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Bilstein 7100's Rear Install

Oh god.....please...

This time around we thought it was going to be better.....and it was....but it still took forever. We picked today, it was nice and sunny, and a warm 41 degrees outside.....we started at 1pm.

Initially we had trouble jacking it up...the rear is really flexy and kept dropping down if we jacked on the frame....then we tried the axle, and it would jack, but jack up sideways where it looked as if the jack would slide out from under.....either way, we got it.

First we installed the extended brake lines and bled the breaks. We decided to work exclusively on one side, and we really didnt have a choice because we had only 1 of each tool. On the rear right side we took off the OME shock, then we used spring compressors to get the spring out.....which was a major pain. After finally getting it out we then put the DI spring seats on....and if you think it was hard getting it out...try putting it in after shortening the spring seats. It was tough....we had to mess with it multiple times and try to get the spring in there. We finally got it in to discover that the spring would have to be turned to fit the EE spring retainer kit.

To shorten the story (it took a while), we finally got everything lined up.....to discover that the bolts that EE provided for their spring retainer kit were about 1" to short.....so off to Home Depot! At that same time we had to drive out of the way to get more sythetic brake fluid, because I forgot to bring the 2 new bottles of it from home...... I hate wasting money! We got the exact bolts, but one inch longer...this was necessary because; A. the top of the rear spring seats have a rubber isolator on them, and B. I have a 1" EE spring spacer below the spring seats.

We finally put everything together...and it had just turned dark. I wanted to avoid what happened last week so I called it and we tightened everything up and put the tires back on without doing the rear left side. In all, what we did today took us 5 hours....which included driving to home depot and kragen.

I am not driving the disco for this week till we can get it finished next weekend. Along with the shocks not being the same side-to-side, the left side is about .75" taller then the right....I want to avoid a weeks worth of uneven tire wear amoung other things.

I also want to point out that after reading some threads on the bilstein shock bodies, I decided to use two coats of satin black rustolium on them to cover the nickel finish. This finish will rust extemely fast (2-3 weeks) in a salt environment....we will have to paint the front shocks within a week or two...they are fairly ok around here, but if it snows the roads will be covered with salt, or if I travel someplace else there might also be risk.

to finish everything, next week I will also be trimming around the lower shock mounts....on a full stuff, the bodies may hit them (very very bad).