J10495T

Guys - I have the opportunity to buy a superlift 2-3 inch coil lift with bilstein 5100 shocks that the owner is saying has been driving only on the street for 20K miles. Any idea what the life of the bilsteins is before I decide to buy this or spend the extra money on a new kit.

thanks,

Jay

Pull Ya

I've got about 40k on mine and they still feel good.
Jay

LOWTYD

Just getting ready to research this question.I have 143,000 on my 5100's, and I think I may have an issue with one of the front shocks. Anyone else have any idea on the life expectancy, and which ones I should go with? I'm living in AZ now, and see fox's on alot of trucks.

Raspy

I ran mine for about 100,000 miles and the damping was gone. It took a while for me to realize it was constantly bottoming.

So I installed a set of KYB Monomax shocks on the front and they are very nice. At the time I installed a 1 inch leveling kit (spacer under the springs) and a set of Timbrens. Overall a big improvement and done simply.

Meanwhile, the rear shocks continue to be fine. They are Rancho 9000s and feel the same after about 170,000 miles. Still adjust and damp nicely.

LOWTYD

Ever since I installed the Kore system I have been curious about something. It has always felt to me like the dampening wasn't even on the front. I will try to explain and see if anyone else has noticed the same thing. When I go over a speed bump at low speed (idling in first gear) the truck definitely bottoms out, and seems to bottom harder on the passenger side. Even though the Kore system supposedly has side specific coils. And yes... they are installed on the correct sides. I just wouldn't think it should bottom out at all. I know the shocks work great off road at high speed because I have "Tested" them. I suspect that the valving on the 5100's can work properly when the shock is compressed faster as opposed to a slow compression like when I idle over a speed bump. Now that I'm looking at replacing my 5100's. Does anyone have a recommendation? Should I look at a reservoir type shock? Do they ride any better?

diesel4play

I have run 185k on a set of HDs and they were fine. I did have two bad HDs on my van but perfect for 110k since. I have 5100s on my Ram with 30k and they are great.
You can get better shocks, particularly for offroad. You can go to 3" Kings with reservoirs, for an arm, leg and first born. I have heard they are killer shocks and Carli custom tunes them for the Ram and their suspensions.