I installed factory FX Level II Bilstiens on my 03 Edge about 220k miles ago. One of the rear ones has died, makes a loud clunk on compression.

Got me thinking, how long should these things last? The front is somewhat bouncy so to speak......I am going to have to replace the rears, but am contemplating doing the front too.

I don't have the PN for the factory ones anymore but am curious how they differ from the regular HD's you can buy now?

Such as eshocks.com: Bilstein Shocks and Struts: Ranger 2WD (standard suspension)

 

They say like 50k on shocks I think. Lol.

 

i know most shocks are only supposed to be rated for around 50k

 

50k

 

lol yup. that is all the life expectancy is good for. after that they start to lose ability to properly control the rebound and dampening characteristics they were designed to have affecting your steering and braking as well as tire wear. you may never notice the difference unless you go way over the life cycle like you are finding out now

 

I just pulled the rears off. I can compress them easliy with one hand

On another note, the ******** strapped the new ones so they are to long to install. I am so pissed. So now I got to rig something up to compress them down further to get into the truck

 

I took my Ranchos off on my 2008 3 years ago and put the HD Bilsteins on - have about 30k on them and they still work well. I would expect them to last for 50k.

 

yes Robert, they should be engineered to last at least 50k, but do not expect much more out of them after that point



Jon, you should be able to slowly compress the new shocks by hand but you most likely will not be able to hold them closed. i usually install new shocks by putting the top mounting bolt in and pushing the shocks to compress them past the point of the lower mount then push the lower bolt in as the shock pushes itself back out