? for those with 5100 Bilsteins (clunking?)

C

Charles Bronson

Member
For those that have the 5100 Bilsteins, do you get any clunking or other noises? I'm considering a set for my wife's 2020 ORP. The reason I ask is because I had Bilstein yellows on my 2012 WRX and they were loud and clunky across lightly rutted and washboard pavement. Big bumps were fine. I then got Bilstein yellows for my M235. The rears have been fine, but the fronts started clunking within 50 miles; same issue across lightly rutted and washboard pavement. I pulled them off and reinstalled 2 times to make sure I got everything correct. Turns out it's a common issue with Bilstein yellows. I was able to return them to the vendor for a full refund. I've found that Bilsteins are epically good when driven hard, but to have them be so loud and clucky during normal driving has been disappointing. I know the Bilsteins on the 4runner aren't yellows, but I want to make sure the same issue isn't common on these trucks as well. Thanks.
 
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Charles Bronson said:
For those that have the 5100 Bilsteins, do you get any clunking or other noises? I'm considering a set for my wife's 2020 ORP. The reason I ask is because I had Bilstein yellows on my 2012 WRX and they were loud and clunky across lightly rutted and washboard pavement. Big bumps were fine. I then got Bilstein yellows for my M235. The rears have been fine, but the fronts started clunking within 50 miles; same issue across lightly rutted and washboard pavement. I pulled them off and reinstalled 2 times to make sure I got everything correct. Turns out it's a common issue with Bilstein yellows. I was able to return them to the vendor for a full refund. I've found that Bilsteins are epically good when driven hard, but to have them be so loud and clucky during normal driving has been disappointing. I know the Bilsteins on the 4runner aren't yellows, but I want to make sure the same issue isn't common on these trucks as well. Thanks.
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I believe the yellow 4600's are valved softer than 5100's and pretty much the bottom level bilsteins. I have 5100s and they have been great for what they are and best bang for the buck.
 
I had 5100s on all 4 corners for 3 years and they starting making clunking noises after about 9 months. I will never buy Bilsteins shocks again.


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I just put in a set, I have some clunking, but I'm pretty sure its sway bar endlinks. Or the sway bar bushings. I'll get it up in the air this weekend to sort out.
 
Damn. I'm going to pass on these. The responses are very similar to those on the BMW forums with about 25-30% reporting clunking after a period time. I too thought the end links were the clucking culprit on my WRX and BMW. I disconnected them and drove around; still clunked. Other BMW owners did the same and had the same result.

There appears to be an inherent issue with the valving of the shock piston in certain gas charged Bilsteins. My guess is the shocks are so firm that it causes them to be too slow to respond over small bumps thus they tax the upper mounts and other surrounding bushings, thus creating noise over time.
 
I've had them on for the past 3k - no clunking. They are definitely stiffer than the stock shocks though (50k on original suspension when removed).
 
I had them on my 2020 with over 15k miles. They were perfect, on road.. off road. Just put on a new set on my new 2022. These are perfect so far.
 
Just had a set installed on mine with the front set at 1.75. The rear I added the 1in bilstein springs. No clunking what so ever. I was nervous that I was going to make the ride worse. But I’m fact it rides more sporty, I liked how they turned out.
 
Sgb020 said:
Just had a set installed on mine with the front set at 1.75. The rear I added the 1in bilstein springs. No clunking what so ever. I was nervous that I was going to make the ride worse. But I’m fact it rides more sporty, I liked how they turned out.
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have same on my 2018 ,, no clunking at all , just a better ride.
 
This will be a resurrection of an old thread here. About 45k miles ago I installed a full set of 5100’s on my ‘13 Trail. The front is set at 1.75” (3rd notch) with the factory springs and I have Cornfed 1” spacers in the rear. Over the last few months I have noticed a decent clunk coming from the front and rear. It was very apparent when a buddy and I were on some rutted up dirt roads just north of town as it sounded like something was very loose in the suspension. At this point I have been all over this thing and cannot find any loose fasteners. The front lower control arms are new (had the noise prior to this) and the upper ball joints have been replaced. All the bushings for the KDSS front bar have been replaced as well. There is no noticeable movement in the tie rods or ball joints when the front tires are off the ground. All the shock bushings look to be in good condition as well. Is it possible this is an internal issue with the shocks? What say you?
 
Well this thread doesn't sound too encouraging.
I just had a set of 4 5100's delivered yesterday.

From reading here, it just happens on washboard roads?
Has anyone ever contacted Bilstein?
I suppose that would be appropriate.
 
seatia said:
Well this thread doesn't sound too encouraging.
I just had a set of 4 5100's delivered yesterday.

From reading here, it just happens on washboard roads?
Has anyone ever contacted Bilstein?
I suppose that would be appropriate.
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Unfortunately it’s not just the quick washboard type bumps for me. It happens on decent size single bumps as well (pot holes, etc). It would be difficult for me to get anything out of Bilstein as my 5100’s were new but purchased from another forum member.
 
I get some clunking from my front end, 40k on my coil overs. New outer tie rod ends, haven’t checked Uca ball joints


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Im going on about 4 or 5 years on them around 50-60k miles and no issues so far. I do expect to replace them eventually but hoping for a few more years. These were bought during the clearance sale by toyota , think they were around $400-500 for the set. They have been great like the leveled look and firm ride
 
Unfortunately I'm getting a pretty noticeable clunking from my 5100s. I had a set on my 4th gen for somewhere around 5k miles with decent results, so I did the same on my 5th gen.

I think they're about 20k miles in now, and I started noticing some knocking/clunking over low speed bumps on the VERY cold mornings we had in December. This got better once it was warmer but seems to be happening now regardless of temp.

Best way to describe it is I get impact noise in the cabin from bumps that I previously didn't. Seems like I'm feeling every single bump and there's just less damping than there used to be.

I think the first place to check is the bushings at each end, but who knows. It's pretty annoying and making me really cringe while driving the truck.

I'll likely pony up for some Fox 2.0s at each corner and do a sway bar bushing grease and end-link swap while I'm in there.
 
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