Well, I finally bought some Bilstein 5100 adjustable struts to level out my truck a bit. I will be installing them in the 1.3" setting because I do tow some & carry a lot of stuff in the bed & I don't want to look front high all the time & am not ready to put the air bags on just yet. I have read what I could on here about the install & it seems pretty straight forward. I do have spring compressors & have installed several lifts in the past, just all on straight axle vehicles (jeeps & 2nd gen 2500's), never an IFS vehicle.

Compressing the coils don't scare me too much as I have compressed a ton of coils before on other lifts (although never from a strut). I am just wondering from those who have installed these if there are any tricks I should be aware of or any problems encountered I should prepare for?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
Ian

 

Be very prepared for having trouble removing the bolt that attaches the shock clevis (forked end) to the lower control arm. This stopped me and my dad dead in our tracks. I thought I was well prepared for this with an impact, a 2 lb sledge, and a sh*tload of PB Blaster, but I was so wrong. Some people on here had to use an air hammer and chisel. Some people got it out with a press. Some people had to cut the bolt before pressing it out. I do not have any of these tools at my disposal and now I no longer have the time available to do it myself. So my truck is going to the shop tomorrow to let them do the install. Totally sucks. It was the first time a vehicle has ever gotten the best of me. I drowned my sorrows that night in beer and bourbon. Good luck to you.

 

I had the same problem as Hoosier. Took it to a shop the next day to have them put 'em on. Its a little trickier than it seems. I had mine set on the max adjustment of 2 inches. Put the Bilstein rears on at the same time. Love the look and ride now. Still not completely level. Rear is still 3/4 inch taller. Only regret is not doing it sooner.

 

Posting pics from start to finish would be cool ::HINT HINT::

 

Agreed. A lot of people on here could benefit from a good detailed writeup for the 3rd gens. I did find one in the 4th gen section with a lot of good pics and the suspension and procedure is generally the same, I think. But we don't really have one here in the 3rd gen section.

 

Same issue here with the lower shock mount bolts. Seized up solid in the bushings. Tried the impact, hammer, sledge hammer, and air chisel all to no avail. had to take it to the shop, and even then they had to cut them out.

FYI to all of those out there that are running into this issue with the frozen lower shock bolt.

although Dodge claims that you have to buy a completely new LCA and that the bushings are not serviceable, they in-fact are. you will clearly see that it is a pressed in bushing, but dodge won't admit to the fact that they are 2 separate parts.

You won't find anyone that lists a part number for this bushing specifically, but there are ones that match the OE dimensions and can be pressed in.

those part numbers are
MOOG - K200183
Napa - 267-3738

You will have to cut the bolt to get the shocks out, and that is a dealer only bolt (@$15 each), but the good news is that you can save some $$ and not have to replace the entire LCA.

I personally have the Napa ones on my truck, and had them cross reference them to MOOG and they gave me that part # as well.

here are a couple quick pictures of the new bushings installed.

 

Dude, you may have just saved me some cash. My truck is in the shop right now. They called about an hour ago saying that the bolt is completely seized on both sides (which I already figured it would be) and they're going to have to cut it out and replace the entire lower control arm. I'm going to take this info to them and see what they say.

 

How many miles do all of you guys with seizing bolts have on your truck? I am hoping I get a little luckier with only 23K on mine. At least that is my hope, I am going to try it myself, if I cant get it I guess I can put it back together & take it to a shop.

 

I could probably handle that! Hopefully by Sunday or Monday I can post a DIY

 

I've got a little over 64k on my '06. I never thought it was going to be as big of an issue as it is. I changed the shocks on my wife's '07 Commander back in December. It had around 88-90k on it at the time and I was able to get those bolts out. Granted, it took a lot of coercion, but they eventually came out. I would think with only 23k on your '08 they won't be seized up as bad. Let us know how it turns out.