3rd Gen Bilstein 6112/5160 review

I went to Perry’s Quality Auto Repair in Simi Valley. The owner was a really nice guy.

 

How much do you thinking would cost to install the 6112s?

 

No clue, they charged me $50 to assemble them. I installed them myself.

 

How did you not mess with the alignment cams when installing? Did you unbolt the upper control arm and use a pry bar to pry the lower control arm low enough to squeeze in the new/taller strut assembly?

 

I left the UCA connected. I used a floor jack under where the lower ball joint connects and slightly jacked up the rotor assembly (I don’t know what it’s really called). This gave me more room by moving the UCA higher up. Then I used a pry bar by putting the tip of the pry bar in the LCA where the shock mounts with the pry bar against the the lower shock mount. By putting upward force on the pry bar, the LCA is pushed down and the shock slides in. It takes some time and force but it will go. I don’t know if that made any sense but I found a video showing how to do it. This guy hit the shock with a mallet to get it in though, I definitely didn’t do that.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xFgzwqOsbFo

 

Absolutely, got it. I've never done it this way as I figured it's probably just quicker if I loosen the 2 alignment bolts. But I have seen videos of doing it this way. I figured this method is a bit harder as you'd have to put some good pressure to get that LCA low enough to slip in the extended strut assembly.

 

Any idea what the longevity is of these shocks? I am just a weekend warrior. No rock crawling or anything drastic. Just want to know how much time can be expected with this much money put in. Thanks.

 

Hey do you ever make your way up to Santa Clarita area? I'd love to see your setup in person if you don't mind. I'm torn between doing 5100s vs the 6112/5160s.

 

Thinking on going this set up.. Is there a way I can get a 3inch all around with this set up?

 

OMG! the "car doctor" is the worst! I watched him try to remove one rustyish bolt and he ended up leaving it after one pull with the wrench and says I don't know how you guys deal with rusty bolts... And moves on... WOW. My mouth dropped... And this guy makes money doing this?

 

i doubt you’ll see this, but it’s worth a shot.

i’m mot sure if you’ll see this. but i’m considering 6112 in the front, but i have a steel bumper and you said to avoid the 6112 if you have one?

 

Old thread but I just ordered the 6112/5160 for a new '21 TRD OD and would be interested to hear how this setup performs off-road compared to stock OR suspension.

 

I’m interested also. I would also like to know how long these last. How do these compare to 5100 in ride quality?

 

I have mine going on for almost 3 years now with extensive offroading in varying conditions and trails. Still holds nice. No leaks whatsoever. Didn’t encounter any shock fade on high speed desert runs and takes bumps pretty good. Not the best, but pretty good. Best bang for your buck if you ask me.

 

I thought to accommodate for the "taco lean" you would just have one notch higher than the passenger side instead of using the 1/4 spacer? I was leaning on getting these but somehow ended up with Fox 2.5s. Nice write up though

 

I ended up on the highest setting for each shock though so I had to do the spacer

 

I got the 6112s in the front of my 2018qc OR long bed and 5100s in the back. About 2 years now with mostly street driving but taken on a couple good trails and beaches. Long story short is I love them. They worked well on washed out dirt roads going 30-40 mph with dips and potholes. I did notch 4 and 5 with no spacer and resulted in no lean. I may go up 5/6 and add an inch to the rear to try and squeeze some 33’s with a bunch of cutting.

 

I'm getting mine installed at months end on the 5/6 setting.

My thoughts about the spacer are that 6/6 with a 1/4" spacer is equal to a 2 1/4" lift in the front and 5/6 is just 2"

 

update as I have finally moved up a notch on the 6112s. Currently sitting at 6/5. Also changed out the rear leafs with icon rxt stage 2. Height is perfect. I’ll chime in again with height differences from my original 5/4 setup. I’ll get to test out the suspension this weekend. Drove nice tho on the way home from the shop. Didn’t notice much difference in ride quality

 

I thought having 6/5 is to adjust for the "taco lean" 6/6?

6/5 is a lot stiffer but I love it.