Bilstein 6112/8100 DSA, 2.5s on a budget

This seems to be a weird combo that either isn't done very often or at least not spoken about on here so I figured why not, it's only $2500.
I got the new Bilsteins from Hotshot Offroad, because he is awesome.

These shocks are replacing Dobinsons twin tube shocks, which were better than stock and are pretty good both on and off road but they were not good going much faster than 30mph on low maintenance roads. And I only had 600lb springs on them that were starting to sag under my fatty of a truck.

My truck fully loaded for adventures is around 6000lbs and everyday driving around 5200lbs.

What sent me down this path is last summer I was chasing a SxS on a minimum maintenance logging road at 35mph and though I was having so much fun it felt like my truck was going to rattle apart. So I was saving up for Dobinsons IMS/MRR until I found Overland Outfitters - Shock Value videos on YouTube, the Dobinsons didn't do to well compared to the others. The Falcons, which they loved and seem like if you had a stock truck would be the absolute best option, don't have heavy spring options so they wouldn't work for me. It was then a choice between Icon and Bilstein. After talking with Colton he steered me towards 6112 paired with 8100, and talked me into spending the extra money for the DSA model since my truck varies so much in weight depending on what I am doing.


Up front I have the 6112 w/ 650 springs and circlips set at 5/7, which so far gave me 3/4" of lift and no Taco lean.

In the rear I went with the smooth body 8100 DSA set at factory specs and paired with Icon RXT leaf pack option 2 (which I already had and also purchased from Hotshot)


I have had my sway bar removed for a few years now and can say the new 650 springs are more stable than 600lb springs, less body roll and a lot less brake dive.

On my test drive down a nearby rough road I was able to go much faster than before. I got up to 55mph going through potholes and almost airborne going over some train tracks, before I would maybe go 35mph and slow down a lot to go over the train track bump.
If the road was longer I definitely could have gone faster. This weekend I will hunt down so long gravel roads outside the metro to do more testing.

Maybe when I need to rebuild the rear shocks I might go with 8112 up front too, but right now the full 8100 experience is too much money for me to want to spend, around $4000 including new UCA.

I will update this thread when I have more info on how they perform loaded up later in the summer.
I am going up to the north shore in June and will drive a trail called Gandy Dancer which everyone says is just 30 miles of really rough road so that should give me a really good idea of how they preform. And in August I am going to Texas where I plan on driving Padre Island.

 

Saw this when I was looking for new shocks.

Link
Has Anyone Paired the Bilstein 6112 with their 8100 in Back? | Tacoma World

Text from link

Posting it here for anyone comes across this thread in the future:
I was a product engineer at Bilstein for a couple years and had the chance to test the full product line on my 2nd gen. I was also actively involved in ride tuning. Here's a quick summary of my experience. Let me know if you have any questions!
4600-5100, not much of a noticable difference. You get some extra travel but wont really notice it and ride quality is similar.
5100-6112, A good amount more control on the front, better ride quality off road and slightly more harshness on road.
6112 - 8100, Massive Difference. I first put on the 8100s on the rear and kept the 6112s on the front to see what changing one variable at a time would feel like. The 8100 on the rear was mind blowing, I was able to hit large dips in the road at highway speeds and could not feel the rear bottom out, I would feel the front bottom out slightly. Then I put the 8112 on the front with the 8100 still on the rear and I'd say the truck felt 20% better and more resistant to bottom out with about the same ride quality as the 6112 in terms of harshness over small bumps. You can hear the jounce and rebound zones actuating on the 8112 to a small extent but it is only noticeable if you're really feeling for it and on paved roads.

In summary, the 8100 on the rear was the single biggest improvement. If you're on a budget, go 6112 and 8100 rear

 

Yep when I was looking for info on this setup that thread with the one quote is pretty much the only thing I could find.
So I figured I'd make this post and document my journey with this setup to maybe help others in their choices.

 

Finally got out on some gravel roads and holy smokes are these shocks amazing.

I was just flying down the roads (45-55mph) even with my tires at 40psi the washboard was like riding on pavement and I hit every pot hole straight on. It was almost a little scary because I could go so much faster than before.

I turned down the rear shocks 2 clicks on the high speed since my bed was empty.

 

You madman. You actually did it.

I haven’t been able to pull the trigger yet. So I’m happy that my thread got you some info. Also glad to see how much you’re loving it!

 

So far I am very happy that I spent the extra money for the bigger and adjustable rear shocks.

