Bilstein 5100's and Loaded Bed (Pics Soil/Mulch)
 

For those that want to see what a truck looks like loaded with Bilsteins.

The first two pics are of a yard of wet top soil. I have no idea what it weighed but it was VERY heavy!

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1.../loaded001.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1.../loaded002.jpg

These two are of wet Cedar Mulch, so it was fairly heavy too.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1.../loaded003.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1.../loaded004.jpg

What size tires are u running on those factory wheels, looks sweet!:banana:

Thanks CAPTN.

They're 305/65-18's. :thumbsup:

Even though they're E rated, they were bulging pretty damn good with the load of soil at 42 psi.

Wow, your truck looks great lowered. ;)

Good to see someone actually using their truck!

Yeah, with the soil she looks slammed. :devil:

With the mulch however, it still sits fairly level. 5100's still leave a small rake which helps prevent the truck from looking like it's squating, for most loads anyway.

I'd love to know how much that soil weighed.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_d...op_soil_weight

I was going to say about 1800-2100lb is what a yd of soil would weight if semi-wet.

We had a heavy duty rain storm yesterday, so when I picked this soil up at the garden center today (big out in the open piles of soil/mulch) the first half a yard really hit the truck good, so by the time the second half was dumped in she really did the ole squat.
There was a lot of clumps in that soil due to how wet it was.


I bet it was closer to the 2700lb mark as suggested in your link.

Not to rain on your parade, but are you trying to imply with this thread that your truck squats less with a load because you have the 5100's on there?? If so, that ain't it. Your shocks have nothing to do with the basic holding the load. You could take your shocks completely off with that same load and it'd squat no more or no less than it does now.

No.

Others have wanted to see how they sit with a load when deciding whether to go with stock, 1" or the 2" lift. That's all.

Read the title, and first post.

Does your truck have stock rear height, 1" lift in the rear, or 2" lift in the rear. That is what would determine which length shocks to buy, right?

Now that's a question nobody has asked until now.


Yes, it's stock ride height in the rear and raised 2" in the front.

Bilstein 5100's are simply a leveling kit, but with better shocks and struts. The rear end is still stock in ride height. Depending on which 5100's you get, there is a 0", 1" and 2" setting for the front struts. Some 5100's, like the one's I have only offer the 0" and 2" settings. I wasn't interested in the 1" setting so the struts I have simply have the 0" (stock) front ride height or 2" level. Mine are set on the 2" setting.
The nice thing about the Bilstein 5100's is that even with the 2" front lift, the truck retains a small rake where the back sits slightly higher than the front. This allows one to put some load in the back without the truck squatting in the back, unless you pick up a solid ton of wet soil that is. :lol:

wow, time to cut the grass.

Truck looks good and not a bad squat for the load. How was the ride with that weight though? any performance review other than a visual?

My dads shocks are toast on his 05 with leveling kit and i suggested these to him.

Where I picked up the load was at the bottom of the Niagara Escarpment, so I had quite a hill to climb getting the load back home. I noticed the tranny didn't gear up (OD on) going up the hill like it normally does, for one thing, but other than that it handled it very well. The steering wasn't even that bad considering all the weight on the back. You know how the steering usually gets a lil sloppy when there's a heavy load on the back? Well it wasn't "unsafe" feeling at all. I did notice the truck worked a little harder, but nothing that would make me say "I never want to do that again".
Also, going over bumps the shocks did a great job.

BTW, the grass was cut right after those pics were taken. First cut of the season.

humm im going to need shocks for my 4wheel drive convertion but i dont know how to search for them in the front is gonna be a dana 44 and in the rear a 10.25. and dont know how to look for shocks on my franken truck. my buddys dad has these on his excurtion with a 6" lift he swears by them every other brand of shock he broke within 6 months because he beats the crap out of that truck and off roads it plus its a heavy truck. hes has had the bilstiens for 2 years with no probs at all.

think these would help my over load days? im going to run 1 ton spring in the rear :)