Front shocks 2nd gen

Can I simply replace the front shock on my 2013 and not the whole strut?

 

Yes, technically, it is a coilover. You can just replace the shock and reuse the coil. If you are going to do this then call ahead to the shop since this isn’t efficient for a shop and they may charge extra. Coilovers don’t usually come assembled like a strut anyway.

 

If you are a DIY'er, I highly recommend taking the assembly to a place that has a professional coil spring compressor and just pay them to swap the new shock in. Life is too short to deal with the Chinese spring compressors that are out there. I had one break and shoot a coil spring across the yard.

 

As noted above, yes. Also as noted above, it is a coilover, not a strut. I recently replaced my rear shocks and had a shop replace my front shocks.
Could have done the fronts myself but the older I get, the more I prefer to have a shop do some of the jobs that are a bit more involved.

 

You CAN replace the shock absorber yourself, but not recommended. The spring tension on the coil over is substantial.

If you want to do it yourself, please be very careful.
You MUST get or rent two spring compressors to disassemble and reassemble the the coil from the shock absorber.
If you are not careful the spring will jump at you and has enough energy to seriously injure.

There is loads of videos, and literature on disassembly of the coilover from the truck, and coil to shocks absorber.

 

To Mikes point, it is time consuming/frustrating trying to get the coil spring compressors in the exact spots to compressor the spring evenly going down and not putting the top part of the strut in a bind. I can tell you from experience that this was the worst part of the strut changing job. Bolting the assembly in and out is a piece of cake.

Mike - nice '71/72 truck in your pic. I remember when those trucks were everywhere!

 

Absolutely you can replace the spring only, but if you have more than 30k on the shocks, you might as well change them while you're in there. The front springs store a LOT of energy when compressed. If you do it yourself, wear safety goggles and treat the compressed spring like a bomb. Store them in a safe place (wooden box) while you do the rest of the work. I had to compress mine twice in the same week when I installed 5100s and didn't like them set to 2" lift . (Went with 3/4"). The dia. of the spring is quite large, so if you do it yourself, buy the best compressors you can. I like to do my own work, and have used my compressors on about 5 cars in the past 30 years. Take your time, use anti seize or loctite where recommended, and have fun!