1996 Itasca Sunrise 31rq F53 Project Suspension Upgrades 3

[FrankenHome]

The bushings come with a small packet of silicone grease to make everything easier to reassemble. Once you have the new bushing in place and sway bar centered on the axle, slowly and evenly tighten the cap bolts. Tighten each one a little at a time so the caps don't bind on the bolts. Up next is the rear shocks. Bilstein shocks are gassed filled and once they expand they are very difficult to compress by hand. They come shipped in the box partially compressed and held in the compressed position by a plastic band wrapped around the shock. DON'T CUT THE BAND prior to installing the shock. This plastic band is also an installation tool. I install the top of the shock first but I leave the bolt loose. I then pull on the plastic band in the middle to compress the shock just enough to line up the bottom eyelet with the mounting bracket and slip the bottom bolt through. Only after I have the top and bottom bolts installed and tightened do I cut the plastic bands off. After I had the rear sway bar bushings and shocks installed and I went to the front and replaced the front shocks.


But I didn't stop there. To make sure that I reduced the rollie pollie effect from crosswinds, I ordered a set of front and rear Firestone Ride-rite air bags.
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