Golden Ticket! Great Experience, Had to Share

I’ll start by saying that I’m not sure what good deed I’ve done to deserve this, but recently I got hooked up by the good people at Bilstein. I work at a company located next to them in Poway, Ca (San Diego county). The other day, I’m walking out to my truck and I see what looks like an advertisement on my windshield. As I get closer, I notice that it’s something from Bilstein with a business card included. I damn near start high fiving strangers when I see a note saying, “Call me for a free upgrade!” As an admitted TW addict, I’ve been wanting to lift the truck since the day I took delivery. Long story short(ish), I call within a minute of reading the note and talk to one of their Vehicle Application Techs. He explained that they needed a long bed 4x4 2nd gen for some R&D and if I agreed to lend them my truck, as a “thank you,” they would upgrade me from my current setup. It turns out, of the NINE tacos in our business park, I’m the only DCLB 4WD. Can you say DCLB FTMFW? Right off the bat, I asked if they would be willing to install a 6112/5160 combo and he agreed! He went on to tell me that they would be fitting the new 8112s on the front of my truck and testing ride height at all different settings. That was it; the only thing they needed it for. There wasn’t going to be any stress testing and very little driving. When they were finished, they would remove the 8112s (DAMN!) and install the setup I requested with the 6112s set to lift the front approximately 2” and perform an alignment. They even hooked me up with a loaner Frontier while they had the Taco. I got to take pics along the way and they gave their blessing to share the story here. With the front lifted, I’m sitting a bit nose high at the moment but that’s an easy fix. They offered to put on a 1” block in the rear but I decided against it. I’ve already been in touch with Marie at Headstrong about an add-a-leaf. Initially, Bilstein was going to try and find an AAL for me but in the end asked that I give them feedback on the current setup after I’ve had a chance to log some miles both on and off the pavement so I’ll probably wait a couple weeks before lifting the rear. I’ve only had the truck back for a day and I haven’t had a chance to get in the dirt quite yet but I will say, the ride quality is definitely an improvement over stock. I want to say it’s a bit stiffer but certainly not overly so. Everything just feels tighter if that makes sense. I notice less roll, and my ass doesn’t move around as much in my seat. The whole experience was an awesome one and these guys deserve a shout out for a great product and for taking care of a budding enthusiast. Everyone I met had a passion for what they do. I learned a lot from these guys. They were the type of people you’d want to have a beer with and talk suspension all day. One more thing to share. If you visit their website you can keep an eye on the specific vehicles they need for R&D. Of course, you must live in SO Cal, but I thought you guys might appreciate a link. The last pic is of the 8112s that they used to test

http://www.bilsteinus.com/products/search-service/ride-testing-vehicle-submission/

 

Bad ass man!!!! That looks really good too!!!

 

Thanks man, I'm stoked!

 

Heck yeah!!! I would be also!!!

​

 

Badass! Congratulations man! Those Bilsteins look awesome on the truck

 

Sweet!!!

 

Congrats!

Looks good!

 

Fuck yea dude!
Keep doing what your doing!
Doing something right if you were able to get a free front lift!
Congrats- looks sick

 

Nice and shiny.!

 

Very cool!
Since you saved some money on the shocks, now all you have to do is get a nice leaf pack and some UCAs and you're set!
Congrats on the new setup

 

Heck yeah! May be a little while on the UCAs. The day Bilstein reached out to me I went out and dropped some coin on the KO2s.

 

Very good! The 6112's are the ticket.

 

Fucking sweet!

 

Awesome man, good on ya.

At the very least this should put the LB vs SB argument to bed!

 

Very cool, I have had Bilstein's on several of my cars and always really liked them.

 

Now of course what comes next...

I've always wanted to get some triple bypass dual rate kings up front and so since you are in Cali stop by and let them know I too have a DCLB 4x4 and maybe just maybe it can happen.

Probably not, but awesome story. Even better when you upgrade again (we all say it, but we all know what will happen) then you can hook somebody else up with these.

 

Ha, Long Bed Strong Island.

 

Looks great!

So what notch setting did they use on the 6112?

Also, if you do lift the rear, what AAL are you thinking about?

Thanks.

 

Thanks, 4th notch. I'm not sure which AAL just yet. I'll call Marie today or tomorrow and figure it out. I'll let you know.

 

Fantastic...that's what my 6112's are going to be set at.

For the rear, I went with the Headstrong 3-Leaf AAL, so that I can have the option of keeping or removing the overload leaf depending on the rake I get with the option.