New Struts and Shocks on 2007-13 Chevy Silverado GMC Sierra 1500
11-24-2014, 02:06 PM
#1
TECH Enthusiast
Thread Starter
iTrader: (5)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 687
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
New Struts and Shocks on 2007-13 Chevy Silverado GMC Sierra 1500 So I upgraded to the Bilstein HD shocks and struts on my truck this weekend and thought I'd pass along some tips for anyone wanting to do this themselves. I did a Google search and found the video below that was pretty good to get the struts out (simple).
The part they omitted and the tricky part is getting the sping off of the strut and replacing them if you did not buy the whole assembly as shown in the video.
The springs on the truck are naturally much stiffer than on a car and your typical spring compressor isn't strong enough to compress the spring far enough to loosen the strut. I found that most of the online suggestions were to remove it and then take it to a shop to swap the spring. I'm just not someone who likes letting other people work on my stuff and when i set out to do it myself, I like to do the whole job.
Solution (discovered mid-job) was to get two spring compressor kits and use a total of 4 on each spring. I used these:
http://www.sears.com/schwaben-spring...3&blockType=G3
I just installed two of them on one spring and compressed them a little until I could get the other two on at the next spring expansion. Then I rotated tightening each of them a little at a time. This made it very easy to get the springs compressed far enough.
The next trick was to get the nut at the top of the strut loosened. The strut shaft turns when you turn the nut. There were various suggestions online, but the best seemed to be to clamp a pair of vise-grips onto the shaft to hold it steady while loosening the nut. The problem is there is a boot covering it. Someone online suggesting cutting the boot, but I knew that was a no-no. The boot looks stiff, but is actually very pliable. You can just push it up to expose the shaft of the strut and then clamp the vise-grips on and loosen the nut.
The installation of the new struts is just the reverse of the removal process.
The only other thing I would mention is that you don't actually have to remove the stabilizer link (shown in the video), just loosen as far as possible without removing. That leaves plenty of room to remove the strut assembly.
The rear shocks are easy.
I know a bunch of people have these GM trucks on here, so thought this might be useful if thinking of changing these yourself. I would say it is a mid-level job that someone with reasonable automotive knowledge could tackle. BTW, the Bilstein HDs are awesome and a huge improvement, while not sacrificing ride quality.
The part they omitted and the tricky part is getting the sping off of the strut and replacing them if you did not buy the whole assembly as shown in the video.
The springs on the truck are naturally much stiffer than on a car and your typical spring compressor isn't strong enough to compress the spring far enough to loosen the strut. I found that most of the online suggestions were to remove it and then take it to a shop to swap the spring. I'm just not someone who likes letting other people work on my stuff and when i set out to do it myself, I like to do the whole job.
Solution (discovered mid-job) was to get two spring compressor kits and use a total of 4 on each spring. I used these:
http://www.sears.com/schwaben-spring...3&blockType=G3
I just installed two of them on one spring and compressed them a little until I could get the other two on at the next spring expansion. Then I rotated tightening each of them a little at a time. This made it very easy to get the springs compressed far enough.
The next trick was to get the nut at the top of the strut loosened. The strut shaft turns when you turn the nut. There were various suggestions online, but the best seemed to be to clamp a pair of vise-grips onto the shaft to hold it steady while loosening the nut. The problem is there is a boot covering it. Someone online suggesting cutting the boot, but I knew that was a no-no. The boot looks stiff, but is actually very pliable. You can just push it up to expose the shaft of the strut and then clamp the vise-grips on and loosen the nut.
The installation of the new struts is just the reverse of the removal process.
The only other thing I would mention is that you don't actually have to remove the stabilizer link (shown in the video), just loosen as far as possible without removing. That leaves plenty of room to remove the strut assembly.
The rear shocks are easy.
I know a bunch of people have these GM trucks on here, so thought this might be useful if thinking of changing these yourself. I would say it is a mid-level job that someone with reasonable automotive knowledge could tackle. BTW, the Bilstein HDs are awesome and a huge improvement, while not sacrificing ride quality.
