B6 4600 - Suspension Shock Absorber (24-197779)

Stiff, controllable ride. Good ground contact and OK ride quality. They handle the front weight well.However, the design of having to use a key on the top of the center of the stud to stop rotation while you tighten the top nut is ridiculous. The old shocks had a nut integrated on the bottom bushing portion that you could secure to move the nut on top. This Bilstein design is such a huge flaw. Why would you design something like this that you can not use a socket to tighten?With the clearances on my vehicle, I was able to contort a tool on top, and then take a wrench to turn the nut 1/4 to 1/2 a turn at a time, and the studs are pretty long. This also raises the question on to how do I verify I am using the correct torque on the fastener? Most people will not be able to with this design.This alone is enough to never have me go through this again to install this shock. When it is time to remove and replace, I will probably end up just cutting them out and replacing with a different brand.

I am a shade tree mechanic to start. However I have replaced many, many shocks without much issues.I own a 2007 Ford F350 diesel which was time to replace all the shocks again. In past, I have used other brands without any problems. I decided to try out Bilstein shocks since they have great reviews everywhere.So what is my issue? I have to ask, why on the front shocks did they design them so that you need to use a 6 MM allen wrench? Just try and get a wrench on top of that thing in tight quarters. Finally was able to get it on by going down through the engine compartment with much struggle and cut hands. Not fun.The passenger side is even worse. There is no way to get down there from the top. Finally located a normal allen wrench to work its way in.So why don't they have either a place to securely hold the upper portion or at least provide the appropriate wrench? I feel this is entirely a poor design and unless it changes, I will be using other brands.I just hope that the ride will be worth the effort gone through.Edit:Time has told and I need to change my review. While I am still not happy with the installation procedure and what a pain in the wazuu it is, the overall improvement of the ride is greatly improved. Gone is the front end bounce and bouncing in the steering wheel. Compared to previous shocks that I have install, Bilsteins are a step above.

Excellent shock!

I could not find a pair of shocks that would fit my 2009 f250 2WD since the truck has a 2.5 leveling kit in the front the pass shocks I had order where too long after doing some research I decided to purchase the Bilstein (24-197779) shocks and they fit perfectly and the install was easy the truck used to bottom out on pot holes really annoying and horrible to drive especially since it's a heavy frame , after installing these shocks the ride improved a lot !!!! I high recommend these shocks