New shocks arriving in the next day or two. Is there a need to jack up the rear and/or remove tires?

 

I did my rear shocks with tires on, on the ground, on my 15.

 

Ah good to know. I have done it that way on another truck but i have also replaced shocks on a different truck and it was pretty much impossible until i jacked it up.

 

No - tires can stay on and truck doesn't need to be off the ground for the rear. Leave the strap on until installed and have a small pry bar to guide the bottom of the shock into position to receive the bolt.

I did it last week and it took me about 20 minutes.

 

I was going to install the bottom bolt first and guide it to the top bolt. Does it make a difference?

 

Yes. you will need to compress the shock. Put the stop in first. If you leave the strap on you will only need to compressor it a little bit to slip the bolt through, hence a small pry bar or something to use as leverage. You can compress by hand, but its a bit tricky with one person, but can be done. I did it.

I just did my Bilstein 5100 last weekend. Tires on, not jacked up. Took about 20-30 mins with hand tools.

 

I'd say it depends on the shock. 5100's are harder to compress that oem.

I've installed fully extended rear 5100's by hand, but do not recommend. Easiest is running a camlock strap around the shock, installing the top bolt, then letting the camlock out until it reaches the lower bracket and sliding that bolt in.

Depending on your pry bar, that method can be easy, or a pain in the ***. Of course I own three pain in the *** style bars

 

5100s here too. I installed on the ground, tires still on. Put the lower bolt in, cut the strap and guided the top bolt in and tightened them both down.

 

Did the 5100s on the rear last night. Gotta say I agree with just about everyone else that they are night and day difference over oem shocks. For under $200 it's one of the cheapest and best mods you can do.