Bilstein 5100 w/ OME 885

yeha i have never towed with the truck in the 4 years of owning or really throw anything heavy in the bed.
just want sure if i should just get a full leaf pack for the sake of it being better than an aal with the factory leaf pack

 

I’m sure you will be ok with an aal, you can always upgrade later.

 

Btw I work in Albany out of the plaza would like to check your truck out sometime, maybe a mod day!

 

Almost 1 year with the setup and I’m super happy! Looking to replace the AAL with medium duty Dakars after seeing @singletrack_ftw and his insane flex

 

dude that is awesome! yea man i’m down!
i work on state street what a small world!

 

Right on, brother! Something that will tremendously help flex is also replacing your leaf shackle bushings with greased polyurethane ones. Factory bushings bind in the hangers and they typically don’t fully droop out the OEM shackles very easily (which would be fully horizontal). I’m about to throw some in!

 

have a link?

 

I bought brand new OEM leaf shackles online for like $35 for the pair. Then I bought poly bushings from @ARCHIVE because its very difficult to remove OEM bushings inside the OEM shackles.

 

Thanks for the tip! also want to do the U bolt flip, extended brake lines, and longer travel shocks

 

Those are very vital parts to the flex equation! In fact, most shocks are barely 24” long where you’ll find the Bilstein b110 at over 27”

 

This forum has been extremely helpful and helped me decide/ choose to do the Bilistein 5100s with OME 885s and a Single AAL. I just did the install over the weekend and couldn't be happier. The ride quality is so much better and although I was concerned about the single AAL being too stiff with an empty bed, I haven't noticed much of a change from when it was stock. I actually like/ prefer how stiff it rides now. I'm excited to take it off road and tow the boat with this new set up and see how it performs, but overall, I feel like I'm in a brand new truck! Thank you for all the information/ reviews on this thread. It was extremely useful so I thought I would share my experience as well for anyone else looking to go with this set up. You will not be disappointed.

Truck Before:


Truck After:

 

looks great!! i have to install mine soon. weather here in upstate ny has been nothing but rain the last few weeks.
only thing i have to be 100% certain on is alignment specs but i think i have asked this multiple times in this thread lmao.

 

I haven't gotten a realignment yet but it feels fine...it's not pulling anywhere and it's tracking as straight as it was before the lift. I'm running the stock 265/70R16s but am looking to go to 255/85R16s once the time comes to get new tires.

 

Just went from stock TRD Off Road suspension to OME 885's, 5100's all around with a single Wheeler's AAL in the rear. I took it for a spin to get a feel and already LOVE the ride.



Putting some Ray 10's and Wildpeaks on later this week!

Initial Impressions and Observations:
Overall *seems* like a much "better" ride. Was worried about the single AAL feeling harsh, but I hardly notice it. Loving it so far. In fact, I think it has significantly helped what I believe to have been axle wrap. I don't notice the same little shudder when accelerating as much. Its still there, but much less.

New vibration that I have to fix at 35 mph. After some reading, I believe this is the CV axle bearing. Looks like I'll be going ECGS bushing at some point.

Alignment isn't *that* far off. Maybe a little wandering at 60 mph+, but not bad at all. I paid attention to the alignment cams when loosening the LCA bolts, and it appears to have helped. Still planning to get an alignment once the wheels/tires go on.

Not a bad DIY task at all. Took most of a day, because I don't have a great mechanic shop (tools or space) in which to work, had to buy some different sockets and stuff along the way, and ran into a seized LCA :-( on the passenger side which took some time to work around. Definitely requires two people.

 

Truck looks great man, get a drive line drop kit from OME and a @wheelers 3 degree shim kit. Should take care of your vibes!

 

Thanks! And I'll look into those kits. That's super helpful.

 

Hopefully you took driveline angle measurements prior to installing so all you have to do is a little math camp.

Ordering shit prior to knowing what's driving the issue sounds like a good way to waste money.

 

True but that was my experience as I am running a very similar set to his...

 

I took driveline measurements a while back when I was trying to fix what I now believe to be axle wrap. It appeared to be in spec at the time, but I didn't keep a record of the values. I do still have the angle measurement tool, but not sure how helpful that will be at this point.

 

I'd use it while installing the shims or CB drop to measure before and after so you have a comparison.