Complete suspension replacement and leveling

[Dustin Jackson]

@Bizzo I installed the rear parts myself this weekend. Was pretty straight forward once I had the proper tools and it made a night and day difference. No more clunks and squeaks, looking forward to installing the front next weekend.

 

[Bizzo]

@Bizzo I installed the rear parts myself this weekend. Was pretty straight forward once I had the proper tools and it made a night and day difference. No more clunks and squeaks, looking forward to installing the front next weekend.

That's awesome...I finally got around to doing the front's today. Overall the job was easy and straightforward other than the fact that I live in the rust belt and everything was corroded and stuck together. Took me roughly 5 hours start to finish with a lunch break. Looks like I gained exactly what Bilstein said I would with the circlip on the highest setting(1.75"). Anyways here's some pics I took as I did the job.

Here's the front height from pavement to fender before the install:

Here's the strut on the vise ready for me to compress and disassemble


Here's me torching the s**t out of the spring seat so I could remove it from the old strut and install on the 5100's, really wish Bilstein would provide these with the struts even if it was an additional cost


There's the strut mounted back in the vehicle


Profile view of the driver's side after install

 

[Bizzo]

Oh and here's a profile view of the passenger side as well


Front stance after lift


Front ride height from pavement to fender after install


So far impressed with the 5100's they raised it as advertised and seem to handle nice. I only got to take it for a quick shake down drive to make sure there wasn't anything unusual going on. I'll update with my impression of the 5100's after I get some more miles on them.

Now that I'm leveled what's the biggest 20" tire I can run on my rig without rubbing?

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@Bizzo Looking good! I installed my front this weekend as well. After some thinking I opted to install the the front Bilsteins on the factory ride height to keep the front end front being too stiff. Here is what my completed rig looks like with Bilstein 5100 set at factory height all the way around with MOOG 82144 springs in the front and MOOG 81069 springs in the rear.

 

[Bizzo]

@Bizzo Looking good! I installed my front this weekend as well. After some thinking I opted to install the the front Bilsteins on the factory ride height to keep the front end front being too stiff. Here is what my completed rig looks like with Bilstein 5100 set at factory height all the way around with MOOG 82144 springs in the front and MOOG 81069 springs in the rear.

View attachment 248617

Yours is looking good as well! How's the ride with the heavy duty moog springs, any increased harshness in ride quality?

 

[Dustin Jackson]

Yours is looking good as well! How's the ride with the heavy duty moog springs, any increased harshness in ride quality?

@Bizzo The ride is good, once they break in more they will be perfect. I went from lowering springs in the rear to the heavy duty moog and that was such a great different in ride I really recommend the rear springs and shocks. For the front the MOOG springs are SO much thicker than the factory ones I had to double check and make sure they were the correct ones. installing the front springs I decided to leave the shocks at the lowest lift setting to get the softest ride I could with the HD MOOG springs. The bilstein lift basically increases the spring rate to provide lift and I was afraid these MOOG springs would be too stiff at the highest lift setting so I just left it at the stock height perch but it turned out almost level regardless! Overall the ride is firm and controllable while staying comfortable.