Bilstein shocks thread

papageoff · October 16, 2019

13 minutes ago, Slash L86 said:

Yeah, upgrading uca would give you better ball joint than factory. Think they also make ball joint upgrades for stock uca that allow more movement.

Anyone make UCAs besides RC? They say on their site that they're only for lifts/levels > 2.5" I'm close, but not there.

Slash L86 · October 16, 2019

2 hours ago, papageoff said:

Anyone make UCAs besides RC? They say on their site that they're only for lifts/levels > 2.5" I'm close, but not there.

Of course there are other companies that make them. I don't know very much about ball joint uca as I only looked into uniball ones when doing mine. Try calling up an aftermarket store and asking them what people are using.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Slash L86

jgraves13 · October 16, 2019

Cognito would be my recommendation for balljoint UCA

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tanner709 · October 17, 2019

18 hours ago, papageoff said:

Anyone make UCAs besides RC? They say on their site that they're only for lifts/levels > 2.5" I'm close, but not there.

This is just my opinion, and there are probably more brands available;

Lower end:

readylift

rough country

middle of the road:

CST

higher end:

cognito

camburg racing

zone

papageoff · October 17, 2019

I got under the truck with my neighbor who is a mechanic and we don't think it's the ball joints. There is some motion in them but it's even on both sides and the noise only comes from the left. Also, when we lever the tire to check you can hear and feel a tap/clunk in the shock shaft.

I'm pretty satisfied that either the shock is damaged or the upper strut mount is. I can't get a hold of any of the upper mounts in under a week so this is on hold for now.

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z71skywalker · October 17, 2019

On 4/28/2019 at 4:07 PM, z71skywalker said:

Gentlemen,

Sorry for the late reply as I've had these installed for well over 2 weeks. I've attached some pictures. The truck was completely leveled with the Bilstein 5100s at the highest setting. Front and rear it was spot on.

Some notes:

As others have said, take your old strut assembly somewhere to get them swapped. We had a hell of a time. We tried a floor mounted spring compressor to no avail, and the rentable threaded rod tool also. I ended up giving up and taking them to a local shop. Much easier, cost around 45 dollars.

The rear installation took about 15 minutes on a lift. Super easy as expected.

The ride has improved so much from the stock Ranchos. Those things are garbage. With the wider stance the truck feels much more stable as well.

This setup rubbed at about 3/4 to full turn, and reverse was almost un-useable. I went and bought the Rough Country Fender Trim pieces and broke out the angle grinder. This was much easier than I thought it would be, and now i have ZERO rub. Full lock turn, full lock reverse. Can't even tell I did it. I saw people doing the NorCal mod but for 17 dollars, the trim plates seemed like the way to go.

This setup is great. Rides great, looks great. I might go with a 4" Fabtech sometime next year. I'm not quite sure. I'm so happy with the ride quality i'm not sure I need to do anything different. I would only consider it to lift the truck up a bit more.

The next day I took my truck to get aligned as it was off pretty bad. I highly suggest getting this checked after doing the install.

2018 Chevrolet Silverado Z71 Midnight Edition

Tires: Nitto Ridge Grappler 305/55r/20

Wheels: Black Rhino Barstow Matte Black 20x9.5 -18 offset.

Hello All,

It's been quite awhile (Since April) since I put these on and I wanted to give a quick update. Everything is good, it rides great no complaints. However, I am looking to get into a bigger lift. These are great and the ride is great but its just not high enough. I'm going to go with a 4" lift once I figure out what I need. Anyone else find this leveling kit to not be enough?

Snowcamo · October 17, 2019

Hello All,
It's been quite awhile (Since April) since I put these on and I wanted to give a quick update. Everything is good, it rides great no complaints. However, I am looking to get into a bigger lift. These are great and the ride is great but its just not high enough. I'm going to go with a 4" lift once I figure out what I need. Anyone else find this leveling kit to not be enough?

I have pretty much the same setup and wouldnt change the lift without going 35s. I like the tire fits in the wheel well nicely.

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amxguy1970 · October 17, 2019

23 hours ago, papageoff said:

Well, I live on a dirt road, so yeah bumps are very common for me.

I thought I remembered reading that 2.25 was safe for the ball joints but I guess not. I wasn't aware of upgraded ball joints other than the UCAs that rough country offers. I don't think I need to go to a uniball. That seems a bit extreme, but what do I know.

There is no "safe" number, anything over stock increases wear plain and simple. A 1 inch adds wear and reduces time and the higher you go the worse it can get. Every time I hear someone say a 2 inch level is safe I laugh, it isn't. All that means if the stock ball joints last 150k a 2 inch lift might let them only last 50k or something another, a 1 inch kit might reduce the life to 100k and so on. That isn't a concrete number because roads, driving style and off road ventures also play in to it but anything over stock increases wear. I would take the advice of Slash as you probably wouldn't notice those few tenths of an inch and save some wear on your front end. When I replaced my 1.5 kit with the bilsteins I went with the 3rd setting as 1.2" wasn't going to be noticeably different from the 1.5 I originally had on. Plus, bilsteins are described as a preload lift, so the higher you go the stiffer the ride because the spring is compressed, I figure 1 notch down on mine saved some ride quality over the top setting. Plus I tow and haul and want rake too...

