Bilstein 5100 Adjustable Leveling Shock Kit

[Bsenecal]

Put the 5100's on all four corners. Fronts at the top perch and added BDS 1" rear shackles on the rear. Looks great and rides even better. Slapped some 255/75R17's (32x10) on and went off-roading. I was amazed at what this truck can do!

Do you have some pictures? Did you install yourself or have a shop install?
Brian

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[erhoth]

Bought the Bilstein's from Stage 3. Shackles direct from BDS. Five KO2's from 4WP and the install w/alignment for about $1800. Think the tires were $1300 of that.

 

[erhoth]

Truck in pic is obviously pointing uphill. Still has about an inch of rake.

 

[Bsenecal]

Truck in pic is obviously pointing uphill. Still has about an inch of rake.

Looks great, I also like your side steps.
Brian

 

[erhoth]

Those are NFAB Podiums. Yes they look good but I am afraid they hang a little low. Planning on replacing them with probably the Rocky Road Outfitter Rock Sliders.

 

[erhoth]

I have always been a Jeep Rubicon owner and love the Colorado Trails. This Ranger with a little lift and taller tire like this is a very, very capable climber/off roader.

 

[Bsenecal]

Those are NFAB Podiums. Yes they look good but I am afraid they hang a little low. Planning on replacing them with probably the Rocky Road Outfitter Rock Sliders.

I assume that is because you use your Ranger off road and need to maintain more clearance?
Brian

 

[erhoth]

Its my daily driver also, but yes. Those steps bolt to existing holes on the body and I'm concerned if one grabbed a big enough rock off-roading, there could be considerable body damage. Rock Rails bolt to the frame and I've read are stronger, reported to protect the body, and can be used as a jack point. Just a precaution.

 

[erhoth]

Sorry, didn't realize I got off topic. The bilsteins ride great. The bounce and sway are gone. It is firmer feeling more controlled but not at all harsh. The stance is much improved and the truck feels more capable now both on and off road. Great upgrade for the truck!

 

[Samuelc]

I haven’t seen a thread for these yet so wanted to start one and offer my experience with the kit. If there is another thread please let me know.

Bought this kit from Stage3 #19RNGR4WD a few weeks back. Arrived about 4 days apart from one another. Rear shocks first then front struts. I didn’t mind since it allowed me to install on two separate weekends. I knew the rear would be simple and the fronts would take a while.

Side note on Stage3 customer service. I’ve been watching for when they released this kit and saw it go live. In my excitement I forgot to apply the $250 in gift cards I received for my birthday and put it all on the credit card. Couple days later it was still bothering me and I gave them a call. Selected new order on the phone to be put through to a salesman and he was tremendous. Told me he would contact customer service and have them issue a refund for the $250 to the credit card and he pulled up my order to apply the gift cards. Refund went through a few days later as he said it would. Really appreciated how they handled it all.

After install I can tell a tremendous difference in ride quality and road adherence. Overall just more stable, predictable, and no more floating bounce in the front end. Took it in for a front end alignment the next day just to make sure everything was set.

I added the tag CV Shaft because we did the passenger side first and followed the info I had seen out there to push down on the lower ca to get the bottom of the strut to clear out first. The shaft did slip out as a result and was a long learning experience to get back in. I can give more details if anyone wants but driver side went much quicker as we determined that we needed to remove the axle nut and hub to ensure we didn't allow the bearing cartridge to slip past the c spring on the shaft.

Hope this helps and let me know if anyone has any questions.

Im about to do this today. Well at least my buddy is about to do this for me today. He's a VW tech and extremely good. Not ford I know but very capable. Anything we need to look out for or ant tips would be appreciated. You can use whatever lingo you want I'm sure he'll understand.

 

[TORQUERULES]

I set my front Bilstein 5100 to the third slot up (1.2) , it gave me 1.5 front lift according to before and after measurements, also reusing factory coils, just the right amount of leveling and the ride is far superior, also the shop charged me for 3 labor hrs at $80 hr in NC.

Damn, I like those wheels. What are they? (brand, size, and tire size too if you can). Thanks!

 

[gobaylor]

Im about to do this today. Well at least my buddy is about to do this for me today. He's a VW tech and extremely good. Not ford I know but very capable. Anything we need to look out for or ant tips would be appreciated. You can use whatever lingo you want I'm sure he'll understand.

Main thing is to go ahead and remove the axle nut so that you don't run into allowing the cv axle to disconnect as you move everything around to get the new unit in place. I performed the switch on the front passenger side first and did not remove the axle nut. The cv axle disconnected and was a bear to get back into place. Eventually it started leaking and the dealership noticed. They replaced the cv axle under warranty though and never asked about any mods I had done. I got lucky on that one. Went to the driver side to switch next and removed the axle nut and it was much smoother of a process. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[Fawnbuster]

I have some experience with the Bilstein 5100's, both adjustable and not. The Bilstein gives a little firmer, but not excessive, feel on compression, and a very nicely damped, well-controlled rebound. I work mostly off road and travel long distances by highway to get there, so I have a lot of exprience with both environments. I actually haven't taken delivery of my FX4 yet, so I can't speak to how it feels/handles yet. But I do see a set of Billies in my (very?) near future.

Regarding the "adjustable height" feature on the Bilstein struts, this is accomplished purely by spring preload, not by varying the length or travel of the strut. By moving a clip ring up or down into one of the 3 different grooves machined into the shock body, you change the position of the bottom spring land. The higher the clip position on the shock body, the greater the preload on the spring. The greater the preload, the less the truck sags, or settles into the shock travel. This is what controls how high the truck sits. On the lowest position the spring is lightly compressed, so the truck settles more into the travel, giving a lower height. Move the clip up and the preload increases, so the truck settles less, giving a taller ride height. In the highest position the preload is greatest, so the ride height is even higher.

The problem with using preload to adjust ride height is that with more preload comes stiffer spring action. You've taken out the softer part of the spring compression by preloading the shock, so the ride is stiffer.

In the Nissan Titan world (where I'm coming from now) the 5100 is quite popular, but most found that the highest position was simply too stiff for comfort. Too much preload. I actually mounted my Titan with the 5100s in the lowest (stock height) position and used a spacer to get the lift I wanted. I kept the softer ride, gained the famous Bilstien feel that I love, and got the lift I wanted.

Great analogy. I do now have a question. If a guy would install 4 bilstein 5100's, setting the fronts at the lowest point or thereabout and at the same time installing level kit (the nonshock/strut type kit) would that leave your front coil spring with the softer portion intact, and still give a nice ride both on and off-road? Yes, it would be double-dipping with 2 different types of lift /levelling ability but you still need shocks. To be honest, those types of kits are not super expensive compared to shocks and the labor cost would be minimal at that point because you already have it torn apart.

Now that I've stirred the pot ill await a reply.

 

[Fawnbuster]

This makes the Eibach look like a more performance and cost effective choice for us street folk.

what is the latest price difference between the eibach 4 shock set up and the bilstein 5100's plus a spacer?

 

[Fawnbuster]

I set my front Bilstein 5100 to the third slot up (1.2) , it gave me 1.5 front lift according to before and after measurements, also reusing factory coils, just the right amount of leveling and the ride is far superior, also the shop charged me for 3 labor hrs at $80 hr in NC.

just curious, how hard is it to adjust the bilsteins after install? if a guy said it was too high or too low, can you adjust them while its in the parking lot or is there disassembly required?

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