Bilstein and Moog front and rear installed

Topics relating to Lift Kits, Suspension, Steering...

Moderator: volvite

jz39
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:11 pm

Bilstein and Moog front and rear installed

Postby jz39 » Thu Apr 27, 2017 4:50 pm

Just got both front and rear Moog springs and Bilstein shocks installed along with all new oem spring seats and isolators.

Overall the height is slightly raised compared to stock and very even front to back. Looks good.

There was one oddity in the install--it seemed as though the front shocks were missing a washer assembly which would not allow it to tighten down completely. We had to reuse the oem dust boot (getting rid of the Bilstein blue dust boot) with the cover assembly bound bumper still in it to make a correct fit. Weird. Not sure if this part was missing or you were supposed to reuse the oem boot or what.

Also, a bunch of stuff had to be cut out during the install, including some of the shocks, and LOTS of bolts were seized up. I warn you not to go into this lightly.

Ride quality is very good--no real improvement in lateral sway from the stiffer springs (not really expected as this is the job of the sway bars) and whatever small benefit there might have been is likely lost with the additional ride height.

Overall, ride is a bit firmer, less floaty and more composed and the truck looks better. My old suspension had 80k miles on it and if I had to put a number on how much better the Bilstein / Moog combo is vs a 2011 LE oem suspension, I would say it is better by about 20%. Not a HUGE difference, just a bit of an upgrade in all aspects.


User avatar
smj999smj
Site Admin
Posts: 6054
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:13 pm
Location: Prospect, VA

Postby smj999smj » Fri Apr 28, 2017 6:51 am

The washer deal is pretty common on replacement front struts. I even ran into that with KYB, which is the OE strut manufacturer. You can now get a complete strut assembly (quick-strut) from KYB, which saves a lot of trouble.

merrion13
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:08 am
Location: Denver

Postby merrion13 » Sun May 14, 2017 3:31 pm

Just finished the same setup on our '08 V6. Ours had just turned 100K and I was sick of the poor quality of the stock setup.

We ended up also doing new sway bar bushings and strut mounts, but ride is definitely improved and the vehicle feels a lot more composed. Also noticed a mild ride height, maybe a half inch or so.

Overall, very happy with this combination.

jz39
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:11 pm

Postby jz39 » Wed Oct 04, 2017 6:18 pm

After a number of months, happy to report back that the Moog/Bilstein set up still gets positive reviews from me. With the springs being stiffer, I did lower my psi from 35-36 to 33-34 and the ride quality is much better. At 35-36 the ride was definitely a bit more harsh then stock. With the slightly lower psi the ride is very good.

sportynightster
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 15, 2018 6:59 pm
Location: Aberdeen, MD

Bilstein Shocks

Postby sportynightster » Tue Jan 23, 2018 6:42 pm

To the OP

Did you install the 5100 Bilstein up front with 4600 in the rear?


Return to “R51 Suspension and Steering”