The Bilstein Difference
 

Don't hate me, Adam F ;) but for a number of reasons, I bit the bullet and dropped my Runner off at Tire Warehouse during lunch at work today. It's only a few blocks away from where I work. I decided to do this for a few reasons, namely:

-people who enjoy mechanical work like me are out of town and won't be back until next week (my road trip starts on 29 July 2002)
-doing it myself again was not very appealing
-Tire Warehouse figured it could be done for 2 - 2.5 hours of labor
-I want to drive them for at least a week before I take it on my road trip

I gave The Tire Warehouse all the details of what and how I wanted it done. Good thing I know them fairly well, there's nothing worse than a customer telling you how you should do your job. :P They are great about it, and know I have a lot of particular demands/details for work on my 4Runner.

Anyway, time came to pick it up. I talked to the manager, who said the mechanic said "I never ever want to replace those shocks again. That was the most difficult and time consuming shock replacement I've ever done and I've done a hell of a lot." Good thing the Bilsteins come with a lifetime warranty...they better last heh.

Anyhow, it ended up taking them 4 hours and they billed me for 3 of them. Let me say it wasn't cheap, or what I was expecting, but that's life. This is the last major mod I'm doing this year anyway, now I'm really outta cash.

So anyhow, I take it for a drive through my regular routine areas where I've already noted how the ride is and would easily know if there was a significant difference.

Let me say the ride quality of the Bilsteins are very, very good. I didn't experience any bottoming out, it handles much better through turns, the ride feels more stable versus 'floating' and it even seems to brake more level than before.

I'm going to take it to the spot in my avatar where there's a lot of uneven bumps later on, and see how it goes then. I know that if I get a bit of speed going there the rear end usually starts to lose control.

It would have been more worth it if I'd completed the swap-out myself, but overall I'd have to say it was still worth the money. I'm very pleased with them so far, and broke... :cry:

Sweet...don't feel bad man, if you had the time, you would have done it. From what I've also heard, those fronts are a PITA, they can be done, but you gotta be ready to do it. Glad the Bills are a noticeable improvement. Shocks will probably be next for me...85K of stock shock :bounce: is long enough...it's OK, but I want that feel of a good shock.
:nerd: butnut

Yep, the front ones are a bit of work I must say. I did at least take it apart to the point where I probably could have got the shock absorber out as per Adam F, but wasn't brave enough to attempt it. :bang:

I'm a lot more confident about it now though and if anyone in this city that I knew of, wanted help changing their 4Runner's shocks I would certainly be game to do it all over again.

HBoss, don't worry man, I don't do any of my mechanical. I have absolutely no mechanical inclination what-so-ever. I don't feel ashamed. Anyways, that is great that you got the Bilsteins in. Just a question though...what was the problem. I mean he said that it was the hardest thing, but why? Was there a problem or what? Just wondering! Thanks. :fireman:

Just that most cars with shocks are easy to replace. Usually it's unbolt the shock and bolt in the new one, as far as I know. Usually all 4 on a car can be done in an hour or two at most.

On the 4Runners you have to remove the whole coil spring/shock assembly, compress and then unbolt the shock. When you bolt the shock back in you have to make sure it's aligned properly so the coil faces the right direction when you bolt it back in.

On a side note: I see a few more people have submitted the pic of their truck to the new "members' rides" area. Where's everyone else??

Show off your truck:

http://www.hboss.net/cgi-bin/readers.cgi?action=home

:bigok:

Just added mine!
Glad you like your bil's, did wonders on my last car.

Hey Hboss,

It was not too bad. I set an all time record of 28 mins to remove a front strut assy and dissasemble to install a washer I left out the first time.

However, essential are :

* High quality floor jack.
* Sturdy axle stands
* Sturdy spring compressors
* Good metric tools
* torque wrench (1/2 " and 3/8" drive)
* Good instructions
* Patience.....

Really, it was fun...so much so that I will do it all again when my Downey springs and Cornfeds arrive !

That's amazing ngertic99, are you part of a Formula 1 pit crew by chance? :D

I wish I could say the same. Jacking it up, not realizing the jack wasn't high enough, lowering it back down, putting 2x4's on the jack, then jacking it up again, then putting the jack stands under probably took me 28 minutes lol.

I guess I won't need to do this again on my Runner, but if I had to I would certainly find a solid spring compressor first. The one I got had us all worried that it was going to snap...scary.

Just 'fyi' regarding the reinstallation of the shocks... A guy from another forum mentioned to me that the bottom shock bolts should be torqued after dropping the vehicle back down on its tires.

A friend of his torqued the bottom shock bolts while it was jacked up, then dropped it down and blew out the bottom bushings in a month.

Thanks Hboss,

Got that from the other board so will be loosening, lifting, lowering and torqueing again tonight !

David