Bilstein 6112/5160 Installed (26 Viewers)

[amitbh234]

i said screw it and bought the 6112/5160. already have SL rated falkens 285/65/18.

Ordered on perch 3. Is it fine going with the stock springs in the rear? Ive got a 2021 HE w/3rd row so it did not come ass end high like the other HE's.

How do you like the ride with perch 3 and the SL rated falkens? This is where I might end up as well. Your recent comment made me think you might not be liking the setup/stiffness.

I drove the rig on some gravel roads and to and from a lake on the highway. Forgot how nice the stock setup is on long drives and how nicely it soaks up the small bumps. I drive mostly pavement and most of my complaints with the suspension (complaint is a strong word) is with the body roll during in the inner neighborhood roads and generally wallowing behavior. On the highway it’s buttery smooth.

 

[sedole]

How do you like the ride with perch 3 and the SL rated falkens? This is where I might end up as well. Your recent comment made me think you might not be liking the setup/stiffness.

I drove the rig on some gravel roads and to and from a lake on the highway. Forgot how nice the stock setup is on long drives and how nicely it soaks up the small bumps. I drive mostly pavement and most of my complaints with the suspension (complaint is a strong word) is with the body roll during in the inner neighborhood roads and generally wallowing behavior. On the highway it’s buttery smooth.

Not on that exact setup but I think I can give some insight. I'm on the 4th perch and currently E load 35s, but have used SL for a short stent once. It will be stiffer than stock, but especially with SL tires I wouldn't call the ride stiff. Supportive but compliant is what I'd call it. Great on gravel especially if you keep up a little speed. You'll probably feel small bumps a little more than stock at slower speeds, thus is the nature of a digressive shock. But your complaint should be very nicely addressed. The bilsteins do great at body control. Ride should be much less wallowy. Still very smooth on highway.

IMO the supple SL rated tires will keep the ride a little more comfortable than the typical E rated most tend to run.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Not on that exact setup but I think I can give some insight. I'm on the 4th perch and currently E load 35s, but have used SL for a short stent once. It will be stiffer than stock, but especially with SL tires I wouldn't call the ride stiff. Supportive but compliant is what I'd call it. Great on gravel especially if you keep up a little speed. You'll probably feel small bumps a little more than stock at slower speeds, thus is the nature of a digressive shock. But your complaint should be very nicely addressed. The bilsteins do great at body control. Ride should be much less wallowy. Still very smooth on highway.

IMO the supple SL rated tires will keep the ride a little more comfortable than the typical E rated most tend to run.

I’m on 3rd clip and agree with all of this above

I’ll be going back to C or SL tires at some point

 

[sedole]

I’ll be going back to C or SL tires at some point

Same. Wanting to ditch the E load as soon as this set wears a little more. Even going from E to D can make a notable difference--speaking from personal experience.

 

[Blackwater]

Have you guys seen the rears in stock anywhere?

6112 fronts are in stock a few places but I can't find the rear 5160's anywhere...

 

[dudemancool1904]

one of the rears is on back order till August.
My shock builder was checking with Bilstein to see if the left one was just the same shock with a sticker and resi mounted on the opposite side. Haven’t heard back yet.

 

[Boston Mangler]

one of the rears is on back order till August.
My shock builder was checking with Bilstein to see if the left one was just the same shock with a sticker and resi mounted on the opposite side. Haven’t heard back yet.

They are not

I went through same thing…

Front 2 and one rear (forget which one) were available immediately.

One was on backorder for MONTHS, verified from multiple trusted sources, they arent the same

I’ve posted this before, but Bilstein does things weird and build shocks one side at a time, and always has

Friend that’s a dealer told me at one point they had dozens of plus 4runner kits all missing the same shock and took over 6 month

It’s how it’s always been

How or why? I’ve never been able to get a straight answer

 

[dudemancool1904]

Just got an email from shock surplus they are back in stock on rears.
Also saw on IG that wheeleveryweekend just received a pallet of bilsteins.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Update…

Got the 2721s in today:

When I got it bone stock:
DR: 21 1/4"
PR: 21 1/4"

After Bilstein Regular Rear Springs (NO DRAWERS FRIDGE OR TOOLS):
DR: 23 1/8"
PR: 23 1/4"

Bilstein Regular Rear Springs WITH DRAWERS FRIDGE AND TOOLS:
DR: 21 3/4”
PR: 21 3/4”

OME Rear Springs WITH DRAWERS FRIDGE AND TOOLS:
DR: 22 1/2”
PR: 22 1/2”

No immediately noticeable difference in ride quality or handling.

Will drive for a bit and report back

OME (left) vs Bilstein

 

[amitbh234]

Just got the rig back from the shop after the suspension overhaul and 6112/5160 bilstein installation.

The job included installation of the following:
1. 6112 Bilstein front struts at 3rd circlip from the bottom. Theoretical lift of 1.8inches
2. 5160 struts and standard load Bilstein springs. Theoretical lift 1.75inches.
3. New OEM upper control arms
4. New OEM lower control arms
5. Dr. KDSS bolt panhard correction bracket
6. New front sway bar end links
7. New front and rear sway bar bushings
8. New passenger inner and outer tie rod(this was a “while we’re in there thing” as the driver side was done a few months ago.
9. Fresh oil and filter change.

The only hiccup is that the vsc and psc error lights and abs lights are on but my shop told me it just needs to get recalibrated with techstream after the alignment. Sending the car to an alignment shop tomorrow morning. Curious to know if anyone else came across this issue.

