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Bilstein B6 Heavy Duty Shock Install w/Pics

8K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  henryj1978 
#1 ·
I finally got around to installing the shocks I had order. Here is a simple write up.

I started with the rears thinking they would be easier, but that really turned out to not be true. :LOL: So jack up the truck and put jack-stands under the frame so that you can remove the tires release the load on the suspension. Once you get to that point you will need a crescent wrench and a 13/16 socket w/ a ratchet wrench to remove the bolts. Go ahead and remove the the lower bolt by using the wrenches injunction. Don't worry about the shock it shouldn't shoot out, it's not like a spring. :smileup: After that you will need a buddy with skinny hands and arms to reach the blind nut that it at the top of the shock mount. To make it easy on your arms you may also want to remove several of the screws that hold the wheel well liner in place so that you can get the socket in place and to remove the bolt. Once the bolt is removed I would use some white grease to put on the bushings and the sleeves that run in the bushings just to make sure nothing squeaks. Just a personal preference. After that bolt everything back up do the same for the other side, mount the tires and the rear is done. :woohoo:

Move on the the front, do the same thing jack it up and place jack-stand on the frame, remove tires. After all that is done you will need to use two crescent wrenches to remove the top nut off of the shock, one to hold the piston in place to keep it from spinning and the other the remove the nut. Once that is done you will need I think it was either a 13mm or 14mm one of those too to remove the two bolts from the bottom of the shock. After that slide the shock out and spray the new shock with white grease and bolt the bottom up. NOW, if you have a leveling kit on your truck you will run in to this problem as I did, you will not be able to get the nut to come close to the threads without a load on the suspension. SO, mount the tires back and a slowly lower the truck back down towards where it puts a load on the suspension and compress the spring so that you can tighten the nut on top of the shock. Once you get to that point make sure the the bushings is lined up in the whole correctly. After that take the two wrenches and tighten down the nut. Mount the tires and remove the jack and you are done!

As for quality, these shocks make the truck feel like it is riding on glass. No more feeling every little crack or slowing down to a snail's pace to make it over speed bumps, dips and humps. I would recommend these to anyone.

I'm trying my best to keep the pictures in order. Also there are these little thin lock rings on some of the lugs that hold the wheel on and make it very hard to pull it off, do your self a favor as I did and take them off. One on of the pictures look at the front oem shock and see how the bushings are ordered you will need to repeat this with the new bushings.

Enjoy! :head3:
 

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#3 · (Edited)
This looks like it turned out nice; Congrats! Perfect timing for me as I've just blown a rear shock ;-) as you saw on my other thread and I was wondering how difficult the job would be.

How much time did it take you from start to finish?

What was your reason for deciding to go with the B6's over other aftermarket shocks?
 
#4 ·
It's not too difficult of a job. It took about 2 and a half hours to finish installation. I went with Bilatein over other shocks because they have a better construction than other shocks and they last longer than other aftermarket shocks (about twice as long), also dodge and I know toyota will use them on some of their truck set ups.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Thanks for the writeup! I was going to go the same route with bilsteins but decided just to drop the ram. I was very curious to know how the ride will improve in the ram as I installed a new set on my 98' ranger I got for cheap on ebay and didnt notice a great differnce over the cheapy monroe's.

As for the rear I didnt run into any complications with removing the shocks. Was pretty straight forward to remove and install the shocks. I used a wratchet with a 23mm socket(a little lose on the nut will allow you to come in at a bit of an angle) and an air impact with the correct 22mm socket on the bolt.
 
#12 ·
Yeah getting to the bolt was easy but I was talking about the blind nut, that was the hard part.

Any particular reason you went with the HD's and not the 5100's? Just curious. I have a set of 5100's and an HBS 2" leveling kit waiting for my new wheels and tires.
I have a 2wd not a 4wd.
 
#11 ·
nice write up bud...ill add to your reps for that:)
 
#16 ·
I finally got around to installing the shocks I had order. Here is a simple write up.

I started with the rears thinking they would be easier, but that really turned out to not be true. :LOL: So jack up the truck and put jack-stands under the frame so that you can remove the tires release the load on the suspension. Once you get to that point you will need a crescent wrench and a 13/16 socket w/ a ratchet wrench to remove the bolts. Go ahead and remove the the lower bolt by using the wrenches injunction. Don't worry about the shock it shouldn't shoot out, it's not like a spring. :smileup: After that you will need a buddy with skinny hands and arms to reach the blind nut that it at the top of the shock mount. To make it easy on your arms you may also want to remove several of the screws that hold the wheel well liner in place so that you can get the socket in place and to remove the bolt. Once the bolt is removed I would use some white grease to put on the bushings and the sleeves that run in the bushings just to make sure nothing squeaks. Just a personal preference. After that bolt everything back up do the same for the other side, mount the tires and the rear is done. :woohoo:

Move on the the front, do the same thing jack it up and place jack-stand on the frame, remove tires. After all that is done you will need to use two crescent wrenches to remove the top nut off of the shock, one to hold the piston in place to keep it from spinning and the other the remove the nut. Once that is done you will need I think it was either a 13mm or 14mm one of those too to remove the two bolts from the bottom of the shock. After that slide the shock out and spray the new shock with white grease and bolt the bottom up. NOW, if you have a leveling kit on your truck you will run in to this problem as I did, you will not be able to get the nut to come close to the threads without a load on the suspension. SO, mount the tires back and a slowly lower the truck back down towards where it puts a load on the suspension and compress the spring so that you can tighten the nut on top of the shock. Once you get to that point make sure the the bushings is lined up in the whole correctly. After that take the two wrenches and tighten down the nut. Mount the tires and remove the jack and you are done!

As for quality, these shocks make the truck feel like it is riding on glass. No more feeling every little crack or slowing down to a snail's pace to make it over speed bumps, dips and humps. I would recommend these to anyone.

I'm trying my best to keep the pictures in order. Also there are these little thin lock rings on some of the lugs that hold the wheel on and make it very hard to pull it off, do your self a favor as I did and take them off. One on of the pictures look at the front oem shock and see how the bushings are ordered you will need to repeat this with the new bushings.

Enjoy! :head3:

Thanks for the write up. I Have a 2010 1500 Laramie 4x4. My front strurt looks diffrent. Has anyone done those. How difficult was it
 
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