Catahoulabulldog
Member
Anyone out there use the Bilstein 5100’s for off roading? If so what’s your set up and what kind of off roading? Thanks.
Off roading with Bilstein 5100’s?
- Thread starter Catahoulabulldog
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benztech82
Member
I have 5100 set at 0+OME 885/889+1.5 back spacers+0.25 front spacers. 33" pizza cutters. Mine goes to muddy trails some minor rock climbing, some bush trails. Lots of loose terrain uphill. If I had some proper mud tires it would be much better but it's a DD for me, so lots of highway too.
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Syr4RinNC
New member
I do
- rock climbing, uneven - forest and mountain trails in NC, NY, PA
I have it paired with 5th gen springs.
They are thicker than stock and the valve dissipates more heat than OEM and they are designed for spring lifts/ extended travel
But its a little stiff/ bumpy with uneven terrain. They don’t eat it up as I would expect higher end struts/ shocks to do
In retrospect, I probably would have gone a little higher end for a more comfortable ride off -road.
- rock climbing, uneven - forest and mountain trails in NC, NY, PA
I have it paired with 5th gen springs.
They are thicker than stock and the valve dissipates more heat than OEM and they are designed for spring lifts/ extended travel
But its a little stiff/ bumpy with uneven terrain. They don’t eat it up as I would expect higher end struts/ shocks to do
In retrospect, I probably would have gone a little higher end for a more comfortable ride off -road.
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Catahoulabulldog
Member
Anyone pair Dobinson springs with their 5100’s?
702tripgen
New member
They are serviceable, no better no worse. It's the very entry level upgrade over stock. They will get the job done.
Syr4RinNC
New member
Although I will also note that the setting you have it impacts it as well, if you have it set at 0 with a spring lift you’ll do better than setting it at the 0.85, 1.75, 2.25 clip settings - those will compress the spring more and make it more harsh and so if you use the 5100s as your lift without taller springs you’ll get a worse ride and lose travel for the front at least
Yep, see sig.
If you are using lift springs, you should always have it set at 0. The clip settings are only meant to be used with factory springs.
They will not warranty your broken shocks when you use the clip adjustment with lift springs.
This is not true. The springs are only compressed more in full extension. With load on them, they will compress the same amount for the same load regardless of the clip ring setting.
Nickname
Member
I have 5100s and have run them with a bunch of setups. First at 2.5" in the front w/ OEM springs and FJ coils in the back (later added a 1" rear spacer). Great setup and wheeled a bunch with them set that way (did T33 plane crash with them). Now I have toyec superflex coils in the rear (2" lift) and it is so much better. I'm about to get some stiffer front springs as I'm adding a bumper and winch. I'll drop the fronts back down to 0" and get a 3" lift spring with 200lb capacity.
Syr4RinNC
New member
Wrong- this would be true with a solid front axle. you can think through this and use whatever physics principals you like. The ride is different set at 0 and set at the highest clip perch. You can attribute it to being a variable load and angular forces with the front independent suspension being more of a triangle with the uca and lca and then the wheel camber castor toeing etc or the lack of travel of the wheel at different settings, but consistently the ride is different depending on the setting. When you lift”it” you actually push the lca down and in and then need to adjust for that with the wheels
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702tripgen
New member
The spring doesn't compress more, it's perch just sits higher, the truck moves up accordingly so there is no more increased compression the spring. I am on the 3rd perch with stock springs and I would almost describe the ride as plush with zero harshness.
Question regarding the 5100’s. Back in August I installed 5100’s on front and have it set on first notch (0.85) to make it more level with the rear. When doing that we took out the XRES suspension so you can imagine how rough it rides in the rear. I’m planning on installing 5100’s in the rear but I also want to add around 1 inch lift on the front and rear and keep it level.
My question is should I install the 5100’s and raise the front and rear to add 1 inch or look at installing lift springs? a spacer with the 5100’s at lowest setting 0”? Keep in mine I will not be doing much off reading and it’s my DD so I’m mainly going for looks and ride comfort.
