BrendanC
$100 site donor 2024
they won’t affect ride height. get the 5100’s
Put Bilstein 5100 on my 2019 Tacoma
- Thread starter Pablo
- Start date
slo town
$200 Site Donor 2026
I have 5100s on the front of my Tacoma. The front ones can affect ride height. They have a 3-setting perch for the spring to sit on. Normal (stock) height, medium lift and high lift. I have mine on the normal (stock) setting.
They have a really nice ride. Not sloppy and not hard or aggressive.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
They are basically B6 shocks for SUV’s and trucks. I have B6 on BMW, and they are phenomenal shocks. I daily and track that car.
I just got rear B6 for Honda Pilot as one has small leak.
How is the tread on your tires? My Hankook Dynapro ATMs need to be replaced and the ride is less than pleasant.
Pablo - Where were your 5100s made? Just curious.
1st thing I did when I got my used Tundra was install a set of Bilsteins.
I had 5100s on my 2009 F150. I have 4600s on my 2016 F150. I don't have a lift or level. The 4600s feel the same as the 5100s. For esthetic reasons people may not want the 4600s as they are very yellow/blue whereas the 5100s are silver.
The tires are about 1/2 worn out Firestones that are horribly balanced and egg shaped. Will be changing these out shortly as well. I've had bad luck with Firestones in the past but these are possible the worst tire I've ever encountered.
USA, pretty sure. But I didn't think about it!!
We don't care about your body, just talk about the truck pleasejust having the butt level and up a hair from the sag............well it looks cooler!
Shock Surplus has some good YT videos going over the differences between the Bilstein lines. You will never notice a difference between 4600 and 5100's really. You will be happy with either. The 4600 are Yellow, the 5100 are Silver. A lot of people don't like the yellow look for the 4600s, but they are wonderful shocks.
I only have the rear shocks on right now. But I just decided to save money getting the 4600s. I was going to play with leveling etc. But just decided to stay stock, and keep the front a little lower like it is from the factory.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
I'm curious how they raised the back of Pablo's truck?
BrendanC
$100 site donor 2024
Struts can alter ride height. straight shock absorbers cannot.
My theory is per my request make it level
So either the backs were really shot or he adjusted the fronts
It aligned perfectly
BrendanC
$100 site donor 2024
shocks in the rear will not change your ride height. he changed the ride height in the front.
The Rancho shocks on my 2020 Silverado RST were crap and completely shot in less than 40k miles. Got Bilstein 4600s all the way around, and it's like driving a new truck. You don't realize how bad your old ones were until you're riding on Bilsteins!
I have owned and installed several sets of both. In my personal experience, there are differences between the 4600 and 5100s. A long time ago I wrote bilstein about this, and depending who I reached, got different answers. Some would say they were the same. The guy that told me they weren’t the same, sent me the numerical numbers to prove it.
What I learned and experienced:
- they are both progressive shocks. They stay stiff until they take a hit, and then let them open up until they slow down, then stiffen up again. The 4600s in my sons 2019 4R are very well tuned for that vehicle, if anything they open up a tad too easily, because once you get them floating they can and do float.
- the 5100 has less rebound dampening than the 4600, while having close compression dampening. This means that on rough ground they tend to “inflate” and keep the vehicle a little higher. It also means, however, that in rhythmic bumps they tend to “pogo,” and lift the truck up at every bump and float down. This is exprremely unsettling on concrete interstates when it feels like the vehicle is off the ground at every bump.
- the 5100 really needs to see a small lift to feel right. I say this because it essentially has an internal hydraulic bump stop in the bottom 2”. Or at least 2 sets of rears I had, did. You could feel it because on a non-lifted truck the “contact” really felt like hitting a bump stop, and it happened in everyday driving - it felt like I’d lost some suspension travel with them. This was “discovered” when compressing them by hand - which isnt the easiest to do, and by golly while shoving it downward it would hit a “catch” at the bottom 2 inches.
All this to say, I still like the 5100s, but because of the weaker rebound dampening, I would only advise using these as a set for 4; not doing a “rear only” job.
Bilstein makes good shocks. Gotta choose the right one for the application.
What I learned and experienced:
- they are both progressive shocks. They stay stiff until they take a hit, and then let them open up until they slow down, then stiffen up again. The 4600s in my sons 2019 4R are very well tuned for that vehicle, if anything they open up a tad too easily, because once you get them floating they can and do float.
- the 5100 has less rebound dampening than the 4600, while having close compression dampening. This means that on rough ground they tend to “inflate” and keep the vehicle a little higher. It also means, however, that in rhythmic bumps they tend to “pogo,” and lift the truck up at every bump and float down. This is exprremely unsettling on concrete interstates when it feels like the vehicle is off the ground at every bump.
- the 5100 really needs to see a small lift to feel right. I say this because it essentially has an internal hydraulic bump stop in the bottom 2”. Or at least 2 sets of rears I had, did. You could feel it because on a non-lifted truck the “contact” really felt like hitting a bump stop, and it happened in everyday driving - it felt like I’d lost some suspension travel with them. This was “discovered” when compressing them by hand - which isnt the easiest to do, and by golly while shoving it downward it would hit a “catch” at the bottom 2 inches.
All this to say, I still like the 5100s, but because of the weaker rebound dampening, I would only advise using these as a set for 4; not doing a “rear only” job.
Bilstein makes good shocks. Gotta choose the right one for the application.