Hi everyone,

are you supposed to reuse this black metal piece when installing the Bilstein 5100? The reason I ask is because it won’t fit over the strut. The black piece came from the original strut and is a circle with a flat part whereas the Bilsteins do. It have this flat part.

 

Also, are you supposed to replace the front springs? My FX has 210k miles on it and the suspension has never been changed. Thank you!

 

Pretty sure the answer to reusing that piece is no because I assume its for the adjustable suspension. Also you probably don't have to replace the but its advisable since they sag over time

 

thanks for your reply. Would it be okay to use the strut nut without that black washer? The strut nut be contacting the rubber bushing directly since the black washer wouldn’t be used.

 

The bracket washer from your 1st pic is for the adjustable shock solenoid to mount to, doesn't get reused if converting to normal shocks. You will however need to track down a top washer to replace it, without it that top bushing will get quickly mangled and push right past that nut.

 

Just buy a new top strut mount to get the washer. You should replace those when you replace the suspension anyway