3rd gen 5100's w/ AAL

Nice! What height did you set your 5100s to? I ask because I bought 5100s and a AAL and Inwill install the lift in a couple weeks before I get a shell installed.

 

2nd highest notch I believe. Since the top notch is a no no lol

 

Newbie question, thinking of just running the 5100’s stock springs/stock leafs. Not really looking for a lift. Maybe 1-1.5 at max. More so just wanting to replace my stock shocks.

(truck is completely stock 86k miles) used mainly for work commute and general camping in the summer.

 

The 5100s are designed to work with the stock shocks so you'll be fine.

I'm actually about to do the exact same thing: I'm replacing the stock shocks on my SR with 5100s next week. Just waiting on the AAL I ordered to come in. If I lift it, it will be to compensate for the modified leaf pack.

 

Gotcha, not sure if I will be adding a leaf just yet…(since I rarely haul much, just work gear and yearly camping trips) for sure going to replace the bumpstops.

With my stock springs do I still need to add the spacer for a potential lean?

 

I don't see a question but I'll chime in anyway.

1. Something to think about is what do you hope to achieve if you don't want any lift?

2. If you do a mild 1"-1.5" via 5100's, are you OK with loosing the factory rake? Do you ever haul anything in your truck? A level truck sags in thr rear as you add a little Payload in the rear. You'll need to add a block or AAL to rear to keep a little factory rake for hauling.

3. Consider that if doing a mild lift, you may want to also consider doing the ECGS bushing to prevent driver size axle bearing failure. This is less likely to be a problem at 1" but I did the ECGS going 1.5" with 5100's so I wouldn't have to worry about dealing with bearing failure/vibration later.

4. I went with 5100's set to 4th perch with factory coils and I added a Progressive AAL in the rear and happy with it. However, I'm 5'7" and didn't realize that the lift along with 31.6" tires would make my truck a little harder to get into.... which let me to getting side steps/running boards (still on the fence about them).

Not trying to talk you out of it... just free food for thought.

 

All of these trucks are affected by how much gas is in the truck. You can correct for lean by adding a 1/4" spacer on top of driver side strut. I did this on my 1st Gen but my 3rd gen is close to level at half tank of gas. When my 3rd gen is full of gas, then my driver side does sit a little low... which seems typical. I feel a 1/4" spacer will over correct on my 3rd gen.

 

I see, I appreciate the info. I guess I didnt ask a question haha. Just wanted to keep the truck to damn near as stock as possible with upgraded shocks.

As far as hauling, nothing more than camping gear for a family of 4. I dont pull/tow anything at all.
I guess what I can do is price everything needed with the 5100’s and compare it to a semi complete kit dobinson sells as well.

See which would be more feasible for the next 100k+ miles of my truck.

 

Thinking of what you use your truck for, generally people on here report the 5100 are a better ride than the stock sport shocks (I've spent way too much time reading different threads), though that's not universal. The 5100s do have longer travel length than the stock shocks so that would be a plus on rougher roads.

I'm personally going this way because:
1) I'm upgrading the leaf pack because I'm getting a camper shell and also commonly haul hundreds of lbs of rocks in the bed (I'm a geologist). The upgraded leaf pack will lift the rear suspension, so I'm lifting the front to maintain the factory rake.
2) I also want my SR to be a bit more capable on rough dirt roads and two tracks that I drive on occasionally for work and more commonly when we go out camping.

If you go this route, the least expensive place I found the full set of 5100s at was Stage 3 Motor Sports and I got them in under a week.

 

I saw the link posted but it said 0 products in stock.

I’ll check again today. Under $400 is a damn steal

 

Yeah I bought them about a week and a half ago. Two weeks before I ordered them, they were in stock and the week before they were sold out. So they seem to restock fairly quickly. My front shocks actually drop shipped from Bilstein.

They are by far the cheapest at the moment that I could find... I have a spreadsheet with prices from 20 different suppliers that I was monitoring.

 

How are the 5100's holding up for you guys in the "salt belt"? I had them years ago on a 96 Ram 2500 and they lost their luster and looked pretty bad fairly quickly (within a couple of years).

 

I've had mine for a few years and they do lose their luster. Not a big deal to me. A scratch pad cleans them up some but they never look as good as new.

 

I had a set on for 1,500 miles (Mitsubishi Pajero) and one salty winter - they looked really bad where the shock body was exposed and nothing revived them. Under the boot was like new. At the same time my son had a set of 5100's on his F150 and 10x my miles and had no issues. I've got a new set for the Tacoma in boxes. I only have 2,500 miles on my '22 and kind of like the cushy OR Bilsteins so I haven't been in a hurry - and it's cold and snowy outside.

 

Thanks. The ones on my Ram looked awful pretty quickly. I guess I'll look into if there's anything I can coat them with before installation to slow down the deterioration.

 

Googling "Bilstein 5100 Rust" got me a lot of hits. If I go the Bilstein route I'm probably going to sand and clear them before installing. Some suggested VHT Wheel Clear Coat.

 

Another question for you. Are your rear 5100s the extended length version or standard length?

 

I'm curious what Atowns40 says but the 5100's are supposed to be OK for up to a 1" lift in the rear. I too did a Head Strong Progressive AAL which is supposed to yield 1.5" lift(I got a little less). Technically, this 1.5" lift in the rear would limit the down travel by about 1/2" with the 5100's in the rear. This do not seem to bother anyone except the extreme off roaders. I believe the extended version of the the 5100's is the 5125's which is for 2"-3.5" rear lift.

 

I reached out the Headstrong via email over the weekend and they got back to me this morning and said I should be fine with the standard length 5100s with the single Deaver AAL. This seems to line up with what others have reported from correspondence with them:

The single Deaver AAL is supposed to yield a 1.5" to 2" lift (Based on other posts here the single AAL seems to lift the rear closer to the 1.5" side of things). Headstrong seems to suggest the extended length 5100s when installing 3 leaf AALs.

Edited to fix my poor grammar.

 

@bcgill thanks for that info. My plan is 1.5" front and rear so I was a little unsure about the standard length rear Bilsteins.