I have a 03 Harley Supercrew and think it's time for shocks.

Compliant ride is most important to me as I spend a lot of time on the road. Not really interested in what shock corners best.....If it stiffens the ride, I'd rather not put it on.

Anybody have experience with a shock that improves the ride? Or at a minimum a shock that offers the same ride quality as the factory pieces?

Thanks, Ken

 

Hey Ken, I installed the Lightning spec Bilstein shocks on my 02 HD Truck but you don't want a shock that is stiffer than the stock, you don't want these. Bilstien makes a shock that is more like the stock ride that you get with the the oem shocks. You can look around on the internet for deals on these shocks, here is one place that sells them.

F-150 Harley Shocks : Lightning Force Performance

 

I ordered a set of the Supercrew Bilsteins off Ebay last night for $224 to the door.

I'll get them on sometime next week and report back.

Ken

 

I think you'll be happy with them. I've not heard any bad things about Bilsteins, they have great technology in their street shocks. Let us know how they work out. Personally I prefer a stiffer drive since I don't put a lot of highway miles on my truck, but my wife doesn't care for it (tends to give her motion sickness on long trips).

 

Been tracking my shocks...The vendor shipped them Monday and the UPS website said delivery on 10/24. Sat home all day waiting because they were shipped signature required. UPS was a no show. Checked their tracking system after 7:00 pm and it said "next business day" and in the comments it said that the package did not get loaded on the truck! Thanks for nothing UPS.

It was not a total waste. I did take soime time to soak the fasteners with penetrating oil after reading about what a pain changing these can be.

Maybe tomorrow they will arrive and I'll get them on next week.

Ken

 

Hey Ken, get those shocks yet, let us know how you like em. If you haven't installed them yet, you may want to make sure you have the right socket to get the top nut off of the rear drivers side shock, I had a little trouble with it when I did mine.

Terry

 

Yep, they arrived Monday. Getting at it tomorrow after work.

I'm wondering if this will help the Freeway Bounce? The truck was oscillating today and was starting to annoy me...Never noticed that before.

Ken

 

I bet you'll notice a lot of difference in the ride! Good luck with the install.

 

Here's the funny thing about shocks... like spark plug and tire reports often are:

Someone buys brand X, and then reports its much better than the brand Y they had in the car/truck/suv. That's how goofy things like Splitfires sold. People said it smoothed out their idle, increased mileage and helped power. Well DUH! The old plugs were fouled, the gap had increased, etc.

Not saying that's the case with these shocks, they are a great brand. I just thought I'd interject some humor.

 

Got the shocks installed tonite and will give it a road test tomorrow.

After lots of reading on the site regarding shock replacement on the 97 to 2003 f150 and what a pain the rears can be to remove, I can say that the Sawzall method works awesome! This was the fastest set of shocks I've ever changed! Didn't even take the tires off. It took 1 hr 30 min total and that even included putting the tools away, washing up, and changing clothes before getting in the truck to pull it out of the garage.

Here's the List of tools:

Electric Sawzall with a 9" metal cutting blade. (I made due with a 6" blade by removing the guide)
13 mm shallow well socket
18 mm shallow well socket
Ratchet
18 mm box end wrench
19 mm open end wrench (a ratcheting wrench would be faster)
8 mm Allen wrench
Work Light
Floor Jack
Creeper

Start on the Rear Left. That's the worst one. Raise the corner of the truck until the suspension is fully extended. Through the access hole in the frame start up the sawzall and cut the nut off flush with the top of the washer. It took less than 5 min to cut through the nut.

The sawzall made such short work of the removal on what was supposed to be the hardest one that I continued to use it on the other 3 upper nuts.

This is the first time I've done suspension work that there was no swearing and no busted knuckles. I don't know if this is a sticky somewhere but it should be as it was a huge time and work saver.

Thanks Ford-Trucks.com!!!!!

Ken Wolkens

 

Ran it on the freeway today and the shocks have made a difference. The trucks seems to have lost the shudder when you hit a bump at high speeds. Not a suspension expert but it feels as if the truck is more connected to the road when going over bumps. I can tell that the Bilsteins do a better job of dealing with the weight of the 20" wheels than the stock shocks did.

I did not notice a reduction in ride quality like added harshness so in all I'm happy with my purchase of the Super Crew Spec Bilsteins.

 

Good job Ken, I wish I would had known about that Sawzall trick when I done mine.

 

Need to Correct my last statement...

Hit some of Detroits finest pothole sections today. I found that while the Bilsteins do a better job of dealing with the added weight of the 20's it does come at a price. On a patched pothole stretch about 100 yds long at 45 mph my fillings about rattled out of my teeth.

I've driven the stretch in the truck before and have not been rattled as hard as I was today. In this situation the stock shocks may not have controlled the weight of the wheels as well, but they were definitely softer than the SC Spec Bilsteins.

In the end I'm still happy with the purchase. However if a soft ride is more important than performance I suggest to others to purchase the stockers again or look elsewhere.

Ken

 

Neighbors ... I'm late to the party and my suggestion is boring, but I love Monroe SensaTrac and Reflex. They ride softer than factory and handle better than factory. They do not handle as well as the Bilsteins. ron :-)

 

Hello Ron!

Glad to have you on board! Sensatrac is a pretty good shock - not as rough as the Bilsteins so I guess its all about what you're wanting to accomplish with shocks.

I see you registered 2.5 years ago.... keep posting now that you've gotten your feet wet!