Yet another Bilstein 5160 question...

[BDWheeler13]

Hey all! I'm hoping someone here has a bit of experience with an issue I'm having... The vehicle is a 2016 1500 Sport 4wd crew cab with about 115K miles on it. I've had Bilstein 6112's (set on clip 8) and 5160's with the +1 Bilstein rear coil spring for almost 6 months now. For the first 100k or so I had 5100's with stock springs. Ride quality with 5100's was pretty unremarkable from what I recall. Nothing bad to speak of but also nothing to write home about. Ever since I switched to the 6112/5160 I have noticed 2 things that have been driving me nuts.

#1 is a significantly harsher ride on my crappy country roads. Handling is tight with minimal body roll and when I do take it offroad they soak up tougher hits really well. But on road they are teeth chattering stiff. I've tried airing down to 35lbs with not much relief.

#2 There is a slight bounce in the rear end over even the smallest bump. Its not axle hop; its more like a dump truck trying to accelerate. I've brough it in to the local shop and they said they didn;'t notice what I was talking about so that wasn't helpful. I tried swapping springs to a progressive spring with the same lift and didn't notice any change so I'm still not sure what could cause it?

As far as the harsh ride quality, I'm just assuming its the way the shocks are meant to be so I'm not sure there is a fix to that. If anyone has any suggestions though, I'm open. But for the weird hop in the rear end, I'm wondering if a rear-end kit from Core 4X4 would help with that at all? I'm not really sure how all the components work so I thought I'd ask before I just go buying stuff.

I'm also not against scrapping the 6112/5160 and going back to 5100 or even trying something the Fox 2.0? I would just like to get some advice before I go blindly making changes like that.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Daw14]

No issue before the change , sounds like the new stuff was in the wrong direction. It sucks having to replace again but that’s how it goes sometimes.

 

[BDWheeler13]

Very true. Unfortunately since I don't have the stock springs anymore it's even more expensive to go back to 5100s. Actually pretty close to a set of Fox 2.0s so I wonder if they'd be worth a try?

Appreciate the input!

 

[Quick_Shifter]

Hey all! I'm hoping someone here has a bit of experience with an issue I'm having... The vehicle is a 2016 1500 Sport 4wd crew cab with about 115K miles on it. I've had Bilstein 6112's (set on clip 8) and 5160's with the +1 Bilstein rear coil spring for almost 6 months now. For the first 100k or so I had 5100's with stock springs. Ride quality with 5100's was pretty unremarkable from what I recall. Nothing bad to speak of but also nothing to write home about. Ever since I switched to the 6112/5160 I have noticed 2 things that have been driving me nuts.

#1 is a significantly harsher ride on my crappy country roads. Handling is tight with minimal body roll and when I do take it offroad they soak up tougher hits really well. But on road they are teeth chattering stiff. I've tried airing down to 35lbs with not much relief.

#2 There is a slight bounce in the rear end over even the smallest bump. Its not axle hop; its more like a dump truck trying to accelerate. I've brough it in to the local shop and they said they didn;'t notice what I was talking about so that wasn't helpful. I tried swapping springs to a progressive spring with the same lift and didn't notice any change so I'm still not sure what could cause it?

As far as the harsh ride quality, I'm just assuming its the way the shocks are meant to be so I'm not sure there is a fix to that. If anyone has any suggestions though, I'm open. But for the weird hop in the rear end, I'm wondering if a rear-end kit from Core 4X4 would help with that at all? I'm not really sure how all the components work so I thought I'd ask before I just go buying stuff.

I'm also not against scrapping the 6112/5160 and going back to 5100 or even trying something the Fox 2.0? I would just like to get some advice before I go blindly making changes like that.
Thanks in advance!

Either one of the shocks is bound up or the suspension components were tightened in the air and your bushings are screaming

 

[mrack]

What quick shifter said, have to loosen and retorque all suspension bushings under the weight of the truck whenever you change the height. I had to learn that the hard way lol

 

[BDWheeler13]

Appreciate all the input!

So, I loosened and retorqued all the trailing arms, control arms, shock mounts, and basically anything related to the suspension. Unfortunately, it seems that was only half the issue. The hop was definitely less but not totally gone. I brought it to another shop and they thought it might be my tires. Something about the belt separating and maybe causing the tires to be out of round. Honestly I was skeptical about that but since I was pretty close to 45k on my Toyo AT IIs I figured it was plausible.

Since I am also not happy with the 6112s I figured this would be a good time make a big change. Ordered new wheels, tires, and a 4inch superlift with bilstein 5100s. Supposed to be installed on Monday so hopefully my whiny nitpicking saga ends next week.

Thanks again for the input!

 

[olyelr]

Appreciate all the input!

So, I loosened and retorqued all the trailing arms, control arms, shock mounts, and basically anything related to the suspension. Unfortunately, it seems that was only half the issue. The hop was definitely less but not totally gone. I brought it to another shop and they thought it might be my tires. Something about the belt separating and maybe causing the tires to be out of round. Honestly I was skeptical about that but since I was pretty close to 45k on my Toyo AT IIs I figured it was plausible.

Since I am also not happy with the 6112s I figured this would be a good time make a big change. Ordered new wheels, tires, and a 4inch superlift with bilstein 5100s. Supposed to be installed on Monday so hopefully my whiny nitpicking saga ends next week.

Thanks again for the input!

Going from 6112’s to 5100’s?

 

[BDWheeler13]

Yeah, its what came with the lift and what I had before.

 

[DILLIGAF]

6112 arent for pavement princesses with sway bars Thats probbaly why you hate them.