Bilstein 6112

Ya I just have sliders. at 6/5 it put me at 2 inches but the boots were rubbing and didn't want to deal with replacing all the time so happy with 5/4 and 1.5 in of lift. Ride is much better overall. In my case, more rebound dampening is needed. But not going to spend the time/money to revalve lol overall really happy with them. But have bottomed out front and rear pretty damn hard too many times, so super bumps are in my future purchases.

 

Bump stops don’t make the topping out any worse. That’s a factor of spring weight and valving. I’m at 4/5 with 650# springs, bumper, winch, no sway bar and 35’s. My front is riding as well as its going to with 6112’s. Next step is Fox’s down the road.

 

Awesome thank you for the feedback!

 

Would be interested to hear from 2nd gen owners who ran these on the fourth setting, 600 lb coils, no extra weight.

 

Nothing will stop or minimize topping out unless you move the spring clip to 3, 2 or 1 from 6 or 5 and lower the ride height. Topping out occurs at max extension of the dampener.

As the ride height (or amount of lift) increases with higher clip positions (think 6 or 5) the down travel decreases.

If you drive from on a flat surface over a 6" deep pothole at speed, the suspension immediate goes to max extension/down travel. If the front dampener provides 4" of tire down travel, it will top out immediately.

Easiest way to determine the amount of down travel is take a static measurement at normal ride height from the front hub center to fender. Now jack up the front until the tire just about comes off the ground. Take the same measurement, hub center to fender (this is dampener at max extension).

Subtract the normal ride height measurement from the measurement taken at max dampener extension (tire just about leaves the ground). That is the down travel of the tire at set ride height.

If you can position the dampener to a ride near just about in the middle of the stroke you will have the best ride and more down travel.

 

I have a 2013 2nd gen dclb and had them on the 4th clip, 600lb coils, with no weight when I first got them (I have 650lb bilstein coils on the 5th clip with shitloads of weight now though lol). The setting you are talking about was the absolute best ride I ever had. You will absolutely love that setup.

 

Nice! Appreciate that info.

Did you run stock UCAs and if so were you able to align ok?

 

I went right to the JBA UCA'S eight at the beginning.....buy once, cry once is my motto. Are they 100% necessary....no.....and they 100% recommended......absolutely. You will still be able to align on the 4th clip with stock ucas but you will wear them out more quickly. Not to mention that you you are going g to have everything ripped apart anyway....makes it a hell of a lot easier and saves time. As well as the ecgs bushing.

 

I’ve gone back and forth on UCAs. Already doing the ECGS bushing for sure. Honestly only thing stopping me from committing to UCAs, other than the $, is the dreaded bolt. Did you have to bend any sheet metal on install?

 

Lol....nope.....do yourself the biggest favor. Don't bend anything. Go to toyota, buy 2 new uca bolts, for a total of $19 for both, cut the old ones out at the tops of them where the heads are after the nuts and washers are taken out, and take them out the bottom. I then put the new ones in from the bottom up and never had an issue in 4 years. I also like the fact that my JBAs have greasable zeros on the bj and the bushings so I loosen up the UCA nut a little, grease the bushings, and then retorque every 5000 miles while I am waiting for my oil to drain out during the change.

 

You got the high caster JBAs right?

Some folks are commenting that the recently manufactured version is having a lot of bushing and BJ failure.

 

What is going to wear out more quickly with the stock UCAs vs the JBAs and why?

I've never heard this one before..

 

I bought my high caster jbas in 2018 so I received the original bushings and BJ's. I just swapped out the bushings and BJ's this past fall, not because they were failing in anyway, but just because I wheel pretty hard and they already had 50,000 miles on them. I have never encountered an issue with either my bushings or bj's, new or old. I did hear that there was a batch of BJ's that marlin released that did have boot issues but as far as I know they have been fixed. I very much still highly recommend them.

 

Adding a lift puts more wear and tear on your BJ's through the more demanding angle of aggressive articulation. This is why with a 2nd gen Aftermarket UCA'S are required for a 2.5+ inch lift and for a 3rd gen a 1.5+ inch loft since a 3rd gen is already 1 inch higher then a 2nd gen. Sticking with stock UCAS are fine with small then these lifts due to the OEM BJ's not being subjected to the harsh articulation angles. But adding any lift is there to also allow you to put bugger tires on your truck. Bigger tires need more caster so it won't rub on alignment. Aftermarket UCA'S give you that added caster to make this possible. So to answer your question, The bushings on the OEM UCA won't really wear out due to putting on the lift but most people who add a lift, start wheeling their rigs a little harder then they did before to see what the lift allows them to do with their truck now. Since the bushings on the OEM and pressed in and solid rubber, they can wear out quicker. The bushings on the JBAs are greasable, more durable, and easily replaceable if necessary. The BJ on the OEM UCA is not made to handle the pounding of consistent offroad or the aggressive angles of articulation which can cause them to prematurely fail, not to mention is pressed into the uca so hard to press in and out. The JBA BJ'S are greasable, easily replaceable without a press and made for a full size truck. Not to mention can handle much more aggressive angles from the lift as well as take a pounding in the process.

 

Higher caster UCA don’t add clearance to reduce rubbing at the rear. They actually decrease clearance. A lift isn’t going to wear your ball joints any quicker. Ball joints will wear prematurely due to increases in tire size and weight and harder impacts but not from a ride height increase. Higher caster UCA’s only help with alignment and the ball joint may increase travel if the coilover allows for it. No one is breaking stock UCAs though.

 

totally agree with your statement.

 

That sounds like a salesman's effort to sell you something.


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1. I did not say clearance.....I said bigger tires need more caster so they won't rub. It pushes the angle of the tire further forward so it doesn't rub against the cab mount while turning. If you see in this picture below.....the front gap is smaller than the rear gap because of the positive caster.

2. I did not say that the lift will wear out your BJ's quicker, I said that the BJ on the OEM UCA is not made to handle the pounding of consistent offroad or the aggressive angles of articulation which can (not will)cause them to prematurely fail. I have a couple of buddies up here that have stock UCAS on their truck with their lift. As I said in a previous post....it is not 100% necessary but recommended.
3. Yes, you are correct that the larger and heavier the tire, the more stress it will put on the BJ.
4. Once again, my reasoning for my answer was situational. 90% of the time, when a person puts a lift on their truck, they inevitably get larger and heavier tires (which like you pointed out puts more stress on the BJ). This then leads them to be more daring to take their vehicle off road more then they would have without the lift and tires which where I pointed out puts more stress on the BJ's because it is not usual road driving.

 

I don't work for them nor am I trying to sell you anything. This is what I have, these are my experiences, and this is what works for me. Do your research on your own, buy once cry once. Get what you believe is going to be right for your truck. It's not mine.....it's yours. I have what works for me and what serious lift installers have been recommending for years. Not installers that just put on 3 inch readylift spacer blocks. Once again, your money, your truck, your ride....

 

I did my research and have what works for me and has probably more miles off-road than yours.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_68Hc8GtLko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1tTelhdEiM