Ford F350 Shock Upgrade Recommendations
- Thread starter YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
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YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
Last night I did a bit of reserach on the 5100 and the 6112. The 6112 seems like it'd be perfect for my uses (plenty of time on forest service roads some of which can be fairly rough). From what I can tell, the 6112 is only for light duty trucks such as the F150. I checked the Bilstein website, did Google searches, and called O'Reilly's and everything that I found led me to believe that they would not be an option for an F350. At this this point, I'm leaning towards the Bilstein 5100 but still looking around.
Alloy
Well-known member
1 ton trucks are so over sprung adjustable shocks don't make much of a difference.
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rruff
Explorer
What was the difference in the design of the bags? Travel maybe? Different diameter and force vs pressure relationship? Were both sets plumbed with separate fill ports?
Do you have swaybars front and rear? Do you spend much time offroad?
I think the cheap Bilsteins might be a decent "gateway drug" upgrade. They should be more resistant to fade on long rough tracks, and being digressively valved they should give you more stable handling.
Rovertrader
Supporting Sponsor
I had a '14 F-350 SRW 4x4 and went with the 2" Icon leveling kit with remote res shocks and new front leveling springs, then added BDS castor correcting radius arms and adjustable track bar, and the (empty) ride greatly improved.
However, I would suggest contacting BDS and just purchase their Fox shocks tuned for the 350 in an effort to save $$ and especially if you are pleased with the stock setup. The 5100's are a step up, but the Fox's are at least two steps up, and guessing not any more expense.
Worth a call...
However, I would suggest contacting BDS and just purchase their Fox shocks tuned for the 350 in an effort to save $$ and especially if you are pleased with the stock setup. The 5100's are a step up, but the Fox's are at least two steps up, and guessing not any more expense.
Worth a call...
montypower
Adventure Time!
Depends on how you use the truck... 2.5" or 3" body shocks will provide more shock resistance due to the larger diameter size. This is important if carrying heavy loads and trying to control the weight shifting (think truck campers). Little 2" shocks can only do so much.
On road use (and empty) your shock choice won't matter much.
Off road and heavy hauling is where you'll see the benefit for large diameter, tuned, reservoir shocks. And yes, adjustable shocks are noticeable and helpful!!
Just need to figure how you'll use the truck.
On road use (and empty) your shock choice won't matter much.
Off road and heavy hauling is where you'll see the benefit for large diameter, tuned, reservoir shocks. And yes, adjustable shocks are noticeable and helpful!!
Just need to figure how you'll use the truck.
YukonMontanaTannerTrapper
Explorer
The noticeable difference (to me) in the newly designed airbags is that the location of the airbags has changed. The bags on the previous design were located on the side of the exterior of the frame mounted on an L shaped bracket. They're now located directly under the frame. Maybe there's more to it than that.....I'm not qualified to say. Both sets were plumbed with separate fill ports. Nope.....no sway bars and I'd venture to say that I spend a lot of time off pavement.
I'll have to Google BDS as I'm not familiar with them. Seems like it would be worth a call. Thanks.
Figuring out how I'll be using the truck is no mystery to me. I just got back from a nearly 5 year road trip in the spring & am heading back out soon. The picture I posted pretty much tells my story. I travel lots of forest service roads in the U.S. I have no plans for the Amazon in South America or the Serengeti in Africa in this rig.
The stock shocks did fine for Mexico, U.S., Canada, & Alaska. It's always handled just fine. I'm not looking to go overboard and my thinking here was a simple upgrade from stock. Sometimes I see rigs in my travels (and locally as well) that look as though they've spent a fortune on their suspensions and I can't help but wonder why ?
I'll have to Google BDS as I'm not familiar with them. Seems like it would be worth a call. Thanks.
Figuring out how I'll be using the truck is no mystery to me. I just got back from a nearly 5 year road trip in the spring & am heading back out soon. The picture I posted pretty much tells my story. I travel lots of forest service roads in the U.S. I have no plans for the Amazon in South America or the Serengeti in Africa in this rig.
The stock shocks did fine for Mexico, U.S., Canada, & Alaska. It's always handled just fine. I'm not looking to go overboard and my thinking here was a simple upgrade from stock. Sometimes I see rigs in my travels (and locally as well) that look as though they've spent a fortune on their suspensions and I can't help but wonder why ?
rruff
Explorer
You sound like you are not in a hurry to get anywhere, which makes it easy on your shocks.
I think you'll be happy with the Bilstein 4600 or KYB Monomax. The are <$100 each and you just replace them if something goes wrong. You don't want to mess with rebuilds on long trips.
chet6.7
Explorer
There is a lot to be said for running a shock that you can pick up at NAPA, or get in a few days. If it works for you that is what matters. I suspect any Bilstein is better than a stock shock.
However, a good shock makes a noticeable improvement in ride and capability.
The first 1.50 is the part to watch. If they drove slower, and maybe stopped to let the shocks cool they probably would have been OK. If they had better shocks they could have probably done everything the same without problems and got a better ride. Tradeoffs, you pay your money and you take your chances.
IdaSHO
IDACAMPER
Ive run KYB Monomax on my heavy camper hauling trucks with excellent results. Great performance loaded and hold up great. In more than 150k combined, Ive warrantied just one shock. Just dont make the mistake of expecting a heavy truck & camper to handle woops like a trophy truck 
I have run both 5100s and 2.0s on a 2500 Ram. The Fox 2.0s are definitely worth the money. The performance difference from stock shocks with 70lb f-rated Nittos on Method NV HD wheels is night and day. I would consider upgrading to 2.5 body shocks but I don’t want to pull them for rebuilding on a regular basis.
I have not noticed any performance drop off after 30k on the Fox 2.0 shocks. I don’t know if the 2.0s are rebuildable.