71_340

Dumb question! How can a shock absorber change the ride height of the truck or are the front Bilsteins complete (adjustable) strut assemblies?


Thanks.

Bobbyc321

Yes the front Bilstein 5100's are adjustable. The rears are not. Look them up. I believe there are 4 or 5 adjustments from stock height all the way up to 2.10" of lift.

JohnnyC

iTrader: (1)

I just did mine with 5100 all around. Set the front level on the middle setting-1.25" Rear from middle axle to wheel well is 24" front is 23"

Im always traveling with a bed full of stuff-I had it filled to the brim this last weekend and it was 23"-23" front and rear-ride was nice.

Biggest difference I can feel with the shocks and struts is there is no front end dive when braking and the handling is better, also when I drive on washboard dirt roads before the rear end would slide all over now with blisteins it tracks straight.

I have a '14 btw-yeah its different but JMHO and my .02

blueoval28

Glad I stumbled upon this thread. Ordered 5100's yesterday for all four corners. I have a 16 Plat crew FX4 with Max Tow package.
Front is 36 3/4
Rear is 39 5/8

I tow a lot, four different trailers. Ive been wanting a slight lift and want to keep some factory rake. Looks like maybe I'll stick with the 1.25 setting. I am also running the air ride ride control air bags to help keep the rear up when towing. I as well don't want a reverse rake and drives me crazy when I see someone towing and it looks like a boat trying to get up on plane.

Johnnymossville

I just had 5100's delivered the other day from Stage 3. I'm definitely going to measure wheel wells before setting the height. I hope the 1.75" setting gets me where I want to be for 33" tires.

HawkCO

I literally just went through all this with my truck, put the rears on then sat around for a month trying to decide between 1.25" and 1.75" for the fronts. I really didn't want to end up with a cali rake but I also wanted to be able to notice the difference. I think the variable that a lot of guys here are not considering is mileage/how broken in the coil spring is. The coil spring is what carries the load of the front end, What the BS 5100's do is allow us to adjust where said spring seats on the strut (more range of travel than stock) to achieve lift. As the coil spring is broken in, and eventually begins to wear out it will become easier to compress, therefore the front end of my truck was probably a few 10'ths of an inch taller the day it rolled out of the factory compared to how it is now with nearly 30k miles. So a truck with hardly any miles on it may get 2" of lift out of the 2.1" setting, where as a truck with 25k miles may only net 1.8". I finally said screw it and set mine to the 1.75" setting the night before install, I netted 1.5" of lift and have about 7/8ths of an inch of rake left. To my knowledge Fx4 shouldn't make a difference as the springs are the same.

I would post a pic but the site isn't letting me. I have pics in my albums, could not be more pleased with how the 1.75" setting turned out. My guess is the 1.25" setting would have only garnered 1" of level and I would have likely had to adjust up.

acdii

The front shocks(struts) have grooves cut into the body at different distances from the bottom. The higher up the retainer is installed, the more pre-load happens to the spring. This is what raises the front of the truck, not the shock itself as they are only about 3/4" longer than stock, but the amount of tension on the spring is what raises it. It will stiffen up the front end a bit, but nothing substantial.

On mine I stayed at stock height, but it raised the front a little bit above stock. Since I tow a heavy trailer, I didn't want to worry about lighting the stars, or blinding people, and when loaded up my wheel well heights are perfectly leveled, could not be happier with them. The rear drop is 1 1/2", from 39 to 37 1/2, while the front comes in at the same.

locknload

Watch this vid, very clever design, I'll most likely be doing this kit now.

HawkCO

Here is a great write up with pictures about how the 5100's compare to other level options...
http://www.bilsteinus.com/fileadmin/...WebArticle.pdf

13_F150

2.1 setting. Still higher in rear by a 1/2". So i dont know how 1.75 is dead even