Rykar

yeah, well got a call from the shop about noon today and that $320 turned into $450 because he initially thought he was just replacing the strut ASSEMBLY, not disassembling it to swap out the shock. I have no idea how that little detail got overlooked but he said it added about half an hour per side. I can see 30 minutes to compress the spring, disassemble it, swap out the shock, get everything back into place and reinstall it. But an hour per side just to get the strut assembly out? I'd actually originally planned to pull them out myself and bring them into the shop but decided I didn't want to kill a weekend and be without my truck so figured I'd have them do it and eat the labor costs (we have tons of things to do around the house every weekend so time is precious). Maybe it's more complicated than I imagined. It's not anything I've ever done before and I don't have a fancy lift or air tools so I'm sure it would have taken me awhile to do but in hind sight, to save $200 in labor I should have just dove in! I'm really anxious to see how different the ride quality is. I'm also glad I decided to do the rears myself. That should be easy. Turned out to be a pretty expensive front end level, but at least the shocks are much higher quality (and adjustable) and hopefully the CV angles are closer to stock than they would be with a spacer. After I absorb this bill, my next adventure will be bigger tires (and I can start following another gm-trucks thread)!

Just to chime in, i measured my 2016 Z71 before bringing it in and i had almost exactly 2.5" of rake bone stock. Also, my shocks came set at the 1st (lowest) setting from the factory so i went ahead and moved the ring up to the highest rung before bringing it in. Didn't want to have to bring it back if they forgot to make the change! Curious what your install charge was? I was quoted $320 for install, front end alignment and tire rotation for good measure. Not cheap but the shop specializes in suspensions so I know it will be done right.

Just dropped off my 2016 Z71 to have the 5100's installed on the front at the highest setting. I'll do the rears myself just for the fun of wrenching. Lots of reasons people here went with these shocks, but for me it was the consensus that for a level, this was the better option over spacers. Upgrade the shocks plus the additional height without the bad CV angles. I plan on getting a 3-4" lift and bigger tires (probably keep the stock 18" wheels) once we get a new daily driver for work. My truck's only got about 22K miles so I'm sure the Rancho's are still fine so it will be interesting to feel the ride quality difference. I drove a Honda Prelude for 20 years and had a 2002 Chevy 1500 for awhile to haul hay and trash. The ride quality on my 2016 Silverado seems like something I wouldn't want to make stiffer, but then again it is a truck! I bought the Bilsteins for the additional height and upgrade over stock, not because I thought the Ranchos were terrible. Hope it wasn't a bad compromise. I'll find out this week!