Bilstein 6112 Installation
Your truck looks like the game warden.
This makes me laugh because admittedly, this is exactly the type of image I was aiming for with the F-150 Plan. It is supposed to be a boring, bland and rather unremarkable looking truck.
The intent of putting Bilstein 6112's on the front paired with Bilstein 5100's out back is not for cosmetic reasons. Rather, it is to improve the rough road driving performance and eliminate the minor rub in the front at full steering lock with the BFG KO3 285/70R17's.
I purchased this Bilstein suspension kit a little over a year ago, but just got it on the truck a few days ago. Where we live, we do not even have a driveway to use for working on cars. When I investigated options for getting it installed, $1,500+ sounded rather ridiculous. Fortunately, a co-worker's husband's hobby is working on cars. They have a shop with a lift where he works on his very nice '67 Chevelle.
Install Highlights and Thoughts
It took about 2.5 hours to do one side, mostly because we were taking it slow, rewatching sections of an install video, and figuring out how to get the spring compressed. The kit reuses the top hat, the top part screwed onto the shock holding the coil spring.
Getting this compressed, since we did not have a shop spring compressor, required the use of two different spring compressors, one to compress the middle part of the spring, and another to pull down the "spring hat" enough to get the nut on the top of the shock absorber arm to hold it all together. This part easily was the most intimidating for me since there is a tremendous amount of force being manipulated here.
The second side, working together, we got done in about 40 minutes since we knew exactly how everything went together. Putting on the rear shocks only took about another half hour, and we were done.
The job can easily be done with hand tools, but an impact wrench and ratcheting wrenches will make it much faster and easier. Also, while we had a lift to use, there is no reason this could not easily be done with a jack and a couple of jack stands.
Initial Impressions
Although I do think the Fords ride a little stiffer, I loathe the way almost all half-ton trucks ride. They tend to be engineered toward a smooth ride on the highway, and once taken on a rough gravel road, easily bottom out and generally handle like garbage. This, as aforementioned, is the motivation behind the Bilstein 6112's, to tilt this balance toward rough gravel roads without destroying on-road manners.
Thus far, about all I can comment on is the on-road manners. The stock springs are 550 pound coils. The new Bilseins are 650 pound coils. The ride is noticeably tighter, but not uncomfortably so, especially if you like a tight ride.