Justhunt12

Hey Guys!
Just reporting in for my very first experience in a forum.
I'm a retired teacher (Welding Technology) and computer illiterate, but manage to struggle through what seems necessary.
I'm an antique gear head who hasn't done much of anything other than light general maint on vehicles since the 80's. Used to do a lot of drag racing in the 60's-70's. We could stay with the Pro Stock bunch 'til they got to the mid-lo 9 sec mark. Too scientific after that.
Currently, I have my retirement gift... 2010, F-150, King Ranch, 5.4. Have added K&N air, magna flow, and Bilstein shocks on rear. Haven't done the front yet. Just being lazy here. This brings a question...front Bilsteins come with very little instruction. Three rings come with shocks for ride heights. I want to keep front at current level. "How many of the rings will keep front at stock height?"
Have watched several "how to" You-Tube videos about front shock replacements.
Anybody have any recommendations, short-cuts, personal experiences?

Looking forward to the Forum experience!

Marc D

Welcome from SoCal. As a retired contractor and a backyard mechanic this is a great place to share ideas. Post your shock question under a new thread in the Maintenance section. Good luck

Justhunt12

Thank you, and my Forum learning curve aims upward.

goneMINIcrazy

Welcome! And just take your time, you'll learn the flow of the forum soon enough. Every forum is like an extended family, you'll have a few quacks, but most are pretty good guys.

Myself excluded, I'm just an ***.

Ringleader

Trust us, he is an ***.

Welcome to the forum!

goneMINIcrazy

Seriously, this is me on a good day.

Ringleader

And this is him after the last guy said his mom bred with a zebra.



You won't like him when he's angry.

goneMINIcrazy

Bahahaha this is true.

Well Justhunt, you've gotten your first taste of what it's like with us morons, hope we haven't scared you away...

Ringleader

^^^This is true, lol. Have fun, and don't take any of us too seriously.

goneMINIcrazy

Front Bilsteins are an easy installation. Take you about 1hr to disassemble the front suspension, then you just need to get the shocks into the front springs. Then reassembling the front suspension will take another hour. Bam you're done.

Tips:

• If you are not setting it any higher than .75" lift you will not need to disconnect sway bars. Any higher than .75" and you WILL need to disconnect to get the lower control arm to swing low enough.

• You can install the shocks into the springs yourself, but you will need this style of compressor and some skill. http://www.toolsinstock.com/admin/images/AK3841.jpg

• You will need a 30mm and 27mm wrench or impact socket to remove the lower shock bolt.

• Remember to disconnect the battery before the install to avoid problems with the power steering system.

• The Bilstein notch measurements can be found here: http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6063/...b96260b7_z.jpg

Like I said you CAN do the shocks into springs yourself, but might be easier to take it to a shop and have them do it. Cost me about $50 since I couldn't get the right compressor. Most shops will charge you $100 per side to do ALL the work and some might flat out refuse to do it. One shop was too scared to attempt it at all.

THIS is a great guide for the install: http://www.iconvehicledynamics.com/n...r-uniball-arm/




I have mine at 1.5" lift on 33" Michelin LTX A/T 2's.