Of course, feel and drive of a vehicle are subjective, what’s not subjective is the original feel and drive of a 3rd gen expy if you owned it from new or fairly new with original suspension parts. Our ***** are all calibrated differently while sitting in that driver’s seat, but all expy’s that rolled off the line where made exactly the same based on the models we purchased.
Feel is not simply subjective; it's also unquantifiable. To me, the Bilstein 4600s feel only slightly stiffer than stock. Ask some others here and they'll tell you they offer a bone-jarring ride compared to stock. There is also the matter of other components of one's vehicle not being in the same condition as they were when the vehicle rolled off the line. Even if Joe Smith installed shocks with the same part number (and even from the same production lot) on the same vehicle - but this time with an extra 100K on the clock - the feel is going to be different. Heck, even if it was the same Joe Smith probably wouldn't remember it since the feel changed gradually over time and his most recent memory of the feel would be in its worn state. Then there is also the fact that many of us bought our Expeditions used and would have NFI what the vehicle felt like when it had 50 miles on the clock. My point in all of this is that you should simply get the exact same parts that came on your vehicle to begin with if you are trying to replicate that feel as closely as possible. If you would prefer to continue spend your time chasing an answer to the "How long is a piece of string?" question though, go for it.
