matt99

So I currently have Bilstein 5100's on the first from highest setting on my 2011. Tires are 285/75/18 Trail Grapplers on stock XLT rims.

I love the look, but the ride is pretty harsh. Speed bumps rock your jaws on the downward side!

Anyway, has anyone tried the 5100's on the LOWEST setting and a 1.5" or 2" AS level? How was the ride?

Alex Kenison

Changing your ride height on the 5100s then adding a leveling block is not going to help with ride quality. You will also run into cv issues when the suspension is drooped out as the 5100s are already at the max length the shock can be. In short it would not be wise to do both.

The difference in ride quality you are having is not because of the position on the shock selected. It is due to the fact that your control arms are not as parallel to the ground as they were stock. Leveling a truck puts your control arms swept down causing them to bind slightly or in some causes a lot. This is because the control arms do not travel straight up and down but rather in an arc. Withe them in the swept down position they have to get wider as they also go up.

aces25

If the 5100s are changed to the lowest setting, that is the same as the OEM shock length, even at full droop. If a spacer wasn't used, the truck would sit at normal ride height in the front.

I agree that using a spacer and a higher setting on the 5100s will be hard on the CVs.

aces25

Part of the ride harshness is your tires. Even if you returned to stock ride, you'd find that the E-rated tires will make the ride harsh unless you under-inflate them.

I have 5100s on the highest setting with 315/70R17 KO2s, and I understand the harsher ride. If I was looking for keeping some ride quality while still running larger tires, I would look at full coilovers.

Alex Kenison

I beg to differ on shock length. The 5100s are longer no matter where the ride height collar is set. The shock itself is longer, which it says in the description, so that you gain your desired ride hight and also gain over all wheel travel. This is the main selling point of the 5100 over a traditional leveling spacer.

I will agree that tires also have an effect on ride quality but the geometry change of the control arm position has a hand in the ride quality as well, also throw in the slightly stiffer shock valving as well. The combination of things is what changes ride quality drastically.

aces25

If you look at the website, the 5100s restrict travel at full droop. Even at the highest setting, they are not going to exceed droop respective of the OEM shock. That's one of their advertising points.

I agree with your other points. All will play a factor in ride quality.

Alex Kenison

Straight from their website

matt99

I thought they were a bit taller than the stock struts. Hmm.

matt99

One of the first things I did was change to KO2's. It dramatically reduced the ride.

They just don't really make many non-E rated M/T or A/T tires

aces25

It shows that they are constructed to prevent over travel on the same image...

And, OK, yes, they are longer, but I'm not sure 1/2-3/4 length is going to make that much impact.