I got back from vacation Wednesday night, and got the shocks installed last night after work.
One thing I discovered I never knew, the previous owner did swap shocks and apparently I've been running Bilstein 5100 shocks that were spray painted black. They're actually pretty clean too. The seals look good, no rust, bushings are alright, and they are a son of a ***** to compress, just like they should be.
I've only driven the truck, with these installed, to work today. My commute entails a drive down a few miles of dirt road, through a city with rough roads, on the interstate for 30 miles (half is nice, half is really rough), and the last two miles into work is some of the worst paved roads you've ever seen.
It handled like a dream! It keeps the tires planted quite a bit better than the last pair. Usually I can't do more than 45mph on that last stretch without the tires coming off the ground a little, but I did 65 no problem today.
Obviously this is day one, and I need more time on them, but I just wanted to give initial feedback.
Also, thank God I didn't buy Bilstein 5100's because I would have been pissed when I removed the old ones and found out I already had them!