My only regret is that if I had just gone full 2.5 from the beginning, instead of just putting on extended travel twin tube shocks, I could have gone full 8112/8100 for how much I have already spent on the 2 shock setups
I usually am pretty good at doing the whole buy once cry once thing but suspension is one of those things I have never replaced in my 20+ years of driving so I didn't realize how much better it could really be.

 

ahh yeah that’s a bit of a bummer. But honestly, from what I’ve been able to read, the jump from 6112 to 8112 is a much smaller jump than the one from 5100 to 8100.

You’re still on the right path, and you’re getting 85 or 90% the performance.

 

The jump from a 6112 which is a traditional shock to a 5 zone shock like an 8112 is a massive change. The 8112 zone control system is designed to compete with a coilover, air bump, and bypass on the front end. I'm not sure where you read that but I'm kind of shocked (get it) that someone said that.

 

Yeah fair enough. It’s probably just forum cope that I’m uncritically repeating. This will be ironic coming from me right now, but most people on these boards aren’t well-educated on these things.

I’d absolutely trust your opinion over anything else I’ve read.

 

Just curious what tire you running @ 40 psi, and what let you to running that high?

 

On bilsteins instagram recently I saw someone asking for rear fitment non reservoir 2.5s to match the 6112's and their response was "stay tuned". Anyone else catch that?

 

Just yesterday i had a visit from my best friend from high school who is rocking my original 8112s, he lives 10 miles down a dirt road (thats a trail on OnX lol) and that set is at 80k miles on them on original seals as well... probably the most overlooked advantage of the system is the seal head assembly from their "secret" military shocks (that they love to talk about). Crazy how many performance shocks i get in with 10k miles on them puking oil or out of pressure... but also most of my income is from rebuilds and tuning, so maybe I'm not being the most business saavy guy lol.

Never believe something i say unless i can prove it, i often find myself arguing with myself from a few months ago lol.

 

It took them 4 years to come out with 5100s for the new tundra, you will be staying tuned for quite a while haha

 

I have 255/75r17 SL Duratrac RT.
Cold psi is 36 so fully heated up they are around 40psi.
I run that psi because Jeep guys have the same size tires and that seems to be the pressure they run.

When I off road I drop down to 20psi and on long gravel roads I run around 30psi

 

Main downside to the 8100s in the rear is they give you less suspension travel than some other options. Going fast on dirt roads it doesnt really matter but the extra suspension travel is super helpful for rock crawling and rougher roads/trails.

 

8100s are 22.8in extended. Even the stock OR shocks are 22.94. When running a thicker leaf pack like the RXTs or a 1in spacer you can use 5125s that will give you an extended length of 24.35. An extra inch and a half of droop means your wheels arent going to have to leave the ground on bigger bumps at speed and in cross axle crawling situations.

I havnt looked into it but there may be some suitable length Tundra 8100s.....

 

That was a consideration of mine, before I bought the 8100s I did look up the Tundra 8100s and they are an inch longer so I would lose up travel.
The kinda off roading I do the stock 8~" of total travel is enough for me, I try to never do trails harder than level 5, and personally for my needs I would rather have more up travel than more flex.

But everyone has different wants, mine is more exploring off roading, where I can get to a destination vs going to an off road park to see how hard I can push the truck.

 

Wasn't trying to say you made the wrong choice. It is all about balancing your own needs. If you don't feel them topping out or find yourself in situations with a wheel hanging in the air then you are getting all the wonderful benefits of the 8100s with no downside.

Do you know how much thicker the RXT leafs are than stock springs? The lower shock mount is moved down by any extra leaf spring thickness (or spacer thickness). I added the oem 1in blocks and that let me run 5125s that had a 1in longer compressed length without losing any up travel. Same goes for thicker leaf springs.

I believe Tundra shocks require some modifications to work though. Same with the 5125s. Also they are tuned a bit different.

 

I understand what you were saying and definitely didn't take it as I made the wrong choice, it's hard to convey such things in forums sometimes.

I didn't think about the spring size difference, it's been too long since I installed them to remember how thick the OEM pack was. The RXTs are just over 2" thick.
I do know though at full droop the 8100s were about 1" short. So I am loosing about 1" of travel that the leaf pack could give me.

Next time I go to an off road area that has a flex ramp I'll see what I can get in the rear.

 

My stock leafs look to be a hair under 1-3/4" so not that big of a difference. 1" short isn't bad, stock off-road shocks are about 1/2" short of what the stock springs can do and the RXTs are supposed to have more range.