About a month ago I bought a 2003 Silverado 2500 (non HD) with 281K miles on it. I have been working on it since, replacing the water pump and everything associated, along with random little things. Tuesday I committed blasphemy and went back to the stock tire size of 245/75/16 from 265/75/16. When I bought the truck I ordered Bilstein HDs but never got around to putting them on until last night. The truck had Rancho RS5000s on the rear and unknown brand yellow shocks on the front. To do the rears I just sat under the truck and replaced. The fronts I was determined to not take a wheel off because I was being stubborn. Got the driver's side done with much yelling and swearing. Then ran out of strength for the passenger front so I gave up and took the wheel off and got it done in a couple minutes. Truck drives a ton better with the Bilsteins. Also the rears were without a doubt bad. I compressed them by hand yesterday afternoon and they still have not rebounded. The fronts probably were still ok but I wanted to match front to rear.
Also I am pretty sure as I suspected the truck needs a front end rebuild with new control arms since the bushings are cracked. Also I have been informed that the lack of rust is not common. When I took the fender liners out there was a ton of dirt and other organic objects shoved behind them which I cleaned out and found no rust whatsoever, just paint.
Also I am pretty sure as I suspected the truck needs a front end rebuild with new control arms since the bushings are cracked. Also I have been informed that the lack of rust is not common. When I took the fender liners out there was a ton of dirt and other organic objects shoved behind them which I cleaned out and found no rust whatsoever, just paint.