A busy weekend.....

lip277 · August 23, 2004

Well...

With 4 years and a bit over 80,000 miles now on my 2001 Yukon 5.3 4x4, I figured it was time I did a bit of work on it.

I spent a good portion of Saturday replacing the plugs and wires as well as installing Bilstein shocks.

Plug-wise I chose the stock AC Delco wires and the 'new' 41-985 plugs.

I chose the standard HD Bilstein shocks.

A few notes.....

Plugs-

The rear right one was a pain as the AC shielding was close. Nothing major, just a clearance issue.

Pulling the wires off the plugs took a bit of effort. I guess 80k miles kind of makes them happy where they are!

I really had to reef on the wrench for a couple of plugs. They didn't want to come out at first. Once I got them started, they came out fine.

Shocks-

The rear ones were OK to install. I did not install the 'helper' springs that Bilstein shows. I may retrofit them later.

Front ones were a real pain. The clearance around the nut while keeping the shaft from turning was tedious. Not impossible, just took FOREVER. You know what I mean, turn the wrench just a bit and then have to re-engage the nut after flipping the wrench over to align with the slightly rotated nut (Nylok nut, so.... no free spinning). Repeat 12 times per full nut revolution while using a crescent to hold the shaft still...... oh joy!

Notes after driving around now for about 150 miles-

The shocks do ride a bit stiffer. It's comparable to when I switched from the Firestone LE's to Bridgestone Dueler HL's. Nice ride actually.

The old plugs were noticeably worn. Previously, the engine ran "OK" but nothing I'd write home about. With the new plugs and wires installed, the idle is MUCH smoother now and (I think) the power comes on at a lower throttle position - Seems more responsive anyway. We'll see if the fuel mileage gets better.

Wingnut · August 23, 2004

Don't know if you knew this, but if you didn't....You're going to hate me.

There is a specialty socket that fits onto the top of the shock to keep the shaft in place (or turn it). Makes it really easy.

It's only a socket, so they are pretty cheap. Most parts stores have them, and will loan them out for free as well.

Of course....Lot of good that does you now.

lip277 · August 23, 2004

Don't know if you knew this, but if you didn't....You're going to hate me.

There is a specialty socket that fits onto the top of the shock to keep the shaft in place (or turn it). Makes it really easy.

It's only a socket, so they are pretty cheap. Most parts stores have them, and will loan them out for free as well.

Of course....Lot of good that does you now.

Figures....

Oh well. I really don't like these specialty tools anyway. I had enough of them for my Mercedes to keep me busy. That and right now I am still working out of all the boxes I put everything in when I moved 18 months back. I need to finish the interior walls of my shop (seperate from my garage) so I can get things set up the way I want them.

But if it was $5 or so, I would have jumped on it..... Figures. Murphy lives at my place by the way.....

Wingnut · August 24, 2004

I stuck a pic of the tool in OUMikes thread...Click here.

It's really not a tool designed for these trucks in particular, I've had these sockets for 10 years, and used them on about 8 different trucks.

It's just some stupid idea that the shock manufacturers came up with to make our life harder.

lip277 · August 25, 2004

Yeah, I saw the other thread. Kind of a high shock concentration now (post-wise), eh?

I did notice that driving home today, the engine ran so smooth (with the new plugs and wires) that I looked down once when I was at a stop light thinking the engine died. It was that smooth at idle.

99-2door · August 25, 2004

Don't know if you knew this, but if you didn't....You're going to hate me.

There is a specialty socket that fits onto the top of the shock to keep the shaft in place (or turn it). Makes it really easy.

It's only a socket, so they are pretty cheap. Most parts stores have them, and will loan them out for free as well.

Of course....Lot of good that does you now.

So the new body 4x4s have shocks with a shaft like that? The older ones had a bolt through the top and bottom which made them cake.