Blew a front 5100!

T

Tooltime19

New member
Yep, I think it broke some of the valving shim stacks inside or something. I was in the desert the other day wheelin when I heard a pop from under my truck. At first it sounded and almost felt like I blew a ball joint. Got out and looked. The only thing I could see was some shock oil on the shaft of the shock. All the way home and on the freeway, my rig had that blown shock on the one corner bounce. Wow is all I can say. I have never had a Bilstein go bad like that before. I have had Bilsteins on everything I have owned for the last 20 years or so, really. This is a trip. Time to call Bilstein and attempt a warranty claim.
:ohwell:
 
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Tooltime19 said:
Yep, I think it broke some of the valving shim stacks inside or something. I was in the desert the other day wheelin when I heard a pop from under my truck. At first it sounded and almost felt like I blew a ball joint. Got out and looked. The only thing I could see was some shock oil on the shaft of the shock. All the way home and on the freeway, my rig had that blown shock on the one corner bounce. Wow is all I can say. I have never had a Bilstein go bad like that before. I have had Bilsteins on everything I have owned for the last 20 years or so, really. This is a trip. Time to call Bilstein and attempt a warranty claim.
:ohwell:
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Yeah, I've blown a Bilstein 5100 before. Granted, it was on my old Xterra, but the post-blow ride was a real experience that I do not care to repeat. No worries though. Bilstein replaced mine, no problem. And they should replace yours as well.
 
My Front 5100 has been leaking oil for quite some time. I know its normal for Bilsteins to show a little oil, but over time Ive been monitoring the loss knowing one day it was going to give out and it did. No worries though. Im a Bilstein guy for well over 20 years. I contacted their warranty folks, and without issue, they were happy to help. I had to pay for a new 5100 up front and when the new 5100 arrives, and I make the swap, I send in the bad unit and they will credit back my card. Easy peasy! They were great to deal with.
Im really curious to find out what actually gave out. I do not ever jump my truck. Yes, I use all available wheel travel, but never jump my truck. I should have asked if they would have been interested in upgrading both my fronts for a small upgrade fee to go up to the 6112's.
 
How old were your shocks? Mine are 2 years old and I just blew the top off my drivers side apparently... ugh Hoping it is under warranty still. :roadkill:
 
What do you mean you blew the top off. Are you referring to the black plastic dust covers, or did you actually have the top of the shock blow up and leak shock oil and such everywhere?
I sent mine back to Bilstein and they replaced it under warranty.
 
Bilsteins failure is so common among people I wheel with that nobody will buy them any longer.
 
CXS said:
Bilsteins failure is so common among people I wheel with that nobody will buy them any longer.
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I wish I had the money to upgrade. I know they are better than stock, but I'd say barely. I know bilstein makes some better shocks, so maybe those are ok, but the 5100's just can't keep up offroad.
One of these days, rig will be much better!
 
Bilstein makes a great product. I cant complain. I dont fault the manufacture for my off road use. They have alot of miles on them and many of those miles were under hard, very hot, and rough, fast trails of the desert southwest.
 
Tooltime19 said:
Bilstein makes a great product. I cant complain. I dont fault the manufacture for my off road use. They have alot of miles on them and many of those miles were under hard, very hot, and rough, fast trails of the desert southwest.
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I don't have anything like that around here. I doubt I've ever had them hot. I can't imagine hard driving in desert though. They are great on dirt roads but when I get on trails with big holes and especially whoops they don't keep up, especially the rear. Do you think that is my springs maybe? Stock front coils, about to be replaced with Tacoma coils though.
 
Mine went out with less than 20k miles on them of non-intense driving. Ended up replacing them with Icons, and Billstein did everything to get out of replacing the 2 year old unit.
 
wadle5 said:
Mine went out with less than 20k miles on them of non-intense driving. Ended up replacing them with Icons, and Billstein did everything to get out of replacing the 2 year old unit.
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Ya Down South Motorsports told me no warranty. And Bilsteins website now says 90 day warranty.. Damnit. Going to buy a single shock for now then later get coilovers.
 
t-man said:
Ya Down South Motorsports told me no warranty. And Bilsteins website now says 90 day warranty.. Damnit. Going to buy a single shock for now then later get coilovers.
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Yeah it was actually my driver side rear if that means anything. SO I bought 2 icons and now have an extra billie for back up ?:shrug:
 
t-man said:
I don't have anything like that around here. I doubt I've ever had them hot. I can't imagine hard driving in desert though. They are great on dirt roads but when I get on trails with big holes and especially whoops they don't keep up, especially the rear. Do you think that is my springs maybe? Stock front coils, about to be replaced with Tacoma coils though.
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Definitely replace the front and rear coils. The OEM coils on our rigs are far too soft for any type of spirited driving and fun. Ive built T4's for other people and depending on each individuals needs determines how and what parts I use. Mine for example, I wanted a fast great handling fun trail truck that works on and off road when "Spirited" driving is on tap, or if slow cruising is in order. If I had unlimited funds, I would run a slightly different package. But for the money, my chassis setup cant be beat for a little bit of everything.
But yes, upgrade the front and rear coils, I guarantee you will be happier on and off road.
 
Tooltime19 said:
Definitely replace the front and rear coils. The OEM coils on our rigs are far too soft for any type of spirited driving and fun. Ive built T4's for other people and depending on each individuals needs determines how and what parts I use. Mine for example, I wanted a fast great handling fun trail truck that works on and off road when "Spirited" driving is on tap, or if slow cruising is in order. If I had unlimited funds, I would run a slightly different package. But for the money, my chassis setup cant be beat for a little bit of everything.
But yes, upgrade the front and rear coils, I guarantee you will be happier on and off road.
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Do you think the tacoma coils will help? I know they are a little higher spring rate. I plan on running them set at the 2.5 setting so I should get 3-3.25" of lift if I have read correctly. Radflo's in the spring if I can help it! lol
I have fj coils in the rear right now and they seem to have helped. I still buck in any whoops but I think most of it is the front compressing so much.
 
Any upgrade in spring rate front and rear will do wonders for our rigs. I'm using the toytec 620lb front spring at the OME 895 in the rear.
If you can afford to I wouldn't bother with used coils from anywhere. But if they are free and temporary, I say go for it. Yet if you are trying to build a system once and once only, then yes upgrade the coils front and rear. Also a good rebuildable shock with a reservoir would be the hot ticket. I'm ultimately going with the new Fox Dsc's pretty soon. Their package comes with a new coil up front, and it's supposed to be valved for our rigs out of the box. In the rear, I'm going with a new multi rate coil and the Fox Dsc's.
If I could rebuild my Bilstein's, I might keep them. The rebound in the rear is a bit off for my tastes, but again for the low cost of my system, it's really hard to complain.
 
Something else. With my Bilstein's set at max height with the toytec coils, the front end worked awesome when going fast over rollers and such. But,,,for slow wheelin I lost droop and I didn't like the way it climbed rough slow hills. So, I went back and lowered the front one notch from max. It drives better on the street and overall better off road. I just can't go thru the big stuff as fast, no worries.
 
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