Initially I was set at 4 in the front and 3 in the back. I have since changed things. The more preload, the better the bronco drove on road. I have yet to hit a trail since changing my settings but wanted to lower the preload for more comfort during low speed crawling.
What did you ultimately decide on? I’m thinking 3 front and back
I went to 3 in the front and a 1 in the back. My build link is in my signature. I ended up doing some other modification as I killed a CV axle and wanted to go a tad lower.
About to order these for when I put my new tires on. Thinking the #3 setting too. At that height did you just replace the shocks or did you have to change any of the UCAs or anything else? I heard anything above 2” you start to need new UCAs.clip #3 front and rear. great ride home from the shop. bumps definitely transmit more but overall far better
Awesome, thanks. Looks good!Just the shocks. Added 33”s after that. Still very happy.
Definitely like the firmer ride. I remember when I got the Bronco I thought the tires had too much air in them and it felt bouncy. The 5100s are definitely more planted and firm. I got my 315s in today so next weekend I will know how they ride with the bigger tires.
Really like those wheels!
This is awesome. Thanks for the info! So to sum it up:Well I finally have enough mileage on my 5100 shocks to say I like them and post my collection of info. 5100's feel stiffer than Hitachi's due to the digressive valving. If you feel your Hitachi shocks are to bouncy the 5100s would be a good purchase for you. If you are sensitive to small bumps in the road and don't want to feel them don't buy 5100's. The biggest change for me is the local speed bumps that are a 20mph bump. These 20mph bumps with the Hitachi suspension was a hard bottom out for me. I can now respectfully drive 40mph over the same bump and no bottoming out. Front 5100's can definitely handle more speed on these bumps but the rear at its limit (losing tire contact with the ground). For $550 they are absolutely a no brainer upgrade since 5100 tend to last 2-3 times longer than factory shock. If your paying someone to install a front lift and want to keep your bronco for a long time your money ahead putting 5100s on.
I would not put 5100's on a SAS bronco, they are the same diameter but missing some of the improvements that SAS shock offers (rebound and reservoirs). If you are looking at replacing SAS shocks after they have worn out I would say these are going to be a good option for similar performance (not an improvement). I couldn't find SAS take offs for fair money so for me the 5100's are a nice upgrade.
Snacktime's bad idea's start here and below...
Hard Numbers for all Bilstein shocks are pretty much the same. Front are almost Identical to factory SAS Shocks, below are 5100's and SAS specs. I believe the shorter collapsed length on the 5100 is the bump stop strike plate design(eats about 5mm or 1/2 cm of travel).
Rear has slightly less travel again I think the strike plate for the bump stops is the reason. The overall shock length is 5.7mm shorter or 1/2cm, which I consider a mute point (if it was more I would have passed on the 5100 and bought take off SAS Shocks).
My ruff math and my issue with Bilstein not being long enough. Below you will see my excel sheet I used to figure out if it was worth buying 5100s and what kind of suspension travel I would get. Below in the blue is stock Front SAS travel and 5100 at 1in (really 5100's are a 1/4 inch less up travel but your not fighting up travel). Same with the rear in yellow. Biggest issue with lifting stock suspension on the road and day to day is running out of droop and lifting a tire. 5100 are being sold as a lift 1" to 3", same as sticking a 2" collar lift on stock SAS shocks. I don't like the idea of running 5100's at 3" ride height with 1.74" of available droop. Since I was looking for as much lift as I can (3.5" to 4" is what is considered safe at this time) and keeping as much down travel as possible. You will see I stuck a spacer lift in with the shocks, this was to keep my down travel. I ended up putting the collars at the green highlighted number. With the added weight of my skids and when I stick my winch on(hiding in the garage) I will most likely lose a 1/2" on the front taking me from 3.8" of lift down to 3.3" (guessing). With the height reduction I should have 2" of down travel. I also have the ability to adjust and add more height to the front if needed. Spacers allow me more droop and hopefully provide a better on road experience over just maxing out the 5100's.
Side shot
Crappy shot of cv angles
Bad ideas
Alignment on stock A-Arms
The End-Please feel free to comment on my bad ideas... as this is a forum.
