Stay young my friends... shock replacement gone wrong

[GON]

Getting close to 60 years old. I travel for work five days a week, typically four to five different states during the week. I spend my nights in four different hotels per week- I am overall drained as a person from fatigue. I often buy parts while on the road and have them waiting for me in a pile in the garage (that is where my Wife places boxes for me). Sometimes it can take weeks or months for me to replace a part. And have a limited window of time to do the repair, usually just Saturday afternoon.

Two Saturday's ago went to replace the front shocks on my 2002 F350. I bought the shocks a few weeks earlier on Amazon or RockAuto, I don't recall. I purchased the rear shocks six months ago, but had yet to install them. Went to the pile of boxes, and the front shocks were on top.

Went to install them, and really struggled compressing the shock to fit in the mounts. Tried everything, just could not compress them. Thought I am simply not as strong as I once was. I have compressed shocks into place prior just using physical force. Could not come with any easy option to compress the shock, so I pulled out a little electric winch, placed it under the front tire, and was able to compress the shock in place. Did the same for the front passenger side. All proud of myself.

Went to do the rear shocks and realized I had a issue. I mixed up the front and rear shocks. Had to pull the front shocks off, which in itself was not so easy because they were so compressed in place. To add insult to injury, the rear shocks received (that I put in the front) were for the rear of a F350 dually (my truck is single rear wheels).

I don't think I would of screwed this up ten years ago. I was happy I remembered I had a small electric winch though . Stay young my friends...

 

[Kira]

Inventive solution.
Maybe have the Mrs. open the boxes and double check the part numbers before you return home?
I too have received incorrect shocks for my vehicle. That was a real time waster.

 

[redhat]

Nice Bilsteins though. Glad it was just a part mixup and no getting hurt.

 

[c502cid]

Brother you and I share the exact same life. I have piles of parts, which vehicle they go on is another question..... and if I can't find them do I keep looking knowing they are in a "safe place" or do I buy them again..... Now can I get that sensor on before I leave for the airport in a few hours.....

Great story about the shocks..

 

[KrisZ]

Nice hack, another solution would have been to raise that side of the vehicle.
Don’t beat yourself down, I’ve made similar mistakes and I’m no where near 60. Sometimes your head is simply not in the game.

 

[JTK]

Excellent work, but WOW what a pain!! Based on what I see, your 2002 looks like maybe a 4yr/old truck in my neck of the woods.

 

[mk378]

Visually compare the new part side by side with the old one before attempting to install it.

 

[Duffyjr]

Looking at them pics the first thing that popped into my mind was "I hope his health insurance is up to date".

 

[B1974]

Checking part numbers is like a OCD thing for me. I double check that it's the right part number by searching that same part from multiple vendors and making sure they match before I order. Them checking them again when I receive them.

The Automotive equivalent of measure twice cut once.

 

[edyvw]

It does not matter the age, those Bilstein HD or B6/8 as they call them for cars are ridiculously hard. I got B6 last week and what a pain to compress. But then on the bright side, there is nothing better outthere.

 

[Jetronic]

It's a consequence of the monotube design, the gas charge is higher pressure

 

[edyvw]

It's a consequence of the monotube design, the gas charge is higher pressure

Yeah, that is what they are known for.

 

[redhat]

Haha so true

Excellent work, but WOW what a pain!! Based on what I see, your 2002 looks like maybe a 4yr/old truck in my neck of the woods.

 

[CKN]

You must enjoy this. You obviously have more money than time.

 

[4WD]

KYB used to ship them laced down (compounded) … you installed one end and then eased off the cord as they grow long enough to stab the other end.

 

[JHZR2]

Good thinking on how to resolve the issue. Compressing shocks into place is a pain, regardless of age. Working at less than ideal angles and with less than enough time is a big pain.

I love to diy, but the fact that everything takes 3x longer than it should, and working conditions aren’t ideal, has started to make it a turnoff for anything that isn’t super easy, or can wait a while to get done. Just too many other commitments.

 

[UncleDave]

Bilstein ships the shocks compressed with a plastic band around them so you can install them easily, looks like you may have snipped yours a bit to early, not to mention being sold the wrong products.
Kudos on your for getting the genie back in the bottle.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Good story. My back hurts just from looking at the pictures. I am over 65 and am not very good at those hard labor jobs any longer. If I have any doubts whether or not I can do a job easily I take it somewhere and let a mechanic do it. I commend you for tackling a big job like that because it sounds as if you do not work in a hard labor job during the week. I still have a couple brand new rear brake rotors for a 2005 F-150 that are still in the box from several years ago. I couldn't get the rear rotors off and just installed the brake pads myself and it worked fine. I still have 3 fumoto valves that don't work on my 3 vehicles that I ordered them for due to needing extensions etc. So, I added a Mity Vac to a pile of boxes just like you described. I am guilty of the same scenarios that you are dealing with. My last screw up was a brand new Jeep Cherokee my son bought and we couldn't get the oil pan drain plug off and stripped the bolt. Sometimes things don't go as expected.

 

[Donald]

Brother you and I share the exact same life. I have piles of parts, which vehicle they go on is another question..... and if I can't find them do I keep looking knowing they are in a "safe place" or do I buy them again..... Now can I get that sensor on before I leave for the airport in a few hours.....

Great story about the shocks..

I label the part of it will be sitting on the shelf for any period of time.

I have the same Bilstein shocks in my F-250. Lifetime warranty.

 

[JustinH]

Yes I'm half your age, and I rebuilt the front suspension on my wife's Scion on floor jacks.

My back was hurting for a week, and required several epson salt baths to get any relief.