Bilstein questions.

Boots & Slicks 14 · Post by **Boots & Slicks 14** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:41 am

I plan on running 2" leveling coils and keep the quad shock set up on my Bronc. Can't afford cut & turned beams.

What I was wondering is if there are Bilstein 5100s that will work with the setup I'm planning on?

I tried looking at their site but the closest I found were for 4" lift..

Hauls Assington · Post by **Hauls Assington** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:49 pm

You should be able to use the 4" lift ones. I put those exact shocks on my bronco, and blew all 4 of them within 1 hour of installation. I think I needed longer bumpstops. And they don't survive long when you are murdering it through huge whoops.

Boots & Slicks 14 · Post by **Boots & Slicks 14** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:50 pm

Yeah, I was thinking I could possibly use the 4" ones as well, but wasn't sure. I was going to call Bilstein's tech department earlier today but didn't didn't get a chance to..

I'm unpleasantly surprised to hear that all of the shocks blew on you that quick..

What springs were you running?

Were your bumpstops stock?

ChaseTruck754 · Post by **ChaseTruck754** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:18 pm

Stock shocks will typically bottom if you hit the bumpstops in a stock truck. I had to drop my bumpstops 2.5" on my crew to even get the axle to touch the things with only the main leaf in while cycling it. If you're hitting your stock bumpstops you're probably going to have a problem.

Try taking the coil out & cycling the stock front end with your stock shock in there to have a look. If you find what I think you will you'll need to drop your bumpstops for sure if you run the longer shocks.

That being said I seem to remember the stock setup bilstein 5100's being a bit longer than stock & long enough to run with the 2" lift. Heard this a long while back & could be wrong, so if in doubt just cycle it with the shocks in & coils out & look. If the shocks won't work wipe um off & return um.

Boots & Slicks 14 · Post by **Boots & Slicks 14** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 10:34 pm

I couldn't find any 5100s for stock height, just the 4600s.. Maybe they're discontinued?

tcm glx · Post by **tcm glx** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 7:22 am

The 4600s are supposed to be good for 1-2" lift, Steves right. Unfortunately no 5100s I believe.

ChaseTruck754 · Post by **ChaseTruck754** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 10:09 am

I'm old & out of touch with part #'s and stuff like this, and assuming maybe the 4600's are the "5100's" I remember. Last time I looked at any of this bilstein only had 5100's (yellow bodies, stock type gas shocks), 7100's (2.0's typically, but rebuild-able type higher quality) and then the 9100 race shocks.

birdco85 · Post by **birdco85** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:05 am

The yellow 4600 are designed for stock to about 2 inches line Tony said. The 5100 are designed for lifted applications so they aren't usually listed for anything below a 4 inch lift. I just went through this with my 350, I ended up looking up the 4600, figuring out the collapsed and extended lengths as well as the valving, and then figured out a comparable 5100. It worked perfect, they ended up being the exact same length as the ones I took off.

Do what chase truck said though, cycle it to the bump stop and get that measurement minutes about 2 inches, the stock bump will compress quite a bit. Then find shocks with that collapsed length, mas o menos. Unless you want to drop the stock bump down then measure from that.

MOSS2 · Post by **MOSS2** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 2:56 pm

You can run the 5100 4 inch lift shock made for the radius arm up in the front position. This is what I do on one of my Broncos. This shock has 90percent more valving than the 5100 front "aux" shock. Don't run anything in the stock radius arm position. The stock shock there is the longest you can run without damage and it limits droop a bit too. Put a good fillet weld around the base of the lower shock studs as they like to crack and break there. Haven't had a problem breaking mine since rewelding but I don't beat it too much either. That will get you by on the cheap for awhile till you can put some real stuff in there just drive it for what it is.

MOSS2 · Post by **MOSS2** » Fri Apr 24, 2015 3:01 pm

Forgot to add that when I did try to run a stock shock in the radius arm position with the 5100 in front it had too much damping mainly in the rebound and would shake your teeth out in the chatter bumps or railroad crossings.

Boots & Slicks 14 · Post by **Boots & Slicks 14** » Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:41 pm

I really appreciate all the responses, and thanks for the tip about welding the base of the shock mounts Moss2, I actually didn't even think about that.

I decided I'm just going run another brand of monotube shocks up front that are meant for a 2" lift.