My Bilsteins finally came in and I've got them on, but I've got a couple ?'s

bump

 

boom

 

In the last picture is that shock installed upside down and the boot should be at the top, water and dirt is going to get inside the boot.Unless I am seeing it wrong.

 

i think you might be seeing it wrong......
the boot is supposed to be on the bottom.
the boots main purpose is to protect the inside of the shock from dirt and whatnot

 

Dude you got the shock on up side down, and most likely on the wrong side. When I removed the OEM Rear Bilstien's from my trk the boot is on top, same on the front. Ask around!

 

the front shocks dont have a boot

 

naa they are on correctly, appreciate the thought though. mine might be different than yours

 

Dude. Dude; are you sure the rear shocks are not upside down?

 

Upside down, right side up , boot on, boot off as long as there is no geometric angular difference It probably isn't going to mean squat & if dirt or water is getting into the shock body The shocks are shot to shit anyway, The only exception I think is if one side is longer than the other example: left & right hand side specific.....

 

Yup, doesn't really matter which way you mount it, it will fit either way. But the Billie 5100s should be mounted with the boots down & the longer one on the passenger side.

 

i knw all trucks are different but i installed a 2" toytec aal and none of the extra stuff was required. evn if it dosnt matter if the shocks are installed upside down, why would anyone want them like that????

 

typically they are mounted boot up.

one reason is to protect the shock shaft from rocks etc. shaft down puts them in danger

 

wouldnt it still compress and rebound either orientation?

 

hey Chris would any of these options be doable?
or would it have to be trial and error...

i thought would it be possible to disconnect the emergency brake line install the block lift and then run the line underneath the leaf springs and reconnect it?????????
is this possible? or is it a really stupid idea.

and also on my drivers side front coil spring, after installing the new shocks i found that the top two coils were sitting on each other (which probably means that they are old and weak and i will have to buy new ones?)

or option B would be to loosen(a little) the emergency brake line install the block lift and let it (not tightly and not loosely) lay over the leaf springs. where it would be laying over the leaf springs i would cut a piece of rubber hosing or tubing and put around the cable to protect it from rubbing. and also make a bracket to raise the BPV

 

This has been a long debate & there are beneifits for both orientations.

Yes shaft down would put the shafts in danger but that's what the boot is for.

There are holes on the boots, mounting them boot down would allow water to drain. Some say the holes are way too small especially for muddy water but with boots up they wouldn't be able to drain at all. I wouldn't want to go through a river with them mounted boot up.

Some say don't run boots at all, in that case it may be best to run them boot up to protect from pitting but dirt, mud, or sand could accumulate at the base of the shock body & risk getting into the seal.

Stock it is mounted boot/shaft up but it's not a rubber boot on the stock shocks, it's a cover.

With boot up the leaf can hit the body. Some people put spacers to bring them inward for more clearance. Not sure how close they do really get.

DR/Icon resi's you can only mount them boot down. I wouldn't want my resi's & lines pointed down even if I could.

I wouldn't mount boot up & neither do the majority of people with 1 gens.

 

Guess I will have to take a look at how close the spring is to the shock, I would think that if Bilstien is designating a right and left shock they would also instruct that the boot be installed faceing down. Looks to me that there is about 1.75 clearance between spring and shock body, I supose off roading there could be clearance issues, someone mentioned its a valving issue, can someone explaine please.

I asked Sonny at Downsouth if there was a rightway to install boot up or down he claims it doesn't make any difference as the 5100's are gas charged.

 

heres some pictures of the truck with the billies. the rear is still awaiting the installation of the block lift kit but a couple of guys were asking for pics so they can see the lift. (2in)