4600 HD or 5100

gmyeah · April 8, 2013

I have a 2008 Z71 ext cab 4x4 1500, ~70K miles. There's a bit of wheel hop when going over tracks in addition to the shocks are starting to show their age. I use the truck as a truck. I tow fairly often, but not huge loads. And I also load the back up a fair bit as well. I use it like this 50% of the time...and that's being nice.

I have a leveling kit on the front. It's a spacer that sits on top of the coil over spring setup. It's about .75inches which translates to about 1.5 inches of lift. The rear has a set of SuperSprings which is essentially an add-a-leaf sort of (for those who haven't heard of them). They increase my load carying capacity a little bit. They increased the rear by 0.5 - .75 inches. Either way, the rake of my vehicle is great now. I don't want to change that.

I called Bilstein directly and they suggested I go with the 4600HD all the way around......or 4600HD Front / 5100 rear. What should I do? I'm curious on how the ride will be compared to my stock Z71 off road pkg shocks. All I know about them is that they are 46mm Monotube. I hear the the 5100 are slightly softer than the 4600HD, but how will either of them compare to my stock? Thanks in advance!

Chris · April 8, 2013

I don't have struts I have full coils but I love the 4600's I have.

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kstruckcountry · April 9, 2013

Not sure how it will be on a strut truck but on my 2006 the Bilstiens make the truck feel more controlled at speed than the Z71 shocks. Bumps on the highway and rear end movement with a trailer are far less noticeable IMO.

gmyeah · April 9, 2013

Just curious if my current ride will go to hell too. I don't mind the ride now, but I'm hoping the upgrade to the 4600s all around (which is how I'm leaning) won't be a kidney shaker. Never really had an issue with my Z71 setup when I bought the truck new. It wasn't a cadillac by any means, but going straight over bumps wasn't that bad. When the Bilstein rep mentioned I could go with the 5100 in the back only.....I thought that might take the edge of the rough ride, but I'm beginning to think the 4600's are close to my factory ride?