Limited down travel with bilstein 5100 lift

Hello all, im having some issues with down travel on my truck, i read some similar threads on this topic but i still feel like i have no answers…

my current front suspension setup is-

jba high caster upper control arms

Bilstein 5100’s (pn- BE5-C477-T1)

OME 2886 (660lb) coils

1/4” top plate spacer on driver side

sway bar removal

the truck seems to ride great for the most part but when ever im going over pot holes, speed bumps, woops on a trail or anything els that requires down travel i feel the suspension slam to a stop with a loud thud. Compression wise it rides great but the lack of down travel is really killing this setup to the point its not even enjoyable to take out on the trails.

Also to keep in mind is that i have a bay area metal fab front plate bumper with hoop rated at 150lbs, i also have a set of light pods and a light bar on the front end and may get a winch eventually aswell. With the extra weight of the front bumper i did notice that it was helping a little because normal areas on the road where i would get that thud were not as bad or gone completely but i still have this problem.

i would like to keep the lift height i have if possible but also need to gain more down travel. I was wondering if 620lb springs with spacers on top would help?

Ive added some pictures of the setup and some measurements i took. All pictures shown are as the truck sits normally except the last two pictures which show the UCA’s at full droop.

 

At 24” H to F you’re at 4” of lift. That doesn’t leave much down travel.

 

when purchasing the front assembly wheelers offroad had helped me come up with this configuration as a way to keep a 3” lift with the extra weight from the front bumper and potentially a lift.

 

You've basically maxed out your 5100s. You're preloading your strut which is pre-taking-out all of your down travel by lifting your truck up 3 inches.

 

isn't droop determined by your shock
the 5100 is not God's shock. It's cheap. You get what you pay for. I have them and am not satisfied. Yes it was an improvement from stock crap but my friend's vehicles with nicer parts all drive better.

I'm sure there's a max measurement of how far that shock can extend, regardless of whatever else you may have going on.
Even if you take the shock out and extend it by hand, or compress by hand. There is still a max/bottom out point

Long travel kits tend to come with LCA's. I'm guessing this is because their LCA might push farther outward, changing the geometry and allowing that UCA to come down lower (droop) farther before hitting the coil spring with the ball joint.

 

Have you tried reinstalling the sway bar?

 

i took the sway bar out to help with ride quality and get some more articulate offroad. I didnt plan on putting it back in

 

Well a 590lb coil all the way at the highest setting is rated for 2.5” of lift right? And that doesn’t account for extra weight on the front end so im not sure what coil i need to switch to to keep a lift but also compensate for the extra weight without killing the down travel. The only thing i can think of is 620lb coils but then i have to find out what clip to set them at.

 

there are quick disconnect end links

better suspension setup than 5100 would likely give more comfortable ride and still resist body roll

people usually set 5100 at clip 0 to avoid preload and let the lift spring do the lift

 

How many grooves can you see above the lower seat?

 

This right here. You’ve overextended the shock.

 

With that coil unfortunately thats just how its going to be. The 5100 is already longer than a stock shock full extension and with how CV's and other joints (lower ball, tie rod) are you cant droop much more safely.

Either reduce lift or get limiting straps.

886 is the 2nd longest OME coil and the highest spring rate.... the valving of the 5100 is not meant for that

 

Doesn’t matter what coil you get they need to be run on the 0 setting on the 5100s.

 

3 grooves

 

+1 to this. OME lift claims are based on a stock spring perch setting (IE 0 setting on a 5100). Also note that 886's are not recommended to be ran on 5100s due to their 660lb spring rate vs all the other OME coils at 590.

 

why is that. My understanding is that to get 2.5” they have to be set at the highest setting to get the lift with 590lb springs.

 

Maybe try putting it back in? More articulation = more droop. You need to reduce droop or reduce lift since your shock is topping out so easily.

 

No matter what clip and what weight springs you have it set at you're still preloading the strut. 2.5 inches with a 620lbs springs is still 2.5 inches with a 700lbs spring. You're just going to have a stiffer ride

 

That’s on the correct lowest setting, thought maybe it was on the .85 groove.

This is true.

Lift springs length is different.

Sway bar won’t change the shock topping out over bumps.

Depends how heavy the vehicle is.

 

QUOTE="gotblika, post: 26550931, member: 55716"]


Depends how heavy the vehicle is.[/QUOTE]

No. You can put a 750lbs spring on struts on a vehicle without any added weight and if you set it for 2.5inches of preload that's what you'll get. Your truck will just ride horribly.

If you put 600lbs springs on a truck covered in armor your truck will just compress the springs down and you won't get any lift.