Bilstein 6112/5160 worth the coin over 5100's?

I'm getting close to replacing my stock suspension with upgraded dampers and a mild lift. I know the 5100's will be an improvement over the stock Bilsteins, but wondering if it it's worth the further upgrade to 6112/5160's?

You get bigger pistons with the 6112/5160's, but how about the valving and overall performance and feel of the 6112/5160's?

If someone has run both would sure like to hear your thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

 

I had 5100s on my truck when I first got it. Now I have 6112s and 5160s. It feels more stiff/handles better. I dont think I'd change them for anything else unless it was a change for Kings all around.

 

I’m in the same boat. I’ve placed an order for 6112s up front. They’re back ordered. I’m wondering if I should cancel my order and go with something else. The digress I’ve valving makes me nervous. Everyone with the 6112s seems to like them.

 

I bought mine in the height of Covid. I waited on a BO list forever with Wheelers Offroad. I dont think anything else comes close to it on the Market unless you want to spend thousands more.

 

I like mine. Got them new and local from TW member. I went from stock to 4600s to 6112s in the span of a year. Truck drives like off showroom floor at 300k while running 33s.

 

Also went straight to 6112s/5160s, if you have the money for them absolutely. I think they're the best bang for your buck and if you want better you're getting into the 2k+ range for king or fox, the ride is leaps and bounds better than stock. They're stiffer, but not uncomfortably so...everything feels super planted and nice

 

Good picture of before and after.

 

I'm looking into doing the same upgrade since I can't really justify fox or kings, I'd like to do UCA's as well and push for a full 3" lift

 

Good luck finding any 6112.
No stores have them.

There is nothing else.
Nothing else offers the performance, size, and quality at that price point.

Look at comparable Icons. Much thinner shock body, yet somehow more expensive.
Not sure about Fox. I hear their wait times are long.

Most of the front shocks with similar thickness (which is what you want) come with adjusters and reservoirs. And that's $2k+

That's exactly why 6112 is so popular and was an OEM choice for years.
Looks good too.
Every other cheap shock manufacturer didn't want to size their spring accordingly so they make pencil thin shocks, paint them whatever color, and slap a sticker on

6112 rides better than 5100
It is thicker/wider with more hydraulic fluid inside, bigger piston, displacement/fluid volume

But like with anything this truck,
1. you get used to and tired of it, whatever you have
2. it's dictated by budget. Budget determines what you'll go with. If budget is no concern, you'd probably order some colorful Fox 2.5 res adj

3" will stress the CV's
possibly cause positive camber because the LCA is only so long
reduce downtravel for worse ride quality and off road performance
2" is probably better
There's a reason so many high end coilovers are around 2" or less, not more
You're limited by the stock geometry including LCA's unless you drop $2k on steel fabbed LCA's

 

That's fair. Maybe just do a leveled out 2 inches. I can tell my taco lean has gotten worse. I've had my 5100s and ome 884s for about 40k miles. Definitely looking to replace soon. Might do the fox 2.0s in the rear since they're only around 550 bucks

 

You may have the old version that sags. New version ends with x.
"884X", etc. where the metallurgy changed to not sag

I kind of ignore the Taco lean. They just made the truck unbalanced from factory with gas tank on the left and driver.
Would just make it worse trying to correct it. 1/4" taco lean spacer translates into 1/2" real world lift. So if your spring is 2", add spacer and it's 2.5" lift
or 2.5-3+ lift, plus 0.5" from spacer
= causing the above issues on that side such as positive camber etc.

