^ What he says, do the rear shocks and springs yourself.

Then, assuming you buy the KYB coilovers that are already assembled for the front, take it to a shop, and you should only get charged 1-2 hrs for labor.

The only reason for needing a jack for the rears is to raise the vehicle for better access. Otherwise you can change the rear shocks with the vehicle sitting in your driveway on all 4 wheels. There is a trick, however. The shocks usually come somewhat pressurized with a wire holding them in their compressed state. If you snip that wire they will expand to full length and you'll have a hard time compressing them back enough to get them in the mounts. The trick is to leave the wire in place, and mount the shock on the lower bolt with the nut on loosely. Then point the upper end of the shock rod at the upper mounting hole and snip the wire with a pair of side cutters. While the shock is expanding guide the rod into the hole and it will settle in nicely where it belongs. Put the top rubber donut and nut on, tighten the top and bottom nuts, and you're done.

For the front, if you buy new struts pre-assembled (shock and spring assembled together) you won't need a spring compressor or a "no compressor" method. It becomes a single component that installs like an oversize shock. The only thing that makes it tricky is working it past the various obstructions in the area of the front suspension. (brake lines, CV shafts, sway bar, ABS wiring.) Just be sure to NEVER take off the top center nut unless you have the assembly locked in a spring compressor and know what you're doing.

He’s planning to pull the X-REAS, can you do that with wheels on the ground?

As for jack stands, I got these from Northern Tool on Black Friday and have been very happy with them.

@gminor68 , where are you north of Atlanta?

Sorry, I wasn't thinking XREAS when I wrote that, but I honestly don't see why you couldn't leave the wheels on the ground if you're not trying to save the XREAS. The main reason for following the FSM procedures when messing with the XREAS is to preserve the fluid in the system, since it can't be refilled in the field. If you don't care about future operation, it doesn't much matter how you take it apart. Just need to be careful that you don't spray oil all over the place, especially in your face. Wear goggles and cover the fittings with a rag when you crack them open. I think you'd actually want to get the pressure out so as to minimize leaks in the future from the plumbing that remains behind.

Those look good. Pretty much exactly what I have.

The FSM procedures on removing X-REAS reference relieving pressure in the system as the reason for having all 4 off the ground. That could be an "abundance of caution" thing, and IDK how much difference it would make if the system is disconnected at the proper fitting, which has a check valve. I went ahead and raised mine to be on the safe side.

I read in another thread that Bilstein 5100 is made to work with stock springs so you don't necessarily have to replace springs. So, that is what I was thinking doing but I agree that might increase the labor cost. If I end up having a mechanic do the job, I might buy a pre-assembled strut for the front.

I've read about the method too. It didn't sound so difficult.

Hi Wolverine, I was aiming to go with KYB as you recommended. But reading many people who say good things about Bilstein 5100, I'm more included to it right now. So, unless I do it myself, I would buy an assembled one for front for a mechanic and do the rear myself.

The other day I watched a guy removing the "shipping restraint" from a new shock in a youtube video so I know exactly what you mean with the trick. It sounds a smart idea. And thanks for the heads-ups and advice.

Thanks for asking the question Bluesky. And this jack stand looks good. I'm in East Cobb area, outside of I-285 northern rim.

Good points, Ron. From the look of my rear shocks, I'm pretty sure my xreas has been leaking for a while. So I don't plan to reuse it. If I can tear it down without lifting the whole truck, it's a good news to me. I will do more searching on it.

Again, thank you all so much for generously sharing your knowledge and experience. Hope you all have a great day.

You're welcome. This is what the forum is about, and trying to help out is my way of paying forward all the outstanding advice and support I've received from this forum and the Xterra Owners Club before that. The time and money other forum members have helped me save can't be counted.

About springs, my case for replacing them was clarified by better understanding their function in the suspension system and how to know whether they're worn. On my '07, which was manufactured in late 2006, the right rear was measurably lower than the left rear and I felt 149K miles and 12 years of wear was about all that could reasonably be expected from them.

And knowing myself, I also didn't want to be driving around stewing over whether I should have replaced them. ;-)

I'm up north of Canton, between Waleska and Jasper.

Another newbie question....

When people mentions "FJ coil" like in "Bilstein 5100 + FJ coil", do they simply mean a coil made for FJ cruiser? Or, is it a particular brand?

They typically mean OEM FJ springs - or springs that have been removed from a factory FJ Cruiser.

Got it. Thanks!

Where did you find these used items?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I apologize for being a noob, but what is the significance of refreshing the links and bushings?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

you can remove the shock with the wheels still on the ground, itll be messy, must have a towel at the bolts on the hydraulic lines, do not rush on unbolting, itll squirt out. once the bolt is loose, try to let the fluid drain out as much as possible. now you cant go back. i didnt remove my lines at all, i just zipped tied the fittings away. i do want to remove, but have no where to dump it.

Bought an '04 Sport V8 4x4 for my son a few weeks ago knowing the XREAS had given up. The ride was absolutely horrible. It had a spacer lift on of around 2" front and 1.5" rear. We disabled the XREAS and went with 5100's. Removed the spacer in the front and set the shocks at the highest setting. Left the spacer in rear and install the Bilstein. Left all springs as is. Rides about 1000x better now.

For me it was the "while I'm in there" mentality along with the fact that I'd only owned it for a month, so some things I wasn't sure if or when they had been replaced. By "refreshing" I mean replacing. I've always used the term "re-fresh" when replacing a lot of things at once and not upgrading, but rather putting in new parts to be sure that they're functioning 100% around a modification (in this case small lift). Other than that there is nothing special.

I noticed a knock/clunk from the front going over bumps and I figured from my previous experiences with other cars that it was likely the end links.

It was easier to do $120 worth of end links, and $50 of sway bar bushings while I had the shocks out, wheels off, and car on a friends lift rather than waiting to do it in my driveway at a later point of time. I'm very happy I did so at that time but you could easily skip this just by giving them an inspection before hand and determining if they actually need to be replaced or if everything is tight and good.