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My question is should I install the 5100’s and raise the front and rear to add 1 inch or look at installing lift springs? a spacer with the 5100’s at lowest setting 0”? Keep in mine I will not be doing much off reading and it’s my DD so I’m mainly going for looks and ride comfort.
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I can first-hand attest that the spring is significantly more compressed as you go up in perch settings. I don't see how you would anticipate the spring not to compress any more by increasing the perch from the 0 perch to the 3 other available settings. The shock can only extend out so much, and believe me, it is fully extended regardless of the perch setting you have when it is out of the truck and on the work bench.
By going up a perch setting you are pre-loading the spring more and more, therefor increasing the rideheight using each of the increasing perch settings.
I am running the 5100 shocks front and rear along with the OME heavy springs. Since the kit I bought was advertised as a "3in lift kit" with no documentation, I figured that I needed to set the perch setting to the highest setting. Boy was I wrong. I ended up with damn near 5 inches of lift, carolina squat, and blow out cv boots after 25 miles.
I can tell you that at the last perch setting, I couldn't get my spring compression tool out from within the spring coils, I had to grind it and jerry rid some external spring compression devices to get the compression forks out. This was NOT the case once I switched to the #1 perch setting which dropped me to a true 3" lift, I was able to take the compression tool in and out of the coils with 0 issues. So yes, the perch settings definitely pre-compress the spring more as you guys up in settings.
With regards to my set up, again, Bilstein 5100 front and rear on OEM heavy springs, JBA UCA, 1" body lift, 35x12.5" tires. No lockers or re-gearing at the moment but the 2 trail rides I've done locally it has done OK on. Just about as much as you can expect for an entry level lift kit for under 900 bucks.
I don't expect them to last a very long time with all the additional weight, larger tires and heavy trail use and will more than likely be upgrading to either the fox 2.0, king or Icon suspension, but haven't decided yet.
The street-driven performance seems decent. Obviously stiffer than stock a bit, but feels good.
If you're already going with the 5100's in the rear I would just spend the little extra on the OME springs (or something similar) and call it good.
If you don't have a ton of extra weight front or rear just go with their medium springs and you'll be ok. Just remember that if going with a spring like that to NOT go past the #1 perch setting up front or you'll end up with entirely too much lift.
Syr4RinNC
New member
So the general analogy used is like if you set the spring on the ground and put a 50 pound weight on it, vs if you put the the spring on a cinder block and a 50 pound weight - the spring will compress the same amount whether its on the ground or is "lifted" up on a cinder block. So once you mount the coil over the spring will de-compress to its natural preload/ extension. (You have to compress the spring to get it on the coil over and mount, but once on the truck itll extend)
So this is true with a sold axle and a perfectly perpendicular lay out
- but as you point out (and I think it has to do the with the independent suspension) the ride will be different with different settings
Not sure if we're talking about the same thing or not, and I don't believe that the analogy of the cinder block vs flat on the ground with a 50 lbs weight.
When installing the spring on the shocks, you are working with a limited space (the top hat of the shock with it fully extended on the top and the spring perch on the bottom). This isn't the same as setting the spring on a cinder block which isn't limited to travel up as many cinder blocks as you want to stack under it.
Without having exact numbers, call the total available space on the shock for the spring to sit into X, by moving the perch up each setting you are effectively subtracting the total amount of space X by whichever perch setting your are setting it on. At the end of the day the spring will be physically more compressed on the last perch setting once the shock is fully assembled vs the 0 perch setting (whether it be by 1 inch or 2 inches I'm not sure exactly what it works out to be).
Now, you are correct, because of the suspension geometry, the amount of lift you get isn't 1:1 due to angles and distance travelled on an arc. The same way you can correct a 1/2" lean by installing a 1/4" spacer.
HIMILESV8SPORT
Member
they won't warranty for basically anything, even scratches according to them....read the warranty restrictions. I have bushing failure with less than 25K on them and was even told"The bushings we use on these units are double bonded and volcanized to the lower eye-ring just like the OE/factory units are which we happen to build for Toyota too. Being that they are double bonded and volcanized, they are not replaceable and therefore not set up for individual purchase. " Yet, Toyota sells the bushings....
