allinon72

This may be a long shot but I'm looking for opinions on people running any of these shock options at stock height, no lift. Mainly ride quality compared to stock. I know the handling will be vastly improved, but I'm looking for ride quality opinions.

If there are any of you out there..thanks in advance!

steve54512

I pull different trailers so I didn't want any front lift. I installed the Bilstein's at stock height. After installing them about a year ago, it all seemed to measure the same, meaning I didn't get any lift. I also didn't want it lifted because I wanted to continue getting great gas mileage.

The rear one's made a huge difference for the positive. Took all the bounce out of the rear end.
I bought the Bilstein's that have a little heavier spring than stock, so that would account for the little "stiffer" ride. Handling has been great from day one and I can say that over time the ride does seem to "soften" out some.
I wouldn't change a thing

Sog215

So to be clear you did full coilovers not just the shocks right? My truck is so bouncy and nose dives like no other with regular braking. Also, even with normal acceleration it squats lol.

bigd9247

Both the Bilstein 5100's and Fox 2.0's will help your truck handle better. Both shock systems are more firm than the factory shocks and make the truck handle much better. I'm running the Fox 2.0's (set at roughly 1.25"-1.5" of lift) and my wife has the Bilsteins set at 1.5". Both are nice setups.

allinon72

Since you have both, which one has the softer ride of the two?

bigd9247

It's really hard to say for sure because they are very close. If I had to pick one, I would say that the Fox 2.0's are slightly softer. Bilsteins use slightly digressive valving whiles Fox uses slightly progressive valving which in theory means Fox's should have softer low speed compression.

With that said, the biggest difference that I noticed between the two systems is that the Bilstein front shocks have 0.5" more shock travel which equals roughly 1" more suspension travel at the tire. That difference was pretty noticeable over speed bumps between the two trucks... especially when my Fox coilovers were set at 2" of leveling and were topping out over speed bumps. I lowered the Fox coilovers down and the ride improved (no more topping out). This doesn't necessarily apply to your situation since you're planning to run either setup at stock height.

Personally, I would be happy with either setup, but I prefer the Fox 2.0's because they are complete front coilovers and that makes installation much easier. I install my own suspensions and the Bilsteins are a lot more work since you have to disassemble the factory coilovers and then assemble the new Bilsteins. Installation of the rear shocks is exactly the same for both setups.