I have been anxious over how the car was gonna ride with the bilstein setup. I knew the digressive valving was going to make slow speed bumps more noticeable. Happy to report that the car’s handling feels tighter and more controlled expecting it to only get better after the alignment. The nose dive is GONE, body roll at slow speeds is less pronounced. Shocks are well damped, evident front how it recovers after speed bumps. At slow speed concrete expansion joints and road to driveway transitions are slightly more noticeable but not as bad as I feared. The upsides of the valving (better control and handling) outweighs the drawback. Need more time behind the wheel after the alignment for a good feel. Loving how it drives but even more so how it looks.

I’ll take hub to fender measurement and post before and after later. Here’s some before after shots. This thread helped me a lot make the decision on setup. Thank you all.

 

[FrazzledHunter]

I looked for sn answer but came up short.

I'm currently running stock suspension and stock sized tires. I do have Firestone 4164 air bags for towing which have worked out quite well so far.

Trailer is under 6000lb with 600lb tongue weight (both weighta are approximations)

If I installed this kit the idea would be to dispense with the air bags and see how towing worked out.

My garage height simply won't accomodate any height increase due to my roof rack.

Question: can this kit be installed with no lift?

 

[Boston Mangler]

I looked for sn answer but came up short.

I'm currently running stock suspension and stock sized tires. I do have Firestone 4164 air bags for towing which have worked out quite well so far.

Trailer is under 6000lb with 600lb tongue weight (both weighta are approximations)

If I installed this kit the idea would be to dispense with the air bags and see how towing worked out.

My garage height simply won't accomodate any height increase due to my roof rack.

Question: can this kit be installed with no lift?

Short answer is yes. @dudemancool1904 has mentioned he’s contemplating same

The fronts can be installed at bottom clip for no lift

The rear shocks are good for stock height to +2” according to their specs

Question is, rear springs.. not sure how truck would react to new digressive valved shocks on stock OEM rear springs

 

[jefo13]

I am on stock rear springs with spacer and it’s excellent, it’s less stiff than OME2721 which I run for a few months

 

[Boston Mangler]

I am on stock rear springs with spacer and it’s excellent, it’s less stiff than OME2721 which I run for a few months

Weight and cargo?

I just put in 2721s and other than 1/2” higher than the Bilstein springs I haven’t noticed any changes in Ride/handling

I have drawers and tools and fridge in back

 

[FrazzledHunter]

Short answer is yes. @dudemancool1904 has mentioned he’s contemplating same

The fronts can be installed at bottom clip for no lift

The rear shocks are good for stock height to +2” according to their specs

Question is, rear springs.. not sure how truck would react to new digressive valved shocks on stock OEM rear springs

Understood. There's height changes and then there's how well the OEM spring will play with the new shock. And from there it gets complicated.

There was a post about getting lift from just adding the rear shock, if I understand the post correctly:

Post in thread 'Bilstein 6112/5160 Installed'

Sep 24, 2022

I was surprised about that as well. Overall it got lifted more than I expected, I’ve only got 2.5” of clearance under my lift now.

Only thing I can think of is the bilsteins are more of a high pressure shock, so don’t sag as much as the factory shocks?

• Docwyte

• 

 

[Boston Mangler]

There was a post about getting lift from just adding the rear shock,

That’s 100% Misinformation if someone is claiming that

 

[FrazzledHunter]

That’s 100% Misinformation if someone is claiming that

Well, it's how I interpreted the post.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Well, it's how I interpreted the post.

Yes, that’s how it reads, and how I interpret it as well

But it’s mechanically 100% impossible

 

[FrazzledHunter]

Yes, that’s how it reads, and how I interpret it as well

But it’s mechanically 100% impossible

Well that's what i would have assumed for a non- pressurized shock. So it boils down to how well the shocks work with OEM rear springs.

I suppose I could leave the airbags in place for towing but then the shocks aren't doing as much.

I was never super thrilled with the OEM ride, it was a bit "floatey-boaty" and porpoised a bit on washboard roads.

What I have now is at least working pretty well but after almost 6000 miles of towing this summer there are times I wished i had more dampening, at least in the front. The rear seems pretty stiff, at least when i'm running 12-15 psi.

What would be great is a better ride while towing with airbags inflated and when the bags are at 5 psi when i'm not towing.

I'm just afraid of going down a rabbit hole with changing shocks, springs, airbags etc...

 

[Boston Mangler]

Well that's what i would have assumed for a non- pressurized shock. So it boils down to how well the shocks work with OEM rear springs.

I suppose I could leave the airbags in place for towing but then the shocks aren't doing as much.

I was never super thrilled with the OEM ride, it was a bit "floatey-boaty" and porpoised a bit on washboard roads.

What I have now is at least working pretty well but after almost 6000 miles of towing this summer there are times I wished i had more dampening, at least in the front. The rear seems pretty stiff, at least when i'm running 12-15 psi.

What would be great is a better ride while towing with airbags inflated and when the bags are at 5 psi when i'm not towing.

I'm just afraid of going down a rabbit hole with changing shocks, springs, airbags etc...

Yes. I had bags in my 100 series and put them at 20ish when hauling my XR650 dirtbike off the back and deflated when not. Worked good enough

But…

Airbags don’t have the same rebound/dampening properties as springs so it’s pretty dang tricky to get them to all work together

I’m not a suspension expert by any means but I also have a Ram5500 RV 4x4 thing and it’s 100% on bags (no springs) front and rear. Had to have ADS custom make shocks for it, valves for bags.

They explained to me shocks have to be valved completely different to work with bags, than springs. I don’t know the how are the why, but my Ram rides and handles magically

Going back and forth with bag pressure getting the shocks to work good with both scenarios will be tricky and likely nothing off the shelf will work. Not sure

No idea how KDSS would interact with bags either

Maybe someone smarter and better at explaining stuff can chime in here to explain why. Cough cough @TeCKis300