Block Head
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I'm hoping that somebody might be able to help me out with a question I have about installing Bilstein 5100 front shocks on my 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn Quad Cab 3.6l eTorque and properly orienting the coil springs relative to the top mount. In case you're wondering why I don't mark the top mount before I take them apart, I need to explain a bit about the total s**t show that I've been dealing with over the past week.
I wanted to install the Bilsteins to level the truck a bit (or reduce the rake) after installing a set of Timber Grove ASAM air bags. Well, since I didn't have a decent spring compressor and value my appendages and general wellbeing, I decided to take it to a local garage that I've used in the past. That turned out to be a huge mistake. I almost always do my own work and I should have done this myself, but I didn't and really regret my decision.
I got my truck back and looked over what they had done. I immediately noticed that the step on the lower spring perch wasn't butted up with the end of the spring on the passenger's side. The perch was turned about 2". I was planning to have the truck realigned and wanted to make sure that everything was correct, so I went back the following day and asked if they could fix it and they said no problem.
After getting the truck back, I took another look under it. To my surprise, the nut was missing from my lower shock mount bolt. Since the garage was already closed, I ran to the local dealer and picked up a new one. While replacing it, I noticed that they hadn't reinstalled the sway bar end link and that nut was also missing. The end link was turned and nearly up against my CV boot. At that point, I decided that I better pull the wheel and a have a closer look at everything. It's a good thing that I did because I discovered that they had fixed the spring perch by pounding on it with a hammer. Of course, the circlip isn't designed to handle rotation of the perch under full spring load and it's now about 70% dislodged from the grove.
I went back the following day and spoke with the owner. He admitted that one of his younger "mechanics" had done the work and he hadn't looked it over afterwards. He offered to fix it, but I was really hesitant to let them do anything else. I just took the refund and decided to do what I should have done in the first place - install them myself.
The question that I have is about the clocking of the coil spring with the top mount. Since they f'd everything else up, I'm worried that they may not have marked the position of the coil end relative to the mount as described in the installation instructions.
I looked at a couple other 3.6l 1500s (other years and crew cabs) and noticed that on those trucks the steps on the spring perches are facing rear on the driver's side and forward on the passenger's side. On my truck, the steps are oriented with both sides towards the engine. I also noticed that the truck now has about 3/4" of lean with the driver's side being lower. That's even with the passenger's side circlip mostly out of the grove. Before anything was done to the truck, both sides were within 1/8".
Would anybody happen to know for certain how the springs on this truck should be oriented? How close do they need to be to the original position? I really wish that I had taken pictures beforehand, but i assumed that the guys doing the work were competent and would install them properly. I just don't want to go through the hassle of pulling it apart and reassembling it only to find out that it's still screwed up. Could having the coils improperly aligned be the reason for the lean? Any other issues that I might have with misaligned springs?
Thanks for the help!
I wanted to install the Bilsteins to level the truck a bit (or reduce the rake) after installing a set of Timber Grove ASAM air bags. Well, since I didn't have a decent spring compressor and value my appendages and general wellbeing, I decided to take it to a local garage that I've used in the past. That turned out to be a huge mistake. I almost always do my own work and I should have done this myself, but I didn't and really regret my decision.
I got my truck back and looked over what they had done. I immediately noticed that the step on the lower spring perch wasn't butted up with the end of the spring on the passenger's side. The perch was turned about 2". I was planning to have the truck realigned and wanted to make sure that everything was correct, so I went back the following day and asked if they could fix it and they said no problem.
After getting the truck back, I took another look under it. To my surprise, the nut was missing from my lower shock mount bolt. Since the garage was already closed, I ran to the local dealer and picked up a new one. While replacing it, I noticed that they hadn't reinstalled the sway bar end link and that nut was also missing. The end link was turned and nearly up against my CV boot. At that point, I decided that I better pull the wheel and a have a closer look at everything. It's a good thing that I did because I discovered that they had fixed the spring perch by pounding on it with a hammer. Of course, the circlip isn't designed to handle rotation of the perch under full spring load and it's now about 70% dislodged from the grove.
I went back the following day and spoke with the owner. He admitted that one of his younger "mechanics" had done the work and he hadn't looked it over afterwards. He offered to fix it, but I was really hesitant to let them do anything else. I just took the refund and decided to do what I should have done in the first place - install them myself.
The question that I have is about the clocking of the coil spring with the top mount. Since they f'd everything else up, I'm worried that they may not have marked the position of the coil end relative to the mount as described in the installation instructions.
I looked at a couple other 3.6l 1500s (other years and crew cabs) and noticed that on those trucks the steps on the spring perches are facing rear on the driver's side and forward on the passenger's side. On my truck, the steps are oriented with both sides towards the engine. I also noticed that the truck now has about 3/4" of lean with the driver's side being lower. That's even with the passenger's side circlip mostly out of the grove. Before anything was done to the truck, both sides were within 1/8".
Would anybody happen to know for certain how the springs on this truck should be oriented? How close do they need to be to the original position? I really wish that I had taken pictures beforehand, but i assumed that the guys doing the work were competent and would install them properly. I just don't want to go through the hassle of pulling it apart and reassembling it only to find out that it's still screwed up. Could having the coils improperly aligned be the reason for the lean? Any other issues that I might have with misaligned springs?
Thanks for the help!
