I just purchased some Bilstein 5100 front and rear shocks to compliment the 3 inch lift the previous owner installed with old shocks.

They came in the mail yesterday, (Amazon Prime) and I noticed that the rear shocks top and bottoms alignment holes are NOT the same as the current shocks. That is, when I install the top of the new shock to the frame via the two bolts, the one hole at the bottom of the shock will NOT line-up with with where it attaches to the axle. One of the shocks I bought is close to fitting, and the other is not close.

Is it as simple as twisting/spinning the shock to fit the holes? Seems like a pretty simple fix, but just want to make sure. Is there a trick for spinning the shock? Compress or de-compress first to avoid any potential damage to the shock???

I've done this before, but did not encounter this issue.

 

yeah just twist.

if youre not use bar pin eliminators though, youre missing out

prior to bpe's the shock bushing with the bar pin would fail within a year

since bpe's no failures