front shock/strut replacement
 

First off pardon me for any stupid questions I might ask here.

I am long overdue for new shocks on my '06. The struts on the front can be replaced just by themselves, correct? Everywhere I call for some reason is giving me a price on the whole strut assembly, assuming thats with the spring?

I have a 3" leveling kit on my front, should that require different struts then a stock front end? Most places are telling me no, but I think I read on here where some guys got different struts? I guess I've been driving around with the factory struts with the leveling kit so I should be ok to just replace them?

dude get some shocks and reuse your springs, if you have the leveling spacers that is. If you have a lift get longer shocks. bilsteins are good for trucks. i personally run the 5100. the guy that tried to sell u a whole strut assembly wants your money. have a good day

Agreed. No reason to swap out the whole assembly

Anyone here do their shocks themselves? How much of a hassle is it? I replaced my own shocks on my cars in the past by removing the whole strut. Kind of a pain, but it was manageable. How does this compare?

How do the 5100's ride compared to factory Ranchos?

The work is not overly hard to replace the front shocks but there is a danger in that the spring has a lot of pressure on it and unless you have the knowledge to make sure that spring is not going to come loose while removing the shock I would not do it. You can do this either with the piece of equipment designed to keep the tension on the spring while you take the rest of the assembly apart or I have even see people do it using nylon tension straps to hold the spring in place and then release it once the new shock is installed and the assembly put back together. Again there is a danger in doing it so you take responsible for yourself.

Rent the strut spring tool at one of the auto supply houses. It's an easy job with the tool. I wouldn't do it without the proper equipment, as I have seen one come apart when a fellow was trying to do it on the cheap without the tool and he almost took his head off when the spring came loose. He needed 8 stiches on the side of his head to close it up. He was lucky......

Bottom line, be safe and take it slow. It's a really easy job to do and be safe too.

Anything different about the AWD version of F-150? I drive 2007 Harley Davidson F-150

The first time I changed my front struts on my 2005 F150 2 WD, I pulled the old ones off, took them to a mechanic along with 2 new Bilsteins, they charged me like $60 to change out the coils.
This time I ordered new Monroe quickstruts from Amazon for $121 each complete with new coils already installed, simply change them out, cheaper and easier,
get quick struts and move on.

like ojai I did the same getting the quick struts. its a bit less hassle.

I have a 2in spacer kit up front. the spacer bolts directly to the top of the strut. not sure about your 3in but it shouldn't be too different I think.

if you are doing it make sure you have a good amount of time to do the work so you can take your time. Also you would be money ahead to go ahead and replace your lower ball joints and upper control arm as well since you will have these items readily accessible.

I have a 2004 Ford F-150 that I’m changing the upper control arm but I need to remove the strut first since I cant get the bolts around the plastic rind on top of the coil spring. I need to remove the 3 upper strut bolts which I believe are either 15-17 mm nuts when I use a 11/16 wrench they only turn the bolt. I have no way of holding the nut underneath due to it’s above the strut itself. I would appreciate any advice or help with this issue on how to remove them. Thank you in advance.

Dead_goldstar,
Are you refering to these nuts? IF you are, and they are just rotating then you have an issue...since these are studs and attached to the strut assembly.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...03db84e816.jpg

Strut bolts
 

Yes these are the 3 nuts on top of the strut that are turning with the bolt when I try to take them off. I’m going to try a impact socket and air gun hopefully the will come out the other option I have is to put 2 bolts together and lock them together on top on top to hold the bolt while I loosen the bottom one. I’m not sure what size the nuts are that are on there presently would you know ? I can’t get one off to take into a hardware store and match it up. The last option is to use a haxsaw to cut them off and have a garage replace the bolts for me or just purchase new strut and spring instead. What your thoughts on these ideas.
Thank you for taking the time responding to my post.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...2ba93666f8.jpg


well those bolts are actually studs. they are pressed into the bottom of the top of the strut top assy. No replacment is needed or necessary if you get the quick strut assy. two of them will be fairy easy to get to with a hacksaw...that third one will be a pain I think.
sorry for the news but hope this helps.

Thanks for the advice.
 

I very much appreciate your advise going to try and use a nut remover tool hopefully that will take it off without damaging the bolt. If all else fails I’m going to cut them off but I would have to do both sides now so there the same.

depending on the year and mileage on the vehicle you might be money ahead replacing both.

good luck regardless and hope it works out!

Strut replacement re orange plastic piece at top.
 

It’s a 2004 Ford F-150 FX4 with 146.000 km on it been used at lot for off roading pretty rusty underneath the body but it’s a good truck once I get it fixed properly. One more question on top of the strut there is a hard plastic piece do I need to remove this piece to keep my suspension normal or is this standard on F150 haven’t seen it on other trucks just wondering.
Thanks again.