HELP! Broken Bilstein 5100 top stud

Any ideas what to do now? I'll have to get a shop to take it apart I assume... think I can reuse if they can re-assemble?

 

Leave it alone??

 

Installing new lift. I plan to get new shocks but for now trying to make things work or a quick fix

 

Heavy duty vice grips on the shock shaft, if you can get them between the springs.

 

Using an impact gun might zip it off. And I’m probably stating the obvious but since it can’t be seen in your pic youre gonna put a spring compressor on there before removing the nut right?

 

What are you trying to re-use? The shock? Just compress the spring, zip it off with an impact gun and zip it back on

 

You don't need to remove that bolt to put the assembly back on the truck...only need to remove that if you're trying to separate the shock from the coil. And as stated, make sure you have a spring compressor on there

 

I use the spring compressor -less way to do these and that's why I was trying to remove the top nut and it broke. So I took the whole thing out. Looks like I should be about to get a shop to compress it and like stated by you guys, use an impact to zip off and back on.

 

Are you telling me you remove your coils just by zipping the top nut off and praying?

 

Unless the factory coil or factory shock is getting replaced and swapped to another shock or coil, you should've left that alone. If you bought new shocks and coils both, then you should've opted for assembly at order time or have a shop on stand-by to assemble them.

The only "-less" way to do anything on the front end, is the don't take the UCA completely out-less way of swapping front shock/coil assemblies.






We're trying to be helpful. Just not real clear how/why you got to where you are OP.

 

I get exactly what you’re trying to do OP. You’re trying to do the “floor jack beneath LCA to decompress coil” method. Love it and have done that a lot. That didn’t work so you removed the whole assembly to figure it out.

Your option is to let a shop deal with it. They’ll put it on a compressor, and do their thing. Just zipping the top with an impact won’t do anything, the shock shaft will just spin. Keep in mind the shock is pretty much trash after all this.

 

Now I get it!

I was a little fuzzy there. I did this exact thing putting on my 885s to my 5100s. It works until it doesn't.

 

I thought I’d clear things up for him before it went off the rails in here

 

I did use high quality Harbor Freight compressors to take the coils off OME shocks, though. Kept my teeth somehow, darnedest thing that I didn't die using a spring compressor

 

You sir, are a mad man. I didn’t know OME made a stiff enough coil to support the weight of your balls.

 

Okay, to clear things up.

I've done the "floor jack beneath the LCA" install of new shocks and coils about half a dozen times, guys. I'm no ordinary crayon eater.

I've always hated the design of the Bilsteins because of their tops. I was trying to remove that top nut and lower the assembly to take the pressure off to replace the coil. But as you all can see, the little square part of the top of the Bilstein broke off.

I was trying to see if you all had ideas of how to proceed with the broken part and a couple of you figured it out. I'm having a shop compress the spring and use a impact to zip the nut off and then replace the spring and zip the nut back on. They are going to charge me an hour of shop time but it's cheaper than a new 5100.

Btw, going from OME 884's to 887's among other things.

 

I hope they're able to zip it off. If it was stuck enough to break the top, there's a chance the shock shaft will just spin freely.

 

Agreed. I have some big f'ing channel locks I can use to hold the shaft from spinning, if need be. I worry about damaging it though and what that means for the performance of the shock.