Rear struts

I need rear struts and leaf springs in a pretty bad way. I was wanting bilstein 5100's at factory ride height.

Anyone have an idea why there's a $60 difference between these?

The cheaper pair says a minimum 1" lift is required but the lengths are shorter than the $240 ones which doesn't make sense to me.

I wanted stock ride height but at this point I'm thinking I'll lift out an inch to save $60 on struts.

 

well, it'll cost at least $60 to lift the rear end. That's about how much the 1" lift shackles that I have cost.

But then you'll need to lift the front too. If you need new front shocks (you probably do unless you recently replaced them), the 5100s for the front are adjustable. I lifted mine with the middle clip in the front, and the 1" lift shackle in the rear, and had 5100s all around. I think all in I was looking at under $350-400.

 

I already have 5100's in the front and will be doing a leaf spring stack when i do these rear struts. Are the $180 ones cheaper built or something that I'm missing?

 

As far as I know they're identical. The 0" 5100's are just a newer shock. It used to be that your only option, like when I got mine, were the 1-3" ones.

I bet if you shop around you can find them cheaper. Maybe check out the vendors section on this forum.

 

Bump.

We should have a sticky thread for all known suspension setups. My eyes are almost bleeding after searching and reading 100 useless threads. I haul wood sometimes so i was thinking about HD leaf packs. But don't wanna sacrifice ride quality. I've been reading some shitty things about 5100's riding rough and leaking oil pretty quickly. What do you all recommend for stock-1" lift, good unloaded ride quality, added stiffness under a load?

 

What the...

Keep in mind my reply is to this specific post as I've read nothing that was said above.

There are tons of people, including myself, that have Bilstein 5100's with no issues to date.

You can't make the exception the rule; no one will come on to say "I bought new shocks, and they're working the way they should". No, we bought them and expect for them to work the way they should and if there's an issue, such as a leak, then I'm sure someone would post about it. I'd be willing to wager it's a stupidly low number though.

With that being said, you do realize you own a truck right?

You also know that adding a suspension lift, is generally aimed for someone that plans to take said truck on unimproved roads.

Driving on unimproved roads requires traction that could be harder to achieve unless you have good tires, etc. not to mention stiffer suspension to keep your wheels planted to the ground.

So I hit on two topics you mentioned, and hope my explanation helps to clear up any misunderstanding you have of aftermarket shocks, more specifically, Bilstein 5100's.

As for the HD leaf packs and such, I know of none except that General Springs offers a set (unless you go custom).

For that, I'll let @theophelias chime in as we installed General Springs HD leaf pack in the rear along with some Bilstein 5100's.

PS A shock leak can develop with even more expensive shocks. It's unfortunate, but can happen. I figured that out myself with only 2 months of ownership with Fox 2.0 shocks in the rear. That's why I'm running the Bilstein 5100's.

 

@Kwikvette
So you dont experience a stiff ride while driving on-road/hitting bumps and pot holes with your 5100's?

I drive my truck 90% of the time on road with no load so stiffer suspension/lift doesn't really interest me. I wanted an HD pack for hauling wood but was under the impression that would probably raise/stiffen the rear of the truck, am i wrong?

 

Hmm...

I don't experience as stiff of a ride as I should be considering I'm not only running a lift kit, I'm also running 10 ply tires, which add to the stiffness.....yet I daily my truck and even take long drives with it.

I guess that's subjective because on paper, I should have a crazy, stiff riding truck and yet people bitch about their ride with even C or D range tires.

Anyway, I don't think it's a stiff ride at all.

I did experience "jarring" which was attributed to a rear end that felt like it was lacking any "dampening" but that was directly related to my Fox 2.0 shocks. The rear end would bounce almost when I drove in really bad holes/pot holes and to test the theory, I had purchased the Bilstein 5100's.

Fox -



The two -



Bilstein -



Anyway, the Bilsteins proved to have softer dampening (due to the difference in valving) and driving down the same roads didn't give me that "jarring" experience when I'd fly over a speed bump.

What I didn't like about the Bilstein's though was that the rear felt a little "soggy" (due to a lack of better term) when I'd off road while all loaded up. The Fox shocks in this case were great for that.

Anyway, my truck feels great (even though its pretty heavy) but even before I got my front bumper, sliders, etc. on, the Bilsteins were great.

 

Wow your truck is super clean. @Kwikvette

I dont mind the soggy feeling while loaded down off road, since i will be doing it short distance/seldomly.

So in your opinion, 5100's would be the best factory replacement shock for the $?

 

Ha, that's after I sprayed the rear end down and scrubbed it clean after I had shock oil all over.

The truck overall is dirty all the time and dinged up.

Yes, Bilstein 5100's are a great option for someone that may want to off road, but I wouldn't say they're a factory replacement parse.

Opt for the shorter variant since you're not going for anything more than a 1" lift so you don't run into issues at full extension/compression -

$104 33-247724 Bilstein 5100 Series 96-04 Toyota Tacoma Rear Left 46mm Monotube Shock Absorber (33-247724)

33-247724 and

$96 33-247717 Coupling, 3/4" (50)

33-247717

There's another variant with part numbers BE5-D559 and D560 but they're slightly longer both compressed and extended which I advise against with your setup.

 

The $180 dollar ones are 0-1” of lift, the $240 ones are for 0-2.5” of lift in the rear hence the cost difference. So depending on how much your planning on lifting the rear of your truck buy accordingly.

 

@Kwikvette Bilstein's site says for the p/n's that you advised a minimum of 1" lift is required.

@gotoman1969 0-1" would be fine but according to online distributors its "a minimum of 1" " Which is the whole point of this post, looking for someone who has experienced that the cheaper option will work properly with no lift.

 

Sorry, I quite clearly don't know as much as i should about these shocks but i just figured there would be a shock designed as a direct oem upgrade, without a need to lift and that option shouldbcost less than the upgrade that would require a lift..

 

You did mention something about adding an inch of lift, possibly an HD leaf pack (or, one could assume an add a leaf) which will make up for that inch.

That's why I specifically recommended that Bilstein shock by part number.

The other guy, probably doesn't even have a 1st gen...and if he's never owned a 1st gen, will not understand the limited choices there are for our trucks.

With that being said, the difference in price isn't because of the application...it's because you're quoting two different vendors.

I can find the same product from two vendors and show you different prices all day long. The only thing he was correct about, was the difference in application which I mentioned the part numbers for.

 

@BubbaTaco324

Going back and reading your reply to the other poster, you are stating no lift.

You need Bilstein 4600s which are meant for 0 lift.

They're slightly softer than 5100s since the valving is slightly different.