Anyone put Bilstein 5100's on a 4thgen yet

So I have a 24 2wd sport...
Want the front atleast level, slightly higher, better yet...
I like the lack of body roll characteristic of the sport compared to other trim levels.
Anyone put Bilstein 5100's on their 4th gen yet?
Thoughts, how does it ride on the street compared to stock configuration?
Was thinking setting them up for max height....
Bilstein tech support also commented in my pavement princess daily driver scenario, I wont see any benifit to waiting for the 6112.
No idea if theres any truth to that...


I know alot of you guys went with the AllDog coils, thats not going to work & get me the look I want, had an extensive conversation yesterday with Kyle....
Also seems like the sport front end is a little lower than the offroad to begin with, getting contradicting info.
All the way from 1" shorter in height to Kyle seems to think the stock sport shocks are just 1/4" shorter.

So anyone do the 5100's here on a 24/25?

Happy with its manners?
Is in fact body roll less?

 

Bilstein's should work well with your truck. Might be a stiffer ride; probably similar to the TRD OR

 

I thought th

I thought the Sport had a stiffer ride than the Off Road?

 

Right...
Shocks can be complicated....
I dont mind the stiff jarring of the sport, love the lack of body roll & no idea if a 5100 would improve that even more...
The stock sport shock is digressive similar to stock...
Then theres digressive & progressive, bla bla bla....

Bilstein is known for being a "sportier" shock feel to it from the DD ive done, assuming that means more stable on the street....
Bilstein claims it would def be an upgrade...

 

Hmm, maybe. If they still use the Bilstein 4600 series shocks, functionally it will be the same as the 5100 series. In fact, I don't think you need to change the shocks as, IIRC, the 5100 series just have a bit more travel than the 4600 series but same internals.

In that case, save some money and keep the OEM shocks.

 

I plan to get 5100s for my '25 SR5 as well eventually. I had these on my '14 as well before switching to Fox.

The best way i can word it is that the 5100s rode slightly stiffer than stock on the '14. It felt like it rode mostly like stock but without the body roll at turns.

 

If you like the ride of the Sport, but just want a bit of lift, why not put a spacer lift in and save some money.

 

Wait for 6112

 

I personally dont recommend spacer lifts because they add stress to the shock body. Ive personally seen shocks break with spacer lifts. Coincidence? Maybe. Im a "you get what you pay for" kind of person.

Reputable branded preload collars, like Westcott, are around $500 for front and rear. These add more preload to the springs so it can make the suspension feel a bit more firm.

5100s can be found on sale for around $500. I think i remember seeing Headstrong Offroad and Hotshot Offroad had them on sale around July 4th for this price, and end of year sales are just a couple months away. Either of them may have a Labor Day Sale going as well. Put on setting #2 (can be set from 1-5 for different heights), add OEM springs back, and now you have a 4th gen with roughly ¾" rake. Well, thats my plan anyway.

 

Those broken shocks were likely on a previous generation Tacoma where the front bump stops were frame mounted. The new 4G shock design has the bump stops inside the strut, so this means the bump stops will function exactly the same as stock height even with a top hat spacer.

Moving on to pre-load spacers. There’s no difference in the functionality of the strut between a preload spacer, a higher clip setting of a 5100, or even more preload on King or Fox strut. The tension in the coil spring is exactly the same in all three scenarios.

If you’ve ever assembled a strut yourself, you’ll notice that after installing the spacer you do need to tighten the spring compressors more on in order to get the top hat nut back on. However, as you release the spring compressors you’ll also notice that shock piston moves outward the same distance as the thickness of the spacer. With the spring compressors off, there is now no more tension in the spring, the spring is just effectively longer due to the spacer and the shock piston is now in a slightly different position as before, this gives the lift, but the ride will be identical to stock.

Now if you go overboard on the height of your preload spacer you do risk topping out the shocks more easily. However, the new stock red OR Bilstein shocks already have extra travel built in for the SDM due to the remote reservoir, I can’t imagine you’d ever come close to topping out those shock with the swaybar connected and a spacer less than 1.5” like the Westcott.

I know in the past it has been popular to hate on the spacer lifts, and there was some merit to that. However, with the new strut design and especially the stock OR shocks, the downsides to spacers are diminishing fast. If you like the ride of your truck, I wouldn’t waste money on new shocks just for lift especially when there’s a few good spacer options.

 

Its a 2wd sport, I was looking for the look of the front slightly higher or atleast legitimately level as I hate the rake...
I have a westcott collar installed now just in the front & still have rake now after my springs settled, its not 2.5" like they claim, especially on a sport.
Was told by a few that the sport shock is slightly shorter.
If I run the 5100 ill get a full length shock.
I love the lack of body roll on the set-up now as lack of body roll feels great driving..
It's def jarring on cracks & bumps on the road, guess nature of the sport. Not horrible...
Sucks to spend the money for the 5100's, crank it to the 2.5" setting & have more body roll.
Not like I can demo another vehicle before deciding.
The 5100's are fairly cheap.

Was told by bilstein that theres no benefit to the 6112 if im looking for street handling improvement.

I could toss a .65 spacer on top of the strut from peak suspension along with the my current collar & get 1.25" more height & get me closer to the look I want.
But, if 5100's are going to be a true upgrade in the handling dept, im all for it....
Needless to say, Im torn...

Peak Suspension mentioned to me it take 2.5"s to make these trucks level.

 

Keep in mind that the higher you go with the front, the more likely you will have to replace the needle bearing with ECGS bushing.

 

not me........
I intentionally purchased a 2x, as will never need a 4x, few guys on a previous thread tried bashing on the decision.....
less maintenance, less drama, easier / cheaper to work on...
yes, also less capable, but no reason to have 4x if youre not going to use it.
no need to worry about resale value if youre not going to sell it...