Re: Tire Wear Reply #25 – January 10, 2008, 06:05:14 pm Yahoo Message Number: 88143Quote Actually, you could remove the shock from one side in front, and notice little difference in normal driving. Reason is due to the action of the sway bar - assuming its hardware is in decent shape. It allows damping available on one side to also dampen the other. Removing one is certainly not recommended, but this is one reason why the shocks cannot be tested in situ.Steve Steve,In effect, that is what I had, one shock, and it did seem to handle normally. May not have even discovered the disconnected shock had it not been for the good "Dave B." (I think that's who it was) that posted regarding loose Bilstein shock bushings. Thanks again, Dave B. Much better to have discovered it here than very soon in Mexico!Tom Riley '04 26 RB
Re: Tire Wear Reply #26 – January 10, 2008, 06:14:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 88144"Tom Riley" wrote: To be honest, no, I didn't think to check TSB's but then I thought that the Bilsteins were installed by the factory, pretty sure they are. I haven't driven but a few miles since the shock with new bushing and cupped washer has been reinstalled but I believe the "clunking" is gone. --- Tom, the "clunking" that I was referring to wasn't (necessarily) due to a problem with the Bilsteins; sorry I wasn't clear. One of the TSBs for my chassis year, 2003, describes a "clunk" from the front suspension; this is the reference: http://www.ford-trucks.com/tsb/tsb.php/m-FORD/d-E450/y-2003/t-17520I don't know if the 2004 is also "clunk affected", but if your rig is no longer clunking from any source, great news!Have a wonderful trip to Mexico!Joan
Re: Tire Wear Reply #27 – January 10, 2008, 06:17:30 pm Yahoo Message Number: 88145I want to thank and give credit to the right peoples. Thank you John K. and Dave B. for the Bilste
Re: Tire Wear Reply #28 – March 03, 2008, 08:56:54 pm Yahoo Message Number: 90067Quote from: someone "I strongly suggest that you or a mechanic inspect both rubber bushings at the top of the front shock absorbers."Well, thanks be to whomever...A flashlight and mirror told me that I had a bad top bushing on the left side and one that was about to go bad on the right side of my Bilstein shocks.So, off to the local parts guy who sold me the correct polyurethane bushing set and then to my service shop and in less than two hours I'm on my way home. Just one more thankful LD camper, grateful for the info one picks up on this board. Cheers gang!Steve S. Lazy Bones & Jiggs
Bilstein bushings Reply #29 – August 15, 2008, 06:32:08 pm Yahoo Message Number: 95381If you had Bilstein shocks installed and have many miles on your rig, I'd suggest you have the top bushings checked before heading out on any long trips. The bushings in the mounting at the top of the shock are hard to see (especially on the driver side of the E-450). Bilstein will supposedly provide replacement bushing and washer. As discussed before in this forum, these bushing tend to deteriorate over time and movement of the shock just chews them up. If you here any clunks in the front when hitting bumps, especially when turning, get them checked right away. We were a LONG way from home when we discovered we had this problem.Art
Re: Bilstein bushings Reply #30 – August 21, 2008, 02:05:07 am Yahoo Message Number: 95502"If you had Bilstein shocks installed and have many miles on your rig, I'd suggest you have the top bushings checked before heading out on any long trips."Art Today I checked the shocks and found the bushings to be in good shape but the top nuts were very loose on all four shocks. The concave washers, on the top of the bushings could all be rotated with finger pressure. Each shock's top nut took 2-4 revolutions to snug up and to lightly compress the rubber bushings. The shocks have about 34,000 miles on them and this is the first time they have been tightened since they were installed. I'm going to make this a 10,000 mile inspection item. For those of you who want to check your LD's shocks, the top nut is a 17 MM. The body of the shock will want to spin when the nut is tightened. I grabbed the top of the body with a pair of needle-nose vise grips, to hold the body still, while tightening the top nut. A ratcheting 17 MM wrench was the only useful tool I could get into the confined space on the driver's side front shock. The same wrench worked well for the remaining shocks. http://www.gearwrench.com/catalog/wrenches/ratcheting/combination/>Larry
Re: Bilstein bushings Reply #31 – August 24, 2008, 10:51:58 pm Yahoo Message Number: 95597"Today I checked the shocks and found the bushings to be
Topic: Tire Wear (Read 3 times)
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Topic: Tire Wear (Read 3 times)
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