Cowpig

so I just finished my 3rd trip from El Paso to Seattle and back .... truck runs good, but the ride leaves something to be desired now that it has about 40k miles on it

I don't mind the leveled look, but for my purposes I think a direct replacement shock is best / keep the rake. I see the bilstein 5100 leveling kit, what other options are people using? there were a few bumps that nearly launched me on secondary highways, and then there were some roads that my suspension got into a rhythm that caused my dog to redecorate the back seat with breakfast

thanks for the advice

MCDavis

iTrader: (1)

There's lots to know about shocks and their working function.
Progressive/Linear vs. Digressive. Google it and read up, as there are a ton of articles on what is best for different uses. What's useful to know is that most shocks are progressive or linear, and very few are digressive. Digressive seems to be the favorite for low speed oscillations control and good street manners.

Anyhow, Bilstein 5100s are linear on compression and digressive on rebound. I recently added them to my truck, in addition to the Roadmaster Active Suspension, after not being 100% happy with the stock shocks and the BOSS offerings...they both left the ride a bit twitchy. I will say that I'm pretty happy with the way the 5100s are handling the motion of the back of the truck. Very planted. Very controlled. Less fluttery and jittery. It's a very compliant ride.

RES4CUE

Agree 100% with above post!

Have the Bilsteins and they are great. You can keep the fronts at stock level so you get a great damping front and rear. The rears alone made a huge difference with control.

Willard5.0

5100s all the way.

safetypin

I've got rancho 9000XLs in the rear and quicklifts in the front.


I'd have gone bilstein if they were in stock when I got the Ranchos. Adjustability is neat, but I don't take as much pleasure in crawling under the truck and around the tires to adjust the shocks as I once did. It's cool the first time or two.


About 50K on the Quicklifts, no problems. Rears are good.

Cowpig

thanks for the info, I went ahead and just ordered the rear shocks - i'm thinking from reading other threads on the web that the most benefit may be from those ... we'll see but hopefully I can delay the fronts until I have time to install them.

edit - installed the rears today, very easy ... so far vast improvement over the stock xlt shocks with 43k on them, the rear of the truck settles quickly rather than rebounding or bouncing a few times. can't wait to put in the fronts, but if anyone else is considering just doing the rears it's worth it imo