Billstein 5100 on REAR

Hey everyone,

I've been chasing driveline vibrations for some time now and after multiple dealer visits, I'm still feeling some vibrations in my seat and my passenger seat will occasionally shake.

So far, these are the things that have been checked,

-pinion angle confirmed to in-spec)
-leaf springs (confirmed to be good)
-axles and bearings replaced
-brake drums replaced
-tires were road force balanced

Most of vibration has been eliminated, however, I still have this "hopping" sensation coming from the rear. It seems be worse on older roads and mostly goes away on recently paved asphalt.

My shocks have about 30000 miles of moderate use on them. I decided to inspect my shocks by unbolting the bottom bolt and compressing them. They did have rebound, however, I was able to compress the entire shock with one hand while laying under the truck.

I guess my question is, would I see any benefit to swapping just the rear shocks to Billstein 5100's? Would it potentially eliminate my hopping sensation?

I'm convinced that this isn't a driveline vibration, as this vibration/hopping sensation tends to come and go on different roads while driving at the same speed.

 

The sport hitachi shocks pretty much suck and I'd guess they're shot at 30k miles. Anything bilstein would be better.

 

Can I hold off on changing the fronts and just replace the rears? Or would that cause some imbalance issue?

 

You can do anything you want with changing suspension, but changing all at once always is best and sometimes cheaper.

 

I am in the same boat as well. 05 DC long bed with 2" blocks and 5100's in the front. Some roads you wont notice and others it will shake my seat and the passenger seat. i thought it was a balancing issue but took it over to Goodyear and they made some adjustments. I dont think I remember noticing it when we towed the camper. Pretty fresh build too, maybe 1.5 months old. Running 285/55/20 Fuel AT Grippers and nothing but good experiences with these tires, probably about 1,500 miles on them now. Just curious if the old shocks are done, truck has 208k miles and I cannot confirm if the rears were ever replaced, I know I just did the fronts. Let me know your thoughts please.

 

Honestly, replacing my shocks with 5100's was one of the best decisions I've made. The vibration / "hopping sensation" is more so gone. The 5100's don't ride that much stiffer than the stock TRD Sport shocks. The rear end feels a lot more tame and controlled.

The 5100's being a digressive shock feel stiffer over smaller bumps, but once the shock cycles / compresses, it rides very pretty smoothly.