So I recently installed both of these in my 200 and have lived with them for a few weeks. I installed both of them myself. Here are my initial thoughts...
Let's start with the Beat Sonic. I followed the excellent YouTube install video from Beat Sonic and with the exception of hooking up the new wireless antenna, it was spot on. I chose the Beat Sonic because of the support, they're *excellent* to deal with! Very responsive to emails and you can actually get them on the phone if need be. I was on the wait list for the original one but was able to grab their newer version, which has wireless and better screen resolution.
My phone (iphone 12 Pro) pairs quickly and I haven't really had any hiccups. I had one this weekend where I had to turn the carplay on/off on my phone and it paired again no problem. Resolutoin is good and it can stack apps, so I can listen to Sirius/XM app and have Waze running too. Waze will cut in with voice instructions over the music. Everything else is typical CarPlay, so it works great.
They want you to use the stock 200 phone call stuff and tell you how to set up your phone that way, however I've found that if a call comes in and you've got CarPlay running, CarPlay picks up the call, not the car's phone system if that makes any sense.
My one complaint is that with the phone setup to default to the car, it defaults that way for music too. That means that once you've launched CarPlay and then started your music, you need to pick up your phone and choose CarPlay as the music output, as your phone will default to the cars bluetooth system instead. That's sort of a PITA but I haven't reached out to Beat Sonic to ask them about it. I'll try calling them today. Overall I'm very pleased with this and it does what I hoped it would do. It's not cheap but we don't really have a choice to replace the entire sound system head unit like in an older car...
Ok, Bilstein 6112/5160's review! I also installed these on my own, reading the factory service manual and watching a few videos. Read my post here about the install, it's #643, linky Bilstein 6112/5160 Installed - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/bilstein-6112-5160-installed.1213812/page-33#post-14621880.
I mostly wanted to level the truck, I have a 4 post lift in my garage and I need to fit this thing under and have limited clearance. With the Bilsteins installed, even on their lowest perch I've only got ~2.5" of clearance, so going up higher isn't really in the cards for me, at least not now.
What I noticed immediately was the lack of brake dive, it's basically gone. The truck also handles much, much better. However that's because it's much stiffer than stock. That results in a much more busy, almost brittle ride. You feel pretty much every road irregularity now, whereas the stock setup is very plush and you tend to glide over that stuff. I'm still getting used to it but I like the handling so much more I'm ok with the trade off. I do think that if/when I install a front bumper and put more weight on the nose of the truck the ride will improve, as the spring rates are probably meant for more weight than I have now.
Happy with it as is and I can lift the truck more if I want to, like when I buy another house with a shop....
Let's start with the Beat Sonic. I followed the excellent YouTube install video from Beat Sonic and with the exception of hooking up the new wireless antenna, it was spot on. I chose the Beat Sonic because of the support, they're *excellent* to deal with! Very responsive to emails and you can actually get them on the phone if need be. I was on the wait list for the original one but was able to grab their newer version, which has wireless and better screen resolution.
My phone (iphone 12 Pro) pairs quickly and I haven't really had any hiccups. I had one this weekend where I had to turn the carplay on/off on my phone and it paired again no problem. Resolutoin is good and it can stack apps, so I can listen to Sirius/XM app and have Waze running too. Waze will cut in with voice instructions over the music. Everything else is typical CarPlay, so it works great.
They want you to use the stock 200 phone call stuff and tell you how to set up your phone that way, however I've found that if a call comes in and you've got CarPlay running, CarPlay picks up the call, not the car's phone system if that makes any sense.
My one complaint is that with the phone setup to default to the car, it defaults that way for music too. That means that once you've launched CarPlay and then started your music, you need to pick up your phone and choose CarPlay as the music output, as your phone will default to the cars bluetooth system instead. That's sort of a PITA but I haven't reached out to Beat Sonic to ask them about it. I'll try calling them today. Overall I'm very pleased with this and it does what I hoped it would do. It's not cheap but we don't really have a choice to replace the entire sound system head unit like in an older car...
Ok, Bilstein 6112/5160's review! I also installed these on my own, reading the factory service manual and watching a few videos. Read my post here about the install, it's #643, linky Bilstein 6112/5160 Installed - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/bilstein-6112-5160-installed.1213812/page-33#post-14621880.
I mostly wanted to level the truck, I have a 4 post lift in my garage and I need to fit this thing under and have limited clearance. With the Bilsteins installed, even on their lowest perch I've only got ~2.5" of clearance, so going up higher isn't really in the cards for me, at least not now.
What I noticed immediately was the lack of brake dive, it's basically gone. The truck also handles much, much better. However that's because it's much stiffer than stock. That results in a much more busy, almost brittle ride. You feel pretty much every road irregularity now, whereas the stock setup is very plush and you tend to glide over that stuff. I'm still getting used to it but I like the handling so much more I'm ok with the trade off. I do think that if/when I install a front bumper and put more weight on the nose of the truck the ride will improve, as the spring rates are probably meant for more weight than I have now.
Happy with it as is and I can lift the truck more if I want to, like when I buy another house with a shop....