Tyler

tanner709 · October 17, 2019

15 minutes ago, amxguy1970 said:

There is no "safe" number, anything over stock increases wear plain and simple. A 1 inch adds wear and reduces time and the higher you go the worse it can get. Every time I hear someone say a 2 inch level is safe I laugh, it isn't. All that means if the stock ball joints last 150k a 2 inch lift might let them only last 50k or something another, a 1 inch kit might reduce the life to 100k and so on. That isn't a concrete number because roads, driving style and off road ventures also play in to it but anything over stock increases wear. I would take the advice of Slash as you probably wouldn't notice those few tenths of an inch and save some wear on your front end. When I replaced my 1.5 kit with the bilsteins I went with the 3rd setting as 1.2" wasn't going to be noticeably different from the 1.5 I originally had on. Plus, bilsteins are described as a preload lift, so the higher you go the stiffer the ride because the spring is compressed, I figure 1 notch down on mine saved some ride quality over the top setting. Plus I tow and haul and want rake too...

Tyler

pre-load adjustment, in terms of spacers or struts, compresses the spring and reduces total allowable travel distance as well. Doesn't help with ride combined w/ things you've mentioned

Edited October 17, 2019 by tanner709

papageoff · October 17, 2019

21 minutes ago, amxguy1970 said:

There is no "safe" number, anything over stock increases wear plain and simple. A 1 inch adds wear and reduces time and the higher you go the worse it can get. Every time I hear someone say a 2 inch level is safe I laugh, it isn't. All that means if the stock ball joints last 150k a 2 inch lift might let them only last 50k or something another, a 1 inch kit might reduce the life to 100k and so on. That isn't a concrete number because roads, driving style and off road ventures also play in to it but anything over stock increases wear. I would take the advice of Slash as you probably wouldn't notice those few tenths of an inch and save some wear on your front end. When I replaced my 1.5 kit with the bilsteins I went with the 3rd setting as 1.2" wasn't going to be noticeably different from the 1.5 I originally had on. Plus, bilsteins are described as a preload lift, so the higher you go the stiffer the ride because the spring is compressed, I figure 1 notch down on mine saved some ride quality over the top setting. Plus I tow and haul and want rake too...

Tyler

I already have larger tires and am not willing to do the work twice if I get rubbing. The front end is lifted 2.25 inches now with about 1" of rake from my rear add on springs. It rides fine. The truck looked like a bloodhound tracking a scent when it was stock and I don't want that look again. My issue is with a bad shock.

Slash L86 · October 18, 2019

10 hours ago, papageoff said:

I already have larger tires and am not willing to do the work twice if I get rubbing. The front end is lifted 2.25 inches now with about 1" of rake from my rear add on springs. It rides fine. The truck looked like a bloodhound tracking a scent when it was stock and I don't want that look again. My issue is with a bad shock.

For sure if you think the tires might rub you probably need the spacer. What size are the tires and do you know the backspacing of the wheels?

I'm assuming you have 4wd?

Neumonic · October 18, 2019

The spacer under the strut changes the geometry and decreases ride quality, I removed mine that provided a 1 1/2” lift in the front allowing my truck an almost level look and replaced the factory Ranchos with the Billy 6112’s and installed them on the 3rd ring, this provided me with a little more than what the 1 1/2” lift spacer had given me and improved my ride greatly, better than when the truck was new.

Point is, if you want more than a 1 3/4” lift my advice is to go with a different strut combo and a new upper control arm in order to properly achieve your desired height of 2.25” lift. I believe Fox, Icon and King all have options that will work nicely. King would be my choice out of the three but I desire a quality ride vs jarring my fillings out!

papageoff · October 18, 2019

For sure if you think the tires might rub you probably need the spacer. What size are the tires and do you know the backspacing of the wheels?
I'm assuming you have 4wd?

It's the stock 18" wheels. I'm not sure about the back spacing. As for the tires they're not much bigger and it'd probably be fine, I just wouldn't want to find out the hard way.

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Slash L86 · October 20, 2019

On 10/18/2019 at 10:08 AM, papageoff said:

It's the stock 18" wheels. I'm not sure about the back spacing. As for the tires they're not much bigger and it'd probably be fine, I just wouldn't want to find out the hard way.

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Asked about tire size for clearance purposes. Asked about backspacing for aftermarket UCA clearance purposes as well. Make sure do your homework before buying aftermarket uca w/o knowing if they'll clear the stock wheels.

Either way I would lose the strut spacer

Good luck