Guys, I really don't know what you are talking about.

My daughter dropped one of my new Bilsteins in the living room floor by accident when the UPS man delivered them. Being nosey and all, she just had to pull one of them out of it's individual box and look at it. KaBoom! The band popped off and I figured the world had come to an end. How was I possibly going to get that band back on? Would I even be able to have them installed now? Was this now a totally wasted shock, of no use whatsoever now? Was Batman or Superman in town by chance? A thousand thoughts ran through my mind in a matter of three seconds.

I compressed the shock, with extreme ease, put one end of the shock to my chest to keep it compressed, and put the band back on. There was nothing to it!

I think a couple of you are pulling my leg!

 

Joe,
Do you know if there is much of a difference between the Hellwig and the factory stabilizer bar. My 03 has the factory stabilizer bar. The TT we tow at this time only weighs 6,000 lbs. We will be upgrading in the next season or two so I am thinking of getting a RAS for $201and installing at my convienence. Just wondering if my factory stabilizer will be up the the task of hwnding a 9,000 lb + load?

 

Personally I would leave the factory bar on there especially since you are adding the RAS...the RAS will also give you some side to side stiffness and supplement the thinner OEM bar...so save your money would be my advice and keep the OEM bar...if after you tow the larger TT (like the one I am) and you feel there is some excessive body roll (I doubt it though)...you could always add the Hellwig later...but I think adding the RAS...you will be very happy!

Good luck,
Joe.

 

I agree with you VA they are not a big deal to compress, so like you I don't know what all the talk is about. it's not a big deal!!!!!!!!

 

Oh and yes I did my Bilstein shocks by my self, but have been doing my own auto and truck repairs for 30 years and also do a lot of mechanical work with my job so just knowing how to approach different situations is a plus.

 

Wow, I'm trying to figure out how you can get three pairs of hands on one shock or even three people under an EX to reach to a shock at one time.

 

A couple things I learned last night...installing the hellwig/shocks...

Im now thinking it would be better to do the RAS first to raise up the chassis from the leaves an inch. I had a full gas tank, and couldnt get the top eye into the frame because it was too close to the actual leaf to get the bolt in the eye. I had to jack the body off the leaves a bit to get it. I put Hellwig and ranchos' on the rear..

So maybe for those who are doing it all, try the RAS first and empty tank before installing the sway bar.. I didn't have a sway bar. If I had a sway factory bar, I would have replaced the bushings with polyurethane, and tried that... I will probably be doing that to the front end sometime. The tighter bushings lets the bar do the work more instead of the mounts flexing too. The Hellwig is a big heat treated bar, 1.25 inch diameter... The 9000's were easy to compress too, and definitely it was easier to remove the shock totally before installing the sway bar to get them out of the way.

When you install the bar, you replace the U bolt with a larger one. There is an alignment pin on the shock mount so you need to line that up right on and slightly tighten the lower bolt to hold it in place while you finish the rest of the assembly. Pay attention to the thick and thin washers and where they go, also there are self locking nuts that go on the bolts, and links.. easy to mix up..

So far I have done the bar, shocks on the rear, and ball joints on the front with concentric spacers to bring Camber and Caster slightly positive. It has completely transformed the vehicle into a wonderful driver... I will be putting the RAS on soon, as I tow 11,000 with 1200 hitch weight. The trailer squatted my 4x4 F350 dually, so it really needed a RAS lift or Tembrens or something then...

The stock U bolt and shock mounts are 18mm sockets. The Hellwig uses 3/4 inch Nuts on the main mounts and 11/16 Nuts on the link mounts. You will need deep sockets... An impact wrench is very handy as well as an air rachet... The top shock mounts are 10mm, and it helps to have about a foot of extensions or 18". The rubber eyelets on the links can be pressed in with a vice, spit on them first. Then press in the center bolt tube the same way on the top eyelet on the link. Make sure you turn the poly link spacers the right way with the little raised edge towards the bar. Dont overtighten the links, just get the poly compressed.

I got a terrific ride on setting 1 for daily driving. The roll bar also stopped the "schoolbus" wander from tipping side to side, where it slightly S turns and oversteer's. thats gone now. You can yank on the wheel and it responds cleanly and dampens right out. No more oversteer. If the RAS's also help axle wrap, that will cure the last "pissmeoff's" of the X..

for what its worth..

 

It was on a lift, and to be honest, I probably wasn't much help (being the third person) because I couldn't get much leverage to push up due to the lack of room to grab and muscle it.

So to be more accurate, I'll say it took two guys to compress them, with me helping a little.

Stewart

 

Dave,

Good report/write up...certainly rep worthy...but alas I am in rep heck for you my friend...I must spread the love before I can hit you again...perhaps some of the others can send you some love!

On the RAS first...or better yet the compression of the shocks...

I will admit I never tried to unband my Bilsteins out of fear I couldn't get them re-compressed...and when I did unband them after they were bolted in...the rapid expansion that followed and SNAP taking up the small play in the lower bolt was amazing...and had me thinking I made the right decision...I do not know personally how hard they are to compress but the snap with authority had me believing I may have hurt myself just unbanding them! I trust Stewart's words though as he has no reason to lie...

So now on to my suggestion of shocks/Hellwig FIRST before RAS...my rationale is that the RAS DOES provide rear end lift and in the banded state of the Bilsteins they were ever so slightly too short...I fought getting the Bilsteins installed without having a way to compress the rear springs of the Ex due to the RAS already being installed by me and the added lift it gives your Ex...had I had my TT near by...I would have simply hitched up and used the tongue weight to compress things some and get the lower bolt holes lined up...so my rationale for doing RAS first is jus that...but as Dave has found out...he ran into some other issues that I didn't when installing my Hellwig...so I think it depends on how much fuel we are carrying at the time and perhaps some tolerances on some of the holes in the frame/Hellwig tolerances as well?

But Dave you are correct...I found that completely unbolting the rear shocks while installing the Hellwig (they tell you to leave them bolted on the lower mount for install on the instructions of the Hellwig) instead of following the Hellwig instructions makes the install much easier...otherwise you are trying to compress the shocks while trying to line up the U-bolt holes...a real bit@h...

The OEM worn out shocks were a snap to compress after I installed the Hellwig...like I said I did my installs in piecemeal...from my experiences I always recommend doing the shocks and Hellwig at the same time now and save a few steps...not that shocks are hard at all...

Hope this helps clarify what I meant/said.

Thanks,
Joe

 

Okay so here I am; just an innocent Canadian getting ready to say something witty and smart to wind up VA just a little more when all of a sudden outa the blue I see Stewart's little saying "don't fry bacon NAKED"
Man 1st I got the heebeegeebees from the mental pitcure of a naked guy cookin' breakfast and then I took to laughin' like a idiot and now I can't remember what I was going to say to wind up VA oh well maybe it'll come to me later !!

 

I got your back, Joe.

Reps for the post, Dave.



Stewart

 

You do realize they are joking around?

A 12-year-old kid with one broken arm could compress a Bilstein shock.

 

I am not joking, Va. A single man could not compress the rear Bilsteing shocks when I was installing them.

Stewart

 

Gentlemen, maybe we are working with two differing definitions of the word "man." That is all.... carry on.