Jeff7
OBS Enthusiast
Hey guys, I'm looking for some input on what shocks to buy and any advice on replacing parts in my front end. quick background on my truck is its a 98 Chevy K1500 ecsb Z71, has 355km and I live in northern Alberta, so we see winters as cold as -40C. There is also a good chance I'll be moving to eastern Canada where they salt the roads at some point (I'm in the military).
First question is for the shocks, are the Bilstein 4600 worth their price (~$100 each at rockauto)? Or would a KYB or something for a cheaper price be just as good? My truck doesnt usually see much weight in the back, and I only tow a double skidoo trailer or a boat, nothing too heavy.
Second thing is I'm replacing pretty much everything in the front end, I had a lot of torn boots and just kept greasing them but now I have time to fix it. pretty much every boot is torn so I plan on replacing inner and outer tie rods with adjustment sleeves, pitman arm, idler arm with bracket, upper control arm (comes with BJ and bushings), lower BJ and bushings, sway bar links and bushings, and CV axles. Aside from the axles I plan on buying Mevotech Supreme, I was told the Terrain Tough is better but that's a big price increase and my truck doesnt see much offroad, nor do I have over sized tires. Anyone have an opinion on this brand?
For CVs I was going to get Cardone Select 661009HD, any opinion on those?
There's no need to replace the center link right? And along that train of though is it worth replacing the adjustment sleeve with the tie rods?
The CVs come with axle nuts, is there any other hardware that I should be buying new for this job?
I was also thinking about replacing the leaf spring bushings and the U bolts, do you guys think that is worth doing?
Thanks for any input, this will be a big job for me and i'm trying to make sure I have everything sorted it out and thought of before I commit and buy the parts.
First question is for the shocks, are the Bilstein 4600 worth their price (~$100 each at rockauto)? Or would a KYB or something for a cheaper price be just as good? My truck doesnt usually see much weight in the back, and I only tow a double skidoo trailer or a boat, nothing too heavy.
Second thing is I'm replacing pretty much everything in the front end, I had a lot of torn boots and just kept greasing them but now I have time to fix it. pretty much every boot is torn so I plan on replacing inner and outer tie rods with adjustment sleeves, pitman arm, idler arm with bracket, upper control arm (comes with BJ and bushings), lower BJ and bushings, sway bar links and bushings, and CV axles. Aside from the axles I plan on buying Mevotech Supreme, I was told the Terrain Tough is better but that's a big price increase and my truck doesnt see much offroad, nor do I have over sized tires. Anyone have an opinion on this brand?
For CVs I was going to get Cardone Select 661009HD, any opinion on those?
There's no need to replace the center link right? And along that train of though is it worth replacing the adjustment sleeve with the tie rods?
The CVs come with axle nuts, is there any other hardware that I should be buying new for this job?
I was also thinking about replacing the leaf spring bushings and the U bolts, do you guys think that is worth doing?
Thanks for any input, this will be a big job for me and i'm trying to make sure I have everything sorted it out and thought of before I commit and buy the parts.