Bilstein 5100's night and day difference

[Richard Kim]

I have a 2016 2500 Megacab Hemi with almost 70,000 miles on it. My family was complaining about the ride and I accepted it was a HD truck with stick axles. Of course it was going to ride rough. One of my front shocks as leaking oil so I ordered Bilstein 5100 for the front and back and had them installed yesterday. The difference is amazing; from little to big bumps, the ride improved dramatically. Even my young daughter commented how smooth the ride was.

I asked the shop to leave the old shocks in the truck so I can see the condition of the parts. The front shocks (aftermarket Zone Offroad shocks; they are BDS' low end shocks) were completely useless; 0 rebound. The truck was riding on springs (hence nice and bouncy). The rear shocks (OEM) had a weird rebound pattern. I pressed the shocks down 1/3 and it was very slow to rebound. Pressed them all the way down and quick to rebound 2/3 and then slow. I guess the majority of the wear was on the first 1/3 which makes sense (don't carry heavy loads or tow much).

I ordered the 5100's for around $75 - $80 per unit online; definitely a worthwhile upgrade!

 

[ilovemyramlaremie]

No doubt about it. I love the 5100 on my 1500

 

[huntergreen]

No doubt about it. I love the 5100 on my 1500

Did you level or are you running stock take ? Tks

 

[ilovemyramlaremie]

Leveled it with the bilstine 5100 set at 2.1

 

[Tl806]

Agreed! The ride is sooooo much better with the 5100’s.

 

[Jetsfan122]

I have a 2016 2500 Megacab Hemi with almost 70,000 miles on it. My family was complaining about the ride and I accepted it was a HD truck with stick axles. Of course it was going to ride rough. One of my front shocks as leaking oil so I ordered Bilstein 5100 for the front and back and had them installed yesterday. The difference is amazing; from little to big bumps, the ride improved dramatically. Even my young daughter commented how smooth the ride was.

I asked the shop to leave the old shocks in the truck so I can see the condition of the parts. The front shocks (aftermarket Zone Offroad shocks; they are BDS' low end shocks) were completely useless; 0 rebound. The truck was riding on springs (hence nice and bouncy). The rear shocks (OEM) had a weird rebound pattern. I pressed the shocks down 1/3 and it was very slow to rebound. Pressed them all the way down and quick to rebound 2/3 and then slow. I guess the majority of the wear was on the first 1/3 which makes sense (don't carry heavy loads or tow much).

I ordered the 5100's for around $75 - $80 per unit online; definitely a worthwhile upgrade!


View attachment 184221

Where did you find them at that price ?

 

[Mitch1204]

Bilstein is a great shock. Toyota uses them stock on TROs. Personally i like Rancho the best. They have a bigger bore and better engineering. Lay them side by side you can see a big difference.

 

[craigsez]

Elka i now getting into the truck world with suspension...
They already have themselves entrenched in the off road and motorcycle world..
Just looked on their site and so far only ford,toyota,mercedes are listed..

 

[Munqee]

Where did you find them at that price ?

THIS!! Where???

 

[canadiankodiak700]

Bilstein is a great shock. Toyota uses them stock on TROs. Personally i like Rancho the best. They have a bigger bore and better engineering. Lay them side by side you can see a big difference.

lol, laying them side by side, you can't see what counts on a shock, internal valving. the area where bilstines are vastly superior.

 

[Narg]

Getting better than OEM is true for a lot of items on all vehicles. Not all, but many items. I put Bilstein on all trucks I've had since 2000 once they get to 50K miles. There are other brands that will do as good too, but the Bilsteins are usually cheaper and easier than other brands in my experience.

 

[Richard Kim]

Where did you find them at that price ?

I first went to Bilstein's website for the right part number and then went to Ebay. I made sure the seller had an established brick and mortar store (seller was 4wd Hardware out of Dallas). They listed the shocks for $75/piece. Ordered them and arrived within 3-4 business days.

 

[Richard Kim]

THIS!! Where???

Sorry for delayed response. See above.

 

[pacofortacos]

I personally liked my Bilstein 5100's so much that I literally took them off after a month and gave them away. My OEM's handled and rode far superior to the 5100's on my truck. The 5100's were way to soft for my liking and gave too much body roll in bends vs. my OEM Outdoorsman shocks.

Not only that but I was not impressed with how thin the rod is on them, I watched it flex during installation of the spring.

I actually bought them hoping to drop the front a bit - they really didn't do that as much as I would have liked (stock I sat at 37.5" ground to fender lip), but it was the ride and handling that made me take them off.

I instead went with Maxtrac which appear to be as heavy duty as the OEM and allowed me to drop down to 36.5" (with more to go if I wanted). Ride and handling appear to be equal to OEM.

It all depends on what you want out of them I guess.
Now granted, my Outdoorsman rides like a truck, but I am ok with that. Stock except for 1211 rear springs, hellwig rear bar, Maxtrac front shock, 20X9 Longhorn wheels with General X load HTS 60 275/60/20 tires run at 45 psi.
On the plus side, it handles very well on turns and doesn't go to crap with the bed loaded or my trailer on it.