Bilstien 4600 and Moog 81071 Spring refresh-

[Yukongreed]

Swapped out the shocks and springs on my 2001 Slt 5.3 with nivomats. Went with the Bilstien 4600 and Moog 81071 rear springs. Driver side F/R were leaking.

Ride is definitely smoother, truck stays flatter through the turns and overall handles a ton better. More responsive. Haven’t had a load yet just full tank of gas-

There is definitely something to be said about those nivomats though. GM knew what they were doing with that setup.

Here’s a few pics and tips-

Front is pretty straight forward, I had it up on jack stands to do both sides, get something to jam between fender liner and upper A arm on driver side it’ll make access to the top shock nut much easier. Could not do it on passenger side so just take your time and work at the nut have to use something to hold top of shock from spinning. I put my jack under control arm to keep it from drooping anymore after I removed shock.

Rear is a bit more tricky, but once I did the hard side, the Passenger side driver side was a breeze. Passanger side; Rear up on jack stand, remove wheel, support axel with jack, remove shock bolts and remove upper sway bar link nut** make sure when you’re gonna punch out the sway bar link bolt that it will move freely and that you have enough support or not too much on axel with the jack-

*Remove E brake hanger bolt; this allows your rear axel to hang low enough to insert new springs which are slightly taller than old. Just watch brake libes as you lower but you need to drop it pretty low for new springs.

*Springs are directional! There is a big end and a small end, big end goes on bottom, and take note of how the bottom spring is oriented. Replace the exact same.

*Driver side rear you don’t have to remove any brake line stuff- or at least I didn’t!

Plenty of videos on the tube too 1a auto has a few up-

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Good work!

 

[the blur]

What do you mean by directional springs? or they clocked? Is there a top and bottom?

 

[Fless]

What do you mean by directional springs? or they clocked? Is there a top and bottom?

*Springs are directional! There is a big end and a small end, big end goes on bottom, and take note of how the bottom spring is oriented. Replace the exact same.

That's what he said.

 

[mikez71]

The flatter spring end goes on top. The full diameter of the coil can rest against the larger upper isolator under the body.
The slightly pointier spring end goes on the bottom, on the smaller axle mounted isolator.

I'm a believer that springs are clocked as well. The "frame" sticker (GMT900 only?) seems to be clocked on the springs I have seen.
I align the "frame" sticker upwards and pointed towards the frame rail (outwards).
Which seems to align the bottom spring end contact towards the outer ends of the axle.

 

[the blur]

The Moog 81071 rear springs I installed are NOT clocked. No big end, no small end. No instructions in box, which means they are perfectly symmetrical. Otherwise, Moog is very specific. The factory springs were rusted to hell, and the ends rusted off. So I never looked to see if they were clocked, or bigger ends as it didn't matter.

 

[dps01]

The Moog 81071 rear springs I installed are NOT clocked. No big end, no small end. No instructions in box, which means they are perfectly symmetrical. Otherwise, Moog is very specific. The factory springs were rusted to hell, and the ends rusted off. So I never looked to see if they were clocked, or bigger ends as it didn't matter.

Tend to agree. Replacement MOOG Z71 springs.

 

[mikez71]

Apologies, I was sharing my observations about factory gmt900 springs.
I have zero experience with the Moog 81071. (it's in the thread title, duh!)

Those photos of the 81071 do appear symmetrical.