Hey all

I emailed Bilstein about their 5100's and why some have 2 settings and some have 3. I also asked them to settle the dispute on which way the rears get mounted. Boot up or boot down.. Here is their reply..

----- Thanks for you inquiry for Bilstein shock absorbers. You have made a wise choice with your decision to use Bilstein 5100 Series to level your F150. I am sure you will be very pleased with the end result.

As for your questions. First, Bilstein produces two different shocks for this application. One of which, is proprietary through RCD Suspension. The other is Bilstein's general aftermarket offering. Both shocks are exactly the same with the exception of the snap ring grooves.

Part# BE5-C298-H1 is Bilstein's standard product. This shock has 3 grooves for 0" - 1" - 2" ride height options.

Part# BE5-C293-T0 is the RCD product. This shock has 2 grooves, 0" & 2".

As for the rear mounting orientation. The rear is designed to mount body up with the boot down.



Soooooooo, with that being said, has any body used the 1" setting?

 

i havent but i might buy them to get extra room for my tires

 

This makes me want to get new shocks instead of outing my AS 2.5" kit on. The sweetness of bilstein shocks. But too bad the truck rides like new, lol how ironic of a thought process is that...

 

Mine don't have a 1" setting.

 

i believe Bilstein (rear) was designed to be mounted where you can read the label properly (not upside down). ive googled bilstein 5100 enough to notice that some has boots down with the wording positioned right while the one i have on mine has boots up but with the wording positioned properly as well.

 

I bought the RCD 5100s off ebay because I didn't know there was a difference. They ride really rough but since they're installed I don't plan on changing. Just thought I'd let everyone know.

 

Soo, thats the first I hear that it rides ruff... Could it be the tires you have? Do the 5100's ride ruffer than the standard yellow Bilstiens? My truck rides very well on the highway now.. Hate to see it get really ruff...

 

I just had the 5100's installed and replaced my 2.5 AS and so far the ride is great. I did my rears and installed them boot up, I may go switch them to boot down and see if I notice any difference.

 

This may be a dumb question, but I just don't understand what is 0? Is it block in, block out, or block in for an 4X4, and block out for a 4x2? You did say if your truck is 4x4, does that matter?

Also, then, is the 1" you ask about a 1 inch drop? Is this saying the C298 is for lowering and the C293 is for lifting?

 

0" means stock height, that's all.
Part# BE5-C298-H1 can be set for stock height, +1", or +2".
Part# BE5-C293-T0 can be set for stock height or +2".
Don't let the dashes in his text fool you into thinking they mean minus, he's just separating the numbers


Thanks, Xterrable, for emailing Bilstein about this and posting it up here.

 

The fronts I have coming are C298 HO. 0" or 2" setting.

The rears are C299's.

I guess the backs will go in boot down. Thanks for the info.

 

At the risk of beating this to death, I'm still not sure. In this example, stock is is for a 4WD, which has a two inch block in the back. I thought the front is also higher than a 2WD.

A 2WD takes the BE5 C300 HD and BE5 C301 HD

Part# BE5-C300-HD can be set for stock height, or +2".
Part# BE5-C301-HD can be set for stock height or +1".

So then is it true, that in the front a 2WD Bilstein set at the +2 height would be the same as a 4WD Bilstein set at the stock height?

And in the back you can only use the FX2 one inch block on the +1 setting with the C301-HD because they are too short for the 2" block?

 

I don't have any idea what you are talking about in the rear. There is NO adjustment for the rear shocks, they do not provide lift. They are not load supporting like the front, the spring doesn't mount to them. What they are saying is that the shocks will work from stock height (0) to 1" lifted (1), for whichever model you order them for. The factory block is NOT a lift, it is factored into the height.

If you're truck is otherwise stock, just get the part number that Bilstein lists, it will work. If you have a larger block or an add-a-leaf or something else to make it higher, you might want to get a longer shock.

I don't know how much height difference there is between 4x2 and 4x4. But a 2wd with +2" in front is probably close to a factory 4x4.
If you install a taller block or something to make the rear end the height of a 4x4, I would get the 4x4 length rear shock.
Does that answer your questions?

 

stock 4wd is 2" higher in both front and rear than a 2wd. i believe front is higher due to longer shock and rear is higher due to 2" block (which also requires longer shock).

with that in mind, if you set the front 2wd version of the 5100 to 2", then it will be at height of stock 4wd. with the rear 5100, like previous poster stated, you cant really accomplish, but rather accomodate up to 1" max of lift. using the fx2 1" block will indeed provide you an inch of lift which the rear 5100 can handle.

 

Just for reference, the 4x4 rear block is actually 1 5/8"