I'm a bit late to post this, but I figured better late than never. I picked up a set of non-sas Badlands Bilsteins off of someone here on the boards and swapped them with the Hitachis at the beginning of this month. I have not driven it off road yet, which will come later in the summer (I'll give my thoughts on that at that time), but I have driven maybe 500 miles in city and highway driving situations since the swap was completed. Just figured I would give everyone my current thoughts in case anyone else is thinking of doing the same swap.
First of all, I'll give you some basic measurement differences (which actually don't make sense to be honest), so keep in mind they may be a bit off. I measured with a full tank before and after to get the height increase comparison numbers in my garage parked in the exact same spot. I did measure just 4-5 days after the swap though, so maybe they could have settled a bit since then? Pretty much removed the rake out of it and I'm not sure if I'm okay with it yet. I'll double check here when I get a chance, but here are the initial numbers:
After the swap:
Front lift increase of 1.5"
Clearance increase at bottom of transmission skid of 1"
Clearance increase at bottom of rear trailing arm mounts of 1"
Rear lift increase of 1"
Before and After Side shot:
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Front 3/4 view Before and After:
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Impressions:
- Ride control is much better. After now having the Bilsteins, the Hitachis were possibly underdampened. Huge improvement/reduction in bangs over road imperfections and the ride is much smoother overall.
- Highway ride is the city driving improvements, but to the next level. Much nicer for a long drive now.
- Noticeably less nose dive and more body control. Feels more "planted" while driving which has been a big bonus.
Yep, we're gonna ago with 33s or 34s when the Grabbers wear out as well, but they will have to do for now. But overall, If anyone is thinking about doing the swap, I wouldn't hesitate. I was looking for a simple upgrade to the Hitachis, and I am more than happy. I'll definitely report back with some off road impressions this summer as well, but I figured I would at least give everyone my initial impressions.
Thank you, for sharing your impressions. As FIY: Last week I did an upgrade of the OBX with Hitachi shocks to the Ford Performance tuned Builshtein 6112s and my impressions are very similar to yours.
Not to say that Hithachi shocks are "less than" as they are very comfortable with the original 32" tires. Said that, if you plan to upgrade to larger and heavier tires, you want to compensate for additional weight per my opinion ( I installed BL 33"). My lift after was about 2" in the rear and 1.25" in the front, due to a WARN bumper and winch addition. My on-road and off-road impression was the same as yours with better control of Freeway speeds and fast dirt road driving on the desert trail.
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