Tired front struts, already replaced the rear with Bilsteins (not available for the front)

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hillstrubl

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Any recommendations? Stock height, 99% street driving. I'm a big fan of the bilsteins I put in the rear, but unfortunately I can't find equivalents for the front. Would be doing a spring/strut assembly for ease of install.
AC Delco gold? KYB? Monroe?
 

Joseph Garcia

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Year, make, model, trim?

Without this information, we cannot help you out too much.
 

Charlie207

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Yeah OP, there are two versions of Bilstein front struts for the GMT900: the 4600s, and 5100s.

This is why it's always a smart thing to include vehicle info, as mentioned.

Here are the 5100s: https://www.shocksurplus.com/products/bilstein-5100-monotube-shocks-bundcomperr-24-186940
 

petethepug

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4600 vs 5100

Look away from the Ford link and concentrate on the Bilstein words. It’s a good write up from shock warehouse on post # 3 or 4

 

Joseph Garcia

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I see front strut shocks on the Bilstein site for your truck.

https://cart.bilsteinus.com/catalog...ype=4WD&category_id=1&catname=Shocks & Struts

I recognize that you want the entire strut assembly already assembled, but the assembly can be disassembled/reassembled by a local repair shop with a heavy duty spring compressor. If you do any wrenching at all, these strut assemblies can be removed and reinstalled by you.
 

dsciulli19

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Wanted to chime in here because I'm interested in doing similar in my 2009 XL SLT, and had a bad experience with this in the past with my old 2009 Sierra SLT.

I installed 4600s in the rear of my sierra myself, and bought the 4600s for the front and asked my local shop to disassemble and re-build the struts for me with the bilsteins in them so I could swap them in easily without risking life and limb with a spring compressor. Long story short, they could not get my factory struts apart, and neither could I even with a LARGE hydraulic press. I ended up giving up and returning the bilstein shocks for the front and buying Monroe loaded struts to get my truck back on the road.

I am eventually going to have to freshen up the suspension on my Yukon XL so I am trying to take notes on what options there are for loaded strut assemblies to avoid losing my mind again on disassembling my factory struts. However, if this is an isolated incident and most folks don't have any issues disassembling the factory struts then maybe I'll give it another go.
 

Big Mama

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Did mine with no issues. I did the loan a tool at advance and got 2 sets. I used 3 on each one.
 

Joseph Garcia

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Wanted to chime in here because I'm interested in doing similar in my 2009 XL SLT, and had a bad experience with this in the past with my old 2009 Sierra SLT.

I installed 4600s in the rear of my sierra myself, and bought the 4600s for the front and asked my local shop to disassemble and re-build the struts for me with the bilsteins in them so I could swap them in easily without risking life and limb with a spring compressor. Long story short, they could not get my factory struts apart, and neither could I even with a LARGE hydraulic press. I ended up giving up and returning the bilstein shocks for the front and buying Monroe loaded struts to get my truck back on the road.

I am eventually going to have to freshen up the suspension on my Yukon XL so I am trying to take notes on what options there are for loaded strut assemblies to avoid losing my mind again on disassembling my factory struts. However, if this is an isolated incident and most folks don't have any issues disassembling the factory struts then maybe I'll give it another go.
Are you referring to the large nut at the top of the strut assembly that connects to the shock piston?
 

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