Bilstein Question

[mbender83]

is the auto leveling different than the air suspension system...im trying to determine what i do or do not have...

[JCMusika]

Originally Posted by F4N4EVR

I put the 5100's on my '07. I set them to the middle notch and got a 2 inch lift. I then adjusted my level sensor on the rear airshocks to bring it back to level. (2 turns). No problems since. This level puts the front camber settings on alignment, right at the limit of the camber bolt slot length. If you exceed this height setting, either the shop will try and soak you for "camber offset bolts" for about $600 (pep boys). Or you can lengthen the slots with a file or drill for about the cost of the drill bit and an hour or so. The Bilsteins cure 99% of the shortcuts that Nissan took in building the front end. No more bump steer, no more wobbles going over railroad tracks, reduced sway, better offroad tracking, better tracking on uneven pavement, much reduced front tire wear, much much better feel when going over speed bumps and potholes. -Magic- something every mada owner should do 10 minutes after driving them off the lot.

+1

mine is a 05 but years ago replaced with Rancho (POS fronts). now i got the 5100 and placed it at the highest slot and got 2 inch of lift. i do not have a autolevel rear suspension. i like the way it looks and cured my dreaded bump steer. took me 2 hours complete it. my stearlership is asking $300.00 for labor

[Rick_In_Denver]

I just called three places wrt installation, and they all said around $200 to install PLUS an alignment was necessary. What's a guy to do? All of a sudden $200 in parts becomes almost $500 installed.

[ntrddragn]

Originally Posted by Rick_In_Denver

I just called three places wrt installation, and they all said around $200 to install PLUS an alignment was necessary. What's a guy to do? All of a sudden $200 in parts becomes almost $500 installed.

Do it yourself. There is a how to in the how to section. Not hard. U can take it out and call a shop like meinke to swap the springs out and put it in the new shocks. Cost me 25 or 50 bucks to have it done. Or u can rent a spring compressor from auotpart store.

tap tap with my galaxy nexus.

[sidgarza]

Originally Posted by Rick_In_Denver

I just called three places wrt installation, and they all said around $200 to install PLUS an alignment was necessary. What's a guy to do? All of a sudden $200 in parts becomes almost $500 installed.

I second doing it yourself. Its pretty easy, the only problem I ran into was the top nut became stripped and took a good while to take off. Rent a spring compressor from Autozone for around $50 and when you return the compressor they will refund the full $50.

[lodo]

Originally Posted by Rick_In_Denver

I just called three places wrt installation, and they all said around $200 to install PLUS an alignment was necessary. What's a guy to do? All of a sudden $200 in parts becomes almost $500 installed.

$200? You are lucky. Two different places for me were $350 with alignment!


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[RocketPower]

Just changed the struts on my QX yesterday. It's not hard, but a buddy is a must. We found that it's also easier if the entire front of the truck is lifted and placed on jack stands as it took off "tension" in the stabilizer bar that occurs when one is lifted and the other is sitting on the ground. Even then one of us had to step on/push down on the rotor for removal and installation of the strut assembly. I got the HD's (part# 24-197656), and noticed that when transferring the rubber bumper and other parts onto the Bilsteins, the whole assembly, after put everything back together, is about 1/4" taller than the stock - we measured before and after. I don't think this will affect anything though. Luckily for us, nothing sheared off during removal. Nissan has thread lock on the shafts of the bolts.

One question though, how in the heck is someone able to torque that nut in the strut shaft when an 8mm wrench is needed to hold the same shaft at the end so that it can be tightened/loosened? The spec says 40 ft/lbs but I don't see how this can be done. The torque specs on the 3 bolts on the top suspension bucket is 22ft/lbs, and those for for the bottom bolt/nut is 99ft/lbs. Soak the nuts and bolts with PB Blaster for 'easier' removal.

I actually brought a set of spring compressors, while they worked in the end (had impact wrenches to compress them), they were not made for truck springs so the safety pins were not able to close. I would assume those will be the case for those that are rented from the auto parts stores.

Hope this helps.

[mbender83]

anyone know the part numbers for the rears ?

[blackArmada_Dxb]

Originally Posted by mbender83

anyone know the part numbers for the rears ?

Do you have an auto levelling rear supsension? If not, Bilsteins dont make rear shocks that fit without modification for Armadas. I believe there is a post by polz on how he got some Bilsteins to fit by doing slight modification....

[Kooshtaka]

Just as an FYI for those looking for rear replacement shocks- PRG Greg is working on direct replacement COIL OVERS for us curtesy of communications with Pops, ntrdraggn, and I like to think myself also a tinny bit. lol.

blackArmada has the right of it though... currently Bilstein does NOT make rear shocks for the Armada- no matter what year it is or if it has auto-level or not. I believe is is also correct in that Polz did do a write up on his conversion of some 5100s to make them fit in the rear (not sure if he was able to get the valving correct or not).