Bilstein 4600's supposedly are a bit stiffer in the rear of truck than 5100's. I had 5100's on my plat 150 and now on my ram. Both times ride became noticeably firmer, anyone who says rides great basically is saying they like firm. While being more "controlled" they are stiffer. On the front I am changing to 6112's as the reviews have been great and particularly in the area of firmness of 5100's which has been main complaint. May try different rear shocks as well as do not need my pickup to ride like a truck as some of you say. I have enough semis and straight trucks around if I want a truck ride, want my daily vehicle to be not a truck ride.

 

20" wheel, heavy ply tires with high tire pressure (normal required tire pressure for the tire but still), light body f150. Your truck is max 5000 lbs how it's configured.

I don't think they're capable of a smooth ride on this chassis. It rides like a truck. People don't swap to the bilsteins because they ride more smoothly. They ride BETTER. They give you control and stability, i didn't notice a single difference in regards to the ride being softer.

 

Are you saying 5,000 due to the stock hitch?

yeah, I’m not looking for a Cadillac type ride, just stating my ride got a lot worse after the shock install which didn’t happen in my last 2 trucks, which might have been a variety of other things

 

harsher? They rebound faster than stock, and they have stiffer compression. So it's not really surprising, but i really didn't notice it being harsher i guess.

 

Does it seem more in the front or the rear? If the front, it might be a byproduct of compressing the factory springs. I had a heck of a time compressing the stock spring enough to fit on the strut at the 1.75" setting. It would have to be compressed even more to fit at the 2.1" setting.

 

Harsher, yup.

So, driving down the road at 65 mph, you hit a poorly patched area:

Stock suspension - barely feel it but the rear end kicks out a little
Bilsteins - Feel like it hit a 12 inch pothole but the truck doesnt bounce around
Ram and Silverado with 5100's - Barely feel it and the rear end doesnt kick out

 

In the rear.

I got the leveling shocks done first, drove for about a week no issues, then i had 18 inch sport rims with ridge grapplers, no issues, then i put the 20's on with the terra grapplers, no issues but the overall ride did get a little worse but i expected that, installed the rear 5100's, ride went to crap. Feels like im driving a base model F350.

 

Now you got me thinking about a level instead of the Bilsteins. I just recently traded in an 18 Ram Sport that I myself installed Bilsteins on. Loved the ride vs stock. So I was going to do them on my F-150 but if they are overly harsh I might be rethinking it. Hmm...

 

Don’t let me sway you, I seem to be the minority.

i put bilstein a on my Ram when it had 30k miles and man, huge improvement. Got rid of the bouncy rear end, smoothed up the ride but made it much more responsive in turns and bumps. Towing was a huge difference as well.

keep an eye out, might have some rear bilstein a for sale in a week or 2

 

Bilsteins for our trucks arent harsh, but they’re “taut”. Bilsteins and P-Metric A/T tires on our light, aluminum l-bodied trucks ride like a performance luxury car.

Tire construction (E Load Range, 10-ply LTs) and and inflation pressures over 40 psi (when carrying no load) are what make a truck’s ride feel harsh.