Ok, folks. Does anyone know, or can anyone find out, what the official "book" hours are to replace the front struts on a
'17 SCrew 4×4? Assuming probably Mitchell or Alldata? book.
My dealer say its 6 hours in the book and I find that really hard to beleive. At their $140/ hour rate they're expecting me to pay $840 to put on some Bilsteins that I already bought. That's friggin insane. If someone can get me some evidence to the contrary it would be really helpful. Thanks.

 

Find a small shop to do the job. They usually have a labor rate that's lower, don't worry so much about the book rate and just find a shop that gives you a total price you're comfortable with.

 

That is too much. I had a local shop install my lift and I if I could recall he charged about $500. That was for the rear blocks, front spindle lift, and Bilstein. No alignment.

 

Good friend of mine has a shop that does suspension work all day. Lifts, levels, re-gears, brakes, etc. He installed my 5100's (Front and rear) in about 2.5 hours. He of course charged me a little less than normal rate but I would say 6 hours is highway robbery, if you take it somewhere that does it frequently it should take less than 1/2 that time. That said, if you install at a height higher than stock, an alignment is highly advised. I had mine done back at stock height and mine still drives perfect and tires are still wearing evenly.

 

I was quoted 4h of labor at $98/h for all 4 corners. You should run from that dealer, and quickly.

 

definitely go to an indy shop for something like this. Hopefully you can find one that specializes in truck as well.

 

My Ford dealer removed the OEM struts (that previously had a leveling block installed), disassembled the old struts, reassembled and installed the Bilstein struts, performed an alignment of the suspension, and while the truck was on the alignment rack checked/adjusted the vertical alignment of the ACC radar. Additionally, while the struts were removed, I had adjustable camber bolts installed in the event the caster or camber needed to be corrected after reassembly

Due to the Bilstein struts not significantly changing the ride height, no adjustment to the headlamps or fog lamps was required although both were checked.

Keep in mind this is labor only

 

Good question!
My local front end shop is really good and pretty quick. They quote you book rate and you pay book rate. If they finish it quickly becuase they know tricks, they can get to the new customer more quickly while collecting book rate from me.

I would encourage you though to seek out additional quotes. Ford service departments are not the only place capable of changing out your shock assembly.
For conversation sake, it's a coilover, not a strut. I'm sure any shop will know better when trying to gather up a quote. It's odd that the Ford invoice above states it is a strut though.
Any reputable front end shop can take care of it, and the alignment, no problem. A shade tree shop without knowledge of the system may be something you put low on the list.
You will definitely want somebody who understands how the IWE system works. Too many posts after level installation stating front end noises, which sometimes are a result of improper installation which damaged the IWE.

 

It is amazing that some places get away with charging 6 hours of labor when I (and most people who DIY it) can do it in 3-4 hours on jackstands, without a fancy wall mounted spring compressor.

 

I did my own in my garage with no power tools and it took me less than 3hrs to do the front. That said my local dealer also wanted 800 bucks sooooo there you go.