I'm going to be helping a disabled friend replace the shocks/struts on his 2010 4x4 F150 and I was wondering if there were any tricks or tips that aren't just standard operating procedure. I know absolutely NOTHING about the 150's (diesel guy) so any tips yall can give me would be MUCH appreciated.

 

I would like to know this also ?

 

Just got done adding a 1" lift on the front of my '13 FX4. On ebay 39.99 delivered from summitengineering (404-964-3283). It is a half inch thick aluminum ring. The half inch translates into an inch of lift and just sits on top of the strut when your reassemble.

Should take and hour to hour and half to do two struts, very easy.
Remove wheel, disconnect sway bar nut 18mm, remove 21mm upper control arm ball joint nut, remove 21mm steering tie rod nut and support with a bungie cord so dont over extend CV joint, remove 30mm lower strut nut, requires deep well socket (harbor freight!) use hammer to tap/pound the upper ball and tie rod ball from thier resting place. do not hit the tie rod itself or you will bend it. there is a non threaded part of the bolts that hold both *****, hit it straight up on the non threaded part. do not mushroom it. remove 3each 15mm upper strut nuts and lever upper control arm up out of way with a wooden hammer handle. Wiggle strut out, it is heavy 20-30 pounds If not enough room to wiggle out you may need to disconnect the nut holdng the axel to the hub (I did not have to do this) to get the lower control arm to drop further.

Re-assembly in reverse, use hammer handle to lever upper control arm down so you can start the nut on the ball joint. Use floor jack to raise lower control arm to line stuff up. May need to hold shaft of upper ball joint with wrench and snug nut with open end wrench prior to using socket as it could spin freely (as designed). My lower strut nuts required a 6 foot pipe on the end of the breaker bar to bust loose so be ready for a seriously tight nut... it only has 400 miles on the odometer
Torque:
upper ball joint 85ftlbs
tie rod end 111ftlbs
sway bar 66ftlbs
wheel 150 ftlbs

Had alignment checked and all specs were still within speck, no adj necessary. Sits exactly 1" taller in the rear.

Your vehicle may vary, consult your CPA, bla bla bla. it is a quick project and anybody can do it.

 

I'm thinking that the OP wanted additional advice on replacing the strut (shock) tube and not the whole assembly including the coil spring. Compressing the coil springs to remove them from the original struts and reinstall them on the replacement struts requires a heavy-duty spring compressor. If it were me, I'd take them to a shop somewhere and pay them to do that part of the job as it could be dangerous for a do-it-yourselfer.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm doing the removal and install and I'll take them to a shop to have the struts changed as I don't have the compressor to do that.

 

Hey Tim- saw your post here and immediately thought you might be joining this part of the forum Hows things? Hows the truck treating ya? We have a few former 6.0 guys up here

 

Going good Tim. Got a DAV friend that needs some work done on his truck and I thought I'd get advice from the best possible. You KNOW I bleed FTE blue--LOL. Come visit every now and then. We've got a pretty active forum these days.

 

Good to hear. I miss the forum/guys down there but knock on wood I have a drama-free truck going on 4 years now Might not be my dream truck like I had in that KR but at this point in my life the lack of the drama helps me sleep real good at night. Now if money were no object, I'd a had me a nice Fummins haha Sorry for the hijack to your thread brother. Just wanted to say hello