Bilstein 5100 help

Hi, I’ve been considering purchasing some Bilstein 5100s to level out the front end of my 2002 Tacoma 4x4 trd. I’m doing my tie rods so I figured i might aswell do the shocks at the same time in order to do 1 alignment instead of coming back again and do the alignment when I do the shock again. As of right now I’m only going to be doing the front shocks as the cost of OEM tie rods was a pretty penny. I found that suspension connect has the best price for the 0-2.5 adjustable Bilstein 5100, being right around $200 with tax. So my question where my truck has 190k so should I buy new bushings for the shock aswell? Also I can’t find a straight forward answer, I will be running factory springs, so in order to level the truck what height should I set the springs at, .85 I also believe there’s a 1.25 and 1.5 spot or a 1.75, I believe those are the heights for the spring, but I’m not sure. But what is the best height to run in order to get the front leveled with the stock rear? Finally how hard is to mount the coil to the new shock, or should I just have a shop do it, I’ve seen quite a few video on the install and it doesn’t look to bad? Thanks for the help

 

has them for $175.50. They are the 3 tier height, not 4, which are $224. I currently have the 3 tier, and if you're just leveling I'd go for those.

I put mine on the middle setting, and the truck is about flat. I'm actually going to put it on the lowest setting when I buy new tires, I'm not a huge fan of the leveled look after experiencing it.

I would rent spring compressors and do it yourself. It's intimidating but safe when done correctly.

Make sure the 5100s come with bushings. At the age of your truck, I would always replace bushings whenever removing them. Cheap insurance.

 

Thanks for the response, I think I’mma still go with suspension connection as they will still be cheaper because they have free shipping. I’m also going to pick up some new bushings, might aswell do it right. Thanks for the help, I found a really helpful video on mounting the spring so I’m going to tackle it and see what happens.

 

The only addition I can make is dont stand in front of the spring.

 

I put the 3 position 5100s with stock springs in the middle position and got 1.5" lift measured from center hub to bottom of the flare.

If they haven't been done already I'd recommend at least checking (if not replacing) the lower ball joints while you're in there. I checked mine while I was in there and found that the passenger side had more play to it than I was comfortable with.