Not like anybody is staring at or measuring the fender heights

Bilstein 5160 rear with reservoir is like $370+ and tends to be more in stock than 6112 front

Rake is a good thing. Lets the back squat under weight load.
Height is height, whether it's from rake or not. More rake = more lift = more ground clearance off road.
Usually leveled trucks look weird and like they don't offroad.
And actually tilts back from natural shifting of the weight, causing a reverse bro lean when the truck is in certain situations. Like facing uphill. Or lowering it back on the ground after working on it and the suspension isn't settled.
Rear lifts easier with leaf springs not having to worry about all that control arm geometry stuff.
More rear lift - less hitting the ground off road depending on how you use it.
Leveling = higher hood = harder to see over

My Icon RXT rear (used) is set to op3; I need to bring it down to op2.
Because it's bottoming out the 5160 sometimes causing clunk noise, as 5160 was designed for some lift, but not the high amount gained in op3 configuration which was made more for constant weight (shell RTT etc.) meanwhile my truck is empty

If you stop looking at the lean you'll probably forget.
Fender flares may play a part in how it looks. After taking mine off I don't even know the FTG measurements anymore, and it's hard to eyeball how many fists the gap is etc.
since now it's just a big space of clearance + 33"

How much lift from stock did 884 get you?
Thinking of swapping out 887X to 884 to try and reduce the issues they've caused the truck
whatever lift 887 got the truck, maybe 2" 3" or even more, turned out to be a shit ton and basically the max amount (not good)
unless it's the cheapie aftermarket LCA's, but it could be both

 

Upgraded from stock suspension last summer. Was considering 5100’s but a trusted friend talked me into going straight to the 6112/5160’s. It was worth every penny. No more bounce when hitting rough terrain or potholes. Truck stays firmly planted now and rides incredible. I highly recommend.

 

exactly
otherwise it's the financial/time cost of countless hours of labor spent re-doing, un-doing, fixing, modifying, adjusting, etc.
spring compressors, taking apart and putting back together the front end, alignment, etc.
instead of getting it right straight away
6112/5160 not a crazy amount more than 5100 which is kind of like a blue/yellow 4600 painted different that can handle more height

Doing the whole truck in Fox 2.5 is a different story $$$
+rear relocate towers for longer shocks, etc.

 

went with

$185 rancho RS999915 suspension strut and coil spring assembly

rancho RS999915, they are cheap, adjustable valving, claim a 70mm body with 2.5 inches of lift. Was trying without success to find Bilsteins for a while. Haven't been able to find many reviews positive or negative. Waiting on some ucas and they will be going in. At only 180 dollars from rock auto If they do fail miserably it won't be that big a deal.

 

Thanks Gents- exactly the information I wanted to hear about!

One more question if I can- I want a mild lift in the front (1.5"-ish), with the 5100's there are coil springs available that allow you to get the lift w/ the springs vs the spring perch. This seems a better option as you preserve travel in the damper.

The 6112's come with their own coils (14" springs) so am assuming at the lowest notch you're at stock ride height and additional lift is through moving the spring perch up. I also see they are available in 600/650/700 lb rates. If you chose the 650 springs (assuming they are all the same length) you should see some lift at the lowest notch, but at the cost of a firmer ride. Also looks like the 600# comes standard and you have to pay for the additional springs.

I don't run an aftermarket bumper/winch, so don't need the additional spring rate for the weight, but would like a little lift (without sacrificing travel)

From the literature looks like I'd want to be in the middle clip (1.5" lift), maybe that isn't a big deal in the scheme of things for travel lost???

Thoughts?

 

6112 fronts & 5100 rears.

Pls justify why you need extra complexity in the rears? More failure points for minimal gain. Stick with 5100, happy I did.

6112 def worth it, do UCA’s and it’s a new truck.

 

Ya I definitely have some sag. It's the old 884s. I went off of their website, I have an acesscab longbed, it gave me about 2 inches once settled. Then I added sliders and a steel skid, it dropped it down maybe .5 inches

 

I did see a few vendors list the rear 5100's as an option, obviously saves a little $ and the travel appears to be really close between the two.

With a relatively mild (1.5") lift do you think the expense of the LCA's are worth it?

 

I would argue used Fox TRD Pro shocks offer comparable or better performance for nearly the same coin if you buy them used off of a 3rg Gen Pro owner.