The Goodyear Eagle F1s (not run flats) that came with my 2002 that I bought this June seem to cup on the front pretty quickly (within 5K miles). These are a soft, summer performance tire that was discontinued a few years back. Front shocks are OEM but not leaking and seem to damp the front quickly when I do the routine rebound test. Everything else looks tight (control arms, ball joints, tie rods). The tires round back out when on the back.

I'm about to have Conti's (Extreme Contact DWS - or whatever they are called) put on and am wondering if beforehand I should just put a new set of Bilsteins (or other?) on the front just to be proactive.

Questions:
1. If not a Bilstein shock - what?
2. Anything tricky about this job besides splitting the ball joint, removing the nut holding the strut rod to the tower, removing the lower bolt (and that middle one) and dropping the shock ? (I've done struts on front drivers before, including my son's Taurus which required dropping the subframe cradle an inch! - but this is my first double-wishbone on a rear-driver with a shock instead of a McPearson strut).
2. Will I need to compress the springs to remove/install (I'm assuming so)? I'm new to spring compression - used quick-strut assemblies on my front drivers. Besides a cracked protective boot, what else would you replace in that assembly (bumpers, bearing plates, etc)?
3. Planning on doing the steering rack bushings at the same time. Any other problem spots on the front of these that I should tend do while I'm under there? There are no clunks, no unusual tire wear except cupping (e.g., no inner tire wire reflecting excessive negative camber).

Outside of the cupping and the expected isolated feel of the steering wheel this thing drives great.

Thanks for any advice!

Kelly