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So went to replace my stock Ranchos with Bilstein 4600's today and am unsure if this is correct... the hole on the upper part is much bigger than the shock arm. The armas are both the same size and diamter on the stock ranchos as well as the new Bilsteins... however, the stock had a much beefier rubber mounting bumper and it had what looks like a built in 'nipple' to accomodate the much bigger hole as it fit up in it. In the pic below the original is to the eleft and you can see its bigger, the new Bilstein is to the right and is smaller wityh no 'nipple'. Do I just put on the new smaller one or use the old one with the 'nipple' and bigger washer?
Use the new one that came with the shock. No reason to reuse old worn-out rubber. Don’t compare the two as the Bilstein is engineered for their shock and they know what they’re doing, as they make top-tier products.
^What he said, probably just to help alignment. If you look at the wear marks on the nipple it's not touching anything except right at the base and the Bilstein bushing has that covered.
Thanks guys... thats what i figured, but they just looked so different, wanted to be sure. I know the Bilsteins are a much better shock but the original bushings and washer were MUCH beefier all around. It was almost comical replacing these big fat beefy bushing on this Superduty with little rubber bushings that look like they belong on a KIA.
When they were new, the factory shock bushings were as thick as the bilsteins you just put on. Your new ones will look like your old ones when they get replaced.
