Just never been a fan if them, they seem like poor quality. The bushings crack easily, the shock body rusts, and they sqeak. We have tons of people come into my work complaining about them.

 

I had some Bilsteins on my Acura that were good while they lasted, but didn't last long. The Rancho 9000XL I just put on my truck are doing great, so far.

 

Alright here are the specs on the Bilsteins I was running:

Setting: 5100 Series
*Collapsed Length (IN): 12.87
*Collapsed Length (MM): 327.0
*Extended Length (IN): 20.49
*Extended Length (MM): 520.5

so I was looking at the 6" version of these:
http://f-o-a.com/shop/index.php?main...4318b66cd4950f

but wasn't sure if the extended length was long enough. Also wasn't sure what I needed for Compression Valve, Rebound Valve, and Mount Width. Suggestions?

 

As for Rancho, I've had more sets than I can even remember going back to the R5000's, the NNSX's and now the R9000XLs and they've been great shocks for me. Admittedly, I don't abuse my ride but Rancho specializes in off road suspensions and cannot imagine them NOT supporting their product. Having said that, the adjustable R9000XLs are great shocks and the ride adjustability makes them stand out over any other shock in their class. Finally, Rancho shocks can be ordered in almost any length for your custom needs. Give them a call...I believe 4WheelParts is running an anniversary special right now.

Good luck, man!

 

I know I have a newer truck but I had to do about zero fab work to bolt my race runners on the truck.

 

Cashel, to find out how long of a shock you need, remove your shocks and jack the rear end up till the tires come off the ground. Then measure the eye to eye of the mounting points and you'll have your number. If you don't find this number you might top out over bumps. I got the info from SAW when I put in my custom order for my shocks.

 

You could run the 6" travel ones and just strap it for that extra 2" so you don't over extend since I doubt your actually looking for travel numbers but instead just ride quality. As for valving thats really for when your trying to pull travel numbers, but LOLITO F150 on here knows more about valving so he could probably reccommend a good start.

 

I got less than 20k out of my Bilsteins. I had some on a Ranger I used to have and they seemed fine for that but I think these newer F-150's are too heavy for them.

 

I have the HD's on my '02 Lexus IS and they have been phenomenal. Got about 50k on them so far and they are still performing flawlessly.

 

What happened to let you know they were worn out? I am hearing bad things about Bilstein now and am a little concerned. I only drive my truck about 1000 miles a year, it is not a daily driver but just wondering how they wore out. I just finished my Procomp lift today and installed bilstein struts up front. The bottom bushing seemed pretty stout...They ride great I think....

 

Please keep things of this nature in perspective and don't let it influence some decision about your shocks. This thread is one guys opinion out of literally millions of very satisfied Bilstein customers running around the world. Any company can, and does, dish out a defective product from time to time. It sucks that one persons experience with something like that can potentially cause an uproar. Bilstein puts out a phenomenal product and you should not be concerned about anything different.

 

Ive heard that rancho is great with customer service

 

I first started to notice that I was getting a little more body roll during abrupt turns. Then I stated to notice that I could feel bumps more so than I had before on a road I drive everyday. At first I just thought the roads were getting worse, and I think they are, but the big tip off was a spot under my a-arm. I thought maybe I had a brake line leaking or something along those lines. It never even occurred to me that the shock was leaking. Next I noticed another spot showing up towards the rear of the truck. Upon further investigation I noticed the bottom bushing of both rear shocks were saturated with oil as well as the bottom of the shock body. On the rears I believe its just worn wiper seals causing oil to leak, but the fronts were a whole different story. One of my front shocks literally broke in half. The shock cap pulled out of the shock body and therefore the only thing holding the entire coilover assembly was the fact that the CV joints would not allow the suspension to drop enough to pull the piston out of the shock body. When I pulled the lower shock bolt out and pried the bottom eyelet off the a-arm the entire assembly came apart except for the upper mount that was still bolted to the shock tower.

I wish I could post pictures because I have pictures of what I found when I removed them.

I’m not saying they are bad shocks at all. This was my fourth set of Bilstein’s I have owned, however the first on an F-150. The others were on Rangers and an Explorer so maybe it’s just the huge weight difference that caused my issue. I don’t know for sure how different the 5100 series are from the Bilstein’s I’ve had in the past but they didn’t seem to be any stouter than the shocks I had on my Ranger. I had the 5100’s on the front and the 5150’s on the rear and I understand that any manufacture can and will produce sub par products from time to time. I’m a manufacturing engineer by trade so I have a good understanding of quality control and first pass yields on processes. If it were just one shock that was as issues I could accept it was just a “bad” one but three of four with one having a catastrophic failure says to me there is another issue. It could be that I just pushed them beyond their limit but I don’t jump my truck or really even push it hard off-road. I use it mostly to get to and from ATV riding areas. I feel they are just undersized for the newer F-150’s with oversized wheels and tires.

I will say when they were new they rode great. Very nice road manners but I could tell they fell a little short when you got into some bigger bumps or whoops on some dunes. Again this is just my personal opinion and experiences with these particular shocks. Bilstein makes great shocks but I would not choose to use them in this application for my driving style.

 

What sway-a-way part number are you running, stock length with spacers???

John

 

Also what year is your truck?