2011 Coils on my 08?

[VanoFord]

Plain and simple. will they fit alright on my truck? someone just did a lift and has coils for $50, and I have to wait on my Icon for a few months but need coils now. Thanks!

 

[Dzchey21]

They look the exact same to me, not sure if the spring rates are the same or not however

 

[SAK]

They will work, but I don't understand why you need them. Does your truck not have any coils in it right now?

 

[VanoFord]

it has coils, but i swear they are shot. i've replaced my shocks w/ 5100's all around, but when I drive around, the front end wont stop bouncing after bumps, and sometimes just "drum rolls" when I barely go over anything, so I'm assumin the coil is bad.

I'm expecting a kid in April so all major purchases are for her. I'll be able to get my Icon in May i'm thinking, but I cant ride like this any longer.

 

[TripleE44]

Bad shocks would be what would make it bounce too much after bumps because it wouldn't be slowing the coil down.

And, what do you mean by drum rolls? Do you mean how it feels like your tires aren't being constantly held to the ground over a section of a lot of relatively shallow potholes/bumps?

And are you sure you're not expecting your 1-ton truck to ride and handle like your 1/2 ton did?

 

[Zmann]

agreed it's chitty shocks

 

[VanoFord]

Bad shocks would be what would make it bounce too much after bumps because it wouldn't be slowing the coil down.

And, what do you mean by drum rolls? Do you mean how it feels like your tires aren't being constantly held to the ground over a section of a lot of relatively shallow potholes/bumps?

And are you sure you're not expecting your 1-ton truck to ride and handle like your 1/2 ton did?

No, i know this 1T is not gonna ride like my 1/2, but I see other 1T out there right along side of me, and my truck does not ride like theres appears to be.

As for the drum roll, its not a tire feel. I feel firmly planted on the ground. sometimes as i am going down the road, highway speeds this happens mainly, i'll hit a small bump, like going over a bridge seam, and the truck, instead of 1 or 2 bounces, the front end will do a quick drum roll of a bounce. What it feels like to me exactly is that the front end is bouncing several more times over than my rear end, and then it feels like the back is trying to WHOOOAAA (stage coach slowin down the horses) the front end from bouncing. Does that make sense?

it reminds me of when my coils went bad on my .5T and then whenever I did a swap of front struts it would resolve the issue. But w/ this being my first 1T, and I'm not used to the seperate shock/coil suspension system, I am just wondering if its the coils.

I bought this truck from a trade-in and the guy just bought a new truck because this one needed maintenance (ball joints, shocks) and now I am thinking it needed coils too...

agreed it's chitty shocks

As for it being bad shocks, I just installed NEW 5100's about 2 months ago. Could they already be bad? Did I get 2 bad shocks from Bilstein Factory?

sorry for being long winded....

 

[SAK]

As for it being bad shocks, I just installed NEW 5100's about 2 months ago. Could they already be bad? Did I get 2 bad shocks from Bilstein Factory?

What model did you get? You could have some that are valved wrong for the truck.

 

[VanoFord]

What model did you get? You could have some that are valved wrong for the truck.

5100, but I would have to check exact model number. I bought them from 4wheel parts, so I assume they would give me the right part for my truck :badidea: guess i'll double check the paper work.

think i'm gonna jump on these coils. the guy had them on the truck for 5k, and only wants $50, and w/ me doin the swap myself, its nothing but takin off tires and compressin springs.

thanks for everyones input. i'm still readin this so feel free to continue to chime in.

 

[VanoFord]

and 4wheel parts quoted me $250 to swap my coils. I didnt expect it to be that labor intensive, but he is talking about sway bar disconnect and other stuff.

I guess you cant just lift the truck on jack stands, then compress the spring, yank it and put in the new one?

sorry for my ignorance... this is my first truck that has seperate coils/shocks from the standard strut assembly found on cars/.5t trucks.

 

[Zmann]

it's kind of a pain due to lifting he chassis only

but on a stock height it just requires the shocks unbolted and the sway bar

maybe unclip the ABS line takes about an hour to do mine on a 8 inch lift ,,



wonder if you have a snowplow prep ?

