HOWTO: rear shock install

[RangerRandy]

As previously noted, I paid my favorite shop to replace all four shock absorbers/struts with Bilstein 4600s, along with the requisite 4 wheel alignment. Not cheap but highly recommended. Driving to my daughter's home in the next several weeks to see how the 4600s handle the rough, unpaved roads around her area. Huge improvement on 'normal'(?) roads. $985 total out of pocket. Stock image.

Great Choice! I've had those on every truck I've owned since the '80's when I bought a new Chevy S10 4x4 that came stock with them. Yep, I've that old. LOL
They are a great shock for all around on and offroad driving. People here tend to favor the Fox stuff but I've never had any Fox product's so I don't know what I may or may not be missing. But I do know Bilstein and I'm a big fan.
I bought my Ranger in January and just haven't got around to adding them yet.

Good Luck!

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[9zero1790]

knocked em out. it was a breeze. thanks for posting the hardware sizes so i didnt have crawl my flab back and forth underneath the truck seeing what all i needed. my stock shocks were sad. one sorta worked, drivers side. the passenger side was roached lol. i could compress and expanded it like an according with hardly any effort.

 

[Muffin1]

So after a 200 mile mostly highway road trip the ride is much improved with the new rear Bilstein's, there still is some minor float on the front (more controlled) only on the most extreme dips at higher highway speeds.
I believe that doing the fronts would stabilize the ride completely.
If i were to give a % improvement it would be roughly 65% improvement, fronts would complete it to 100%.

 

[Yikes1961]

Hi, Thanks for this! I finally got my shocks ordered and will send this on to my son in case he needs more instructions. I had ordered the Bilsteins in 2021, and never received them due to backorder. Fingers crossed that this will help some with the bouncy motion in the Ranger.

 

[Muffin1]

Hi, Thanks for this! I finally got my shocks ordered and will send this on to my son in case he needs more instructions. I had ordered the Bilsteins in 2021, and never received them due to backorder. Fingers crossed that this will help some with the bouncy motion in the Ranger.

Your going to love the improved ride it’s much more stable and the annoying front end float is gone, after I installed the rear myself I ordered and waited for the front pair to arrive about 2 weeks brought it to a shop for install had them set the adjustment and from the moment I left the shop I could tell the difference a totally positive mod, good luck with yours.
Rob.

 

[EJH]

As an update, the stock fx4 shocks i took off had 8500 miles on them. New truck. I can easily compress them with one hand into a hard surface like the garage floor. The bilsteins seem to take about twice the force to compress when i compressed them before installing. Unless they loosen up from brand new, i think the fx4 shocks just compress too easily which explains why these fx4s are so bouncy. I no longer have that annoying bounce. As an added possible bonus, i think it took my slip joint bind thunk away. Havent felt it since and before the swap, i did every stop. It has been cold here though but not as cold as it was when it went away with the fx4 shocks still on. Time will tell.

@silverflash, I'm guessing your slip joint thunk on stop/start is back with warmer weather? Please let us know. My thunk goes away when cool/cold and gets noticeable when we hit 60sF or higher. I assume there is some heat expansion in the joint that binds it worse in warm/hot weather.

 

[MXGOLF]

The first thing I did to my Ranger 1.5 years ago was change the shocks to the Bilstein 5100's. WOW those made a huge difference.

 

[RangersLeadTheWay]

I definitely took the “work harder, not smarter” approach… Definitely would’ve appreciated this two years ago instead of using brute strength and cursing into existence ???

 

[silverflash]

@silverflash, I'm guessing your slip joint thunk on stop/start is back with warmer weather? Please let us know. My thunk goes away when cool/cold and gets noticeable when we hit 60sF or higher. I assume there is some heat expansion in the joint that binds it worse in warm/hot weather.

my exact experience as well BUT it's about half as bad as it was before the bilsteins. i am guessing the bilsteins are firmer which prevents the shaft from slamming quicker. who knows. i just know in the heat here, like 90s, it does it all the time, in the mountains, 50s. its gone or near gone.

 

[JohnnyO]

62 years old, 6'1'', 175, gym regularly, can bench press 200 lb if I want and do ten overhand pull-ups.

On the advice of my bud, I went to unbolt the bottom of the rear shocks to see if they were loose.
Truck vibrates at 70 mph but not all the time, just in some spots of road. Wheels have been balanced multiple times. I'm thinking it's the shocks.

Passenger side came off no problem. The shock had some resistance pushing it up but I didn't have any trouble doing it three times with one hand. Remember I'm stronger than most 62 year olds. Wondering how stiff they're supposed to be. No signs of leaks, truck has 53,000 miles.

Driver's side, the nut was spinning inside the bracket that's there to, uh, keep it from spinning. If I wanted I could hold it with vise grips and get the bolt out but I didn't want to bother since I wasn't replacing the shocks right now. I'll probably take the passenger side out again, take them to the parts store, and ask for another one just like it.

Will probably get Monroe shocks. Rock Auto has them for $40 each. Truck rides okay but I'm trying to get rid of the vibration. 4x4 with standard suspension, not FX4, and unlikely to ever go off-road.

 

[OFC Ranger]

I don't believe shocks are going to have anything to do with vibrations.

Bad shocks usually mean you are bouncing and floating around on every little crack in the road.

 

[Whiplash]

I don't believe shocks are going to have anything to do with vibrations.

Bad shocks usually mean you are bouncing and floating around on every little crack in the road.

Vibration most likely a drive shaft angles problem...pinon to carrier bearing out of phase.... shimming to get the angles right is hit or miss.... usually will take several tries to get right...good luck....

 

[OFC Ranger]

Vibration most likely a drive shaft angles problem...pinon to carrier bearing out of phase.... shimming to get the angles right is hit or miss.... usually will take several tries to get right...good luck....

Or damaged wheels or tires out of proper balance.

 

[JohnnyO]

Or damaged wheels or tires out of proper balance.

Got new tires about this time last year and had them balanced four times since. Thing is the vibration comes and goes, worse on some roads and on others there's none at all. Already tried to wiggle the driveshaft but the carrier bearing seems fine.

 

[Justin says...]

Well, I just did this. Installed rear Bilstein 5100's. Sits strangely high in the back now. Will this settle down a bit??

As for the ride, this makes such a big difference. I think the transmission is even smoother.. somehow. Firmer, but most of the harshness is gone but I suppose I'm preaching to the choir here.

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