tbomb
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- February 6, 2001
- Messages
- 3,588
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- City, State
- Levittown, NY (Long Island)
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 98 Sport 4.0 SOHC 4x4
since one of the most popular things to ask around here is, "which shock is better: bilsteins or edelbrocks?", i thought i should post my views, since this weekend i removed my bilsteins and installed a set of edelbrocks. (keep in mind that my tires are 285 60 r17 - that means that my tire sidewall is 0.3" shorter than the stock 255 70 r16's that came on my truck.)
the bilsteins were great when i installed them with my stock tires and wheels on. all body lean on turns, and nose dive on braking was drastically reduced. the ride, at the time, was fine with those tires on. 3 months later, i put on my current wheel and tire setup, and the handling improved greatly, though the ride suffered. bilsteins, as everyone knows, are very stiff shocks. it got to the point, that after a year with the bilsteins and my currect tire setup on my truck, i couldnt take it anymore (especially since i moved to the metropolitan NYC area, where the roads are about as smooth as the surface of the moon.)
at this point, i decided to try out the edelbrocks. theyve only been on my truck since friday night, but i can tell the difference already. the handling is much better than the stock setup, but a little mushier than the bilsteins. the ride softened up a little bit, but didnt smooth out as much as i had hoped, though, they do ride better than the bilsteins. (keep in mind, ive only had them on for 2 days and have yet to see how they ride/handle in different situations.)
at this point, i think that the edelbrocks are probably one of the best shocks you can get for street use, as far as ride goes, but i think its my tires that are to blame for the rest of ride quality woes (as small as they are; though, theres no way in hell im getting different tires
)
ill put it this way: if you want unbelieveable handling but arent too concerned with ride quality, go with the bilsteins, hands down. if you want improved handling over stock, but dont wanna just throw your ride quality out the window, go with the edelbrocks.
on another note, id just like to vent a lil about the shop who installed my bilsteins for me a year and a half ago. on the front shocks, i dont know what the hell this guy did, but me and my friend couldnt get them to budge at all (the top shock mounts, that is.) after tinkering with different ways to do it for about an hour, we took the easy route and broke out the dremel and went to town, destroying the 2 front shocks. normally, i wouldnt care too much, but i had a friend all lined up to buy em, and now hes only gonna have the 2 rears.
anyway, that my take on the bilstein vs. edelbrock controversy.
oh, also, thanks to hartman for this write up on shock installation - that was the only document that we used for the whole thing. i had my haynes with me, too, but we didnt even crack it open for a second.
the bilsteins were great when i installed them with my stock tires and wheels on. all body lean on turns, and nose dive on braking was drastically reduced. the ride, at the time, was fine with those tires on. 3 months later, i put on my current wheel and tire setup, and the handling improved greatly, though the ride suffered. bilsteins, as everyone knows, are very stiff shocks. it got to the point, that after a year with the bilsteins and my currect tire setup on my truck, i couldnt take it anymore (especially since i moved to the metropolitan NYC area, where the roads are about as smooth as the surface of the moon.)
at this point, i decided to try out the edelbrocks. theyve only been on my truck since friday night, but i can tell the difference already. the handling is much better than the stock setup, but a little mushier than the bilsteins. the ride softened up a little bit, but didnt smooth out as much as i had hoped, though, they do ride better than the bilsteins. (keep in mind, ive only had them on for 2 days and have yet to see how they ride/handle in different situations.)
at this point, i think that the edelbrocks are probably one of the best shocks you can get for street use, as far as ride goes, but i think its my tires that are to blame for the rest of ride quality woes (as small as they are; though, theres no way in hell im getting different tires
) ill put it this way: if you want unbelieveable handling but arent too concerned with ride quality, go with the bilsteins, hands down. if you want improved handling over stock, but dont wanna just throw your ride quality out the window, go with the edelbrocks.
on another note, id just like to vent a lil about the shop who installed my bilsteins for me a year and a half ago. on the front shocks, i dont know what the hell this guy did, but me and my friend couldnt get them to budge at all (the top shock mounts, that is.) after tinkering with different ways to do it for about an hour, we took the easy route and broke out the dremel and went to town, destroying the 2 front shocks. normally, i wouldnt care too much, but i had a friend all lined up to buy em, and now hes only gonna have the 2 rears.
anyway, that my take on the bilstein vs. edelbrock controversy.
oh, also, thanks to hartman for this write up on shock installation - that was the only document that we used for the whole thing. i had my haynes with me, too, but we didnt even crack it open for a second.