I don't like Bilsteins but they should dampen the truck and not let it bounce

 

[TripleE44]

It's been a few years but when I did my leveling kit that was just a spacer I don't remember needing a spring compressor or anything with the sway bars.

 

[Lassie]

Coils are there to take the shock of a bump. Shocks are there to resist any movement and not allow hunting (bouncing). I would definitely make sure you have the right shocks on the truck before I bought anything else.

 

[VanoFord]

it's kind of a pain due to lifting he chassis only

but on a stock height it just requires the shocks unbolted and the sway bar

maybe unclip the ABS line takes about an hour to do mine on a 8 inch lift ,,



wonder if you have a snowplow prep ?

I don't like Bilsteins but they should dampen the truck and not let it bounce

what would the snow plow prep effect? how is it different than standard prep? i downloaded my window sticker but its at home so I can check my build then.

 

[VanoFord]

ok, so I just called 4wheel parts and I have the right shocks on my truck... for the 2.5" lift I am going to be getting. So the problem is that my shock is setup for a level, and the valve is actually sitting lower than it should be, therefore causing the shock to not handle the low bumps at high rate. he said more than likely I will cause no damage to the shock, and should go away when my lift is installed... now if I can convince the wife to do it early:doh:


thanks for everyone helping me brainstorm. sorry for asking noob questions but i'm just tryin to learn this truck better. thanks again for the patience.

 

[TripleE44]

now if I can convince the wife to do it early:doh:

Easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission... LOL

 

[VanoFord]

Easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission... LOL

lmao. tell me about that one... wife STILL doesnt know I got rid of my Full Length GoRhino's for some 11' Steps.

 

[SAK]

ok, so I just called 4wheel parts and I have the right shocks on my truck... for the 2.5" lift I am going to be getting. So the problem is that my shock is setup for a level, and the valve is actually sitting lower than it should be, therefore causing the shock to not handle the low bumps at high rate. he said more than likely I will cause no damage to the shock, and should go away when my lift is installed... now if I can convince the wife to do it early:doh:


thanks for everyone helping me brainstorm. sorry for asking noob questions but i'm just tryin to learn this truck better. thanks again for the patience.

Don't take this the wrong way, but the answer they gave you just shows how big of idiots the people are that work there.

For one the valve would not be sitting lower, it would be sitting higher in the body, because the shock is compressed more. It would be sitting lower if the shock was extended.

Second, for all practical purposes in this application, it does not matter where the valve is sitting, it still has to flow fluid though it. Now if the shock is bottoming out, then yes it will make a big difference in the way it rides, which may be happening. This will cause damage to the shock, and will be unwarrantable since it is being used in the wrong application.

So by them telling you that the shock will work properly after you lift it will be true only if the shock is bottoming out. Otherwise it will still have the same dampening characteristics as it does now.

 

[VanoFord]

Don't take this the wrong way, but the answer they gave you just shows how big of idiots the people are that work there.

For one the valve would not be sitting lower, it would be sitting higher in the body, because the shock is compressed more. It would be sitting lower if the shock was extended.

Second, for all practical purposes in this application, it does not matter where the valve is sitting, it still has to flow fluid though it. Now if the shock is bottoming out, then yes it will make a big difference in the way it rides, which may be happening. This will cause damage to the shock, and will be unwarrantable since it is being used in the wrong application.

So by them telling you that the shock will work properly after you lift it will be true only if the shock is bottoming out. Otherwise it will still have the same dampening characteristics as it does now.

his explanation was somewhat like this:

since your shock is intended for a lift, its actually compressed compared to how it should run on your lift. so the amount of oil that should be under (or over i may have that mixed) the valve for the 2.5" lift height, is less than intended since i'm still stock height, and therefore it would not be able to handle the quick rate of the bumps.

does that make better sense?



I totally understand what you are saying and you make perfect sense. I might have conveyed what 4WP told me incorrectly as I'm multi-tasking at the office while makin calls on my suspension.

 

[stroked1]

The spacer is pretty simple to do.
Jack up your truck as high as you can from the axle and put the jack stands on the body.
Take your wheels off, disconnect track bar, sway bar, and shocks. (maybe steering linkage)
Start lowering your axle until you have enough space to slip the spacer in.
You will have to man handle the track bar a bit to get it back in place.