lot different than the RWD trucks.

 

Never having owned a 2x4 truck I'm guessing they are different.

Here's the "shock tower" as seen from the fender well.
3 bolts holding it on, 2 accessible from the wheel well, one from the engine compartment.
The "cup" the spring is sitting in is welded to the frame, about where the top control arm would be on a 2 wheel drive truck I'm guessing.


Here's the mess of stuff you have to deal with on the driver side.
You can see the 3rd shock tower bolt, and all the brake lines and wiring you have to snake the shock through to get it out, this is after unbolting the shock tower and setting it aside.


Here's a couple shots of the bottom of the shock and the channel it has to sit in.
The problem is the metal sleeve inside the bushing is wider than the channel, requiring it to be ground down ever so slightly.


Right side of the pics is the nut with the "finger" welded to it, since there is no way to get a socket in from that side to hold it while you tighten down on the other side, which is a tight fit to get a socket in.

Here's the passenger side top, only thing in the way is the intake hose which is easily removed, I did have to totally remove the BHAF heatshield to access the shock tower.


I'm guessing a 2 wheel drive truck is similiar to a rear wheel drive vehicle from the 70's or 80's and quite easy to change the shocks.


phox