king vs carli

[6.4PSD]

I have 5100 bilsteins with a leveling kit right now and the ride is so much worse than stock. ive ridden in lots of trucks and i dont mind a stiff ride but these are terrible on and off road. Im looking to soften up the ride alot and get a suspension with a comfortable ride.

im looking at the carli starter kit or king shocks all around (link below)

King Shocks Part 25001-222 - OEM Performance Coil Over Shock Kit for 0"-3.5" Lift Kits

thanks for all responses

[Alberta Advantage]

Subscribed. Bilstein 5100 shocks were recommended to me when I have to do mine at the next service interval. Curious what others have to say. The Carli starter kit also uses 5100 shocks. I guess they are valved for a Super Duty though.

[CT Performance, Inc.]

You might also want to look at #5160's..these were developed by Shane at Bilsteins racing division specificaly for the '05 up SD.

But if you really want to help the ride quality shocks won't make a huge difference..true 4 link arms will.

Cary

[OCVeloMan]

Originally Posted by 6.4PSD

I have 5100 bilsteins with a leveling kit right now and the ride is so much worse than stock. ive ridden in lots of trucks and i dont mind a stiff ride but these are terrible on and off road. Im looking to soften up the ride alot and get a suspension with a comfortable ride.

im looking at the carli starter kit or king shocks all around (link below)

King Shocks Part 25001-222 - OEM Performance Coil Over Shock Kit for 0"-3.5" Lift Kits

thanks for all responses

We use King to manufacture our shocks but the shocks are all Carli. We use a custom length can, custom shaft, custom pintop (to bolt into your stock towers), custom machined/coated piston, then custom tuning. You can only get these from us, not even king sells our proprietary products.

PS I just had a border patrol guy come in and rip those kings out to replace it with our 4.5" coilover system. He describled the ride as less than impressive. I rode in the truck and it was ok, but not as I expected from King.

When it comes down to it, we re-engineer the shock from a buggy shock with great offroad performance into a shock that is engineered to provide the best all around ride for a super duty. Further, we are now producing these in leveling kits for the 05-2012 superduties. You have the option of running our Kings in a 2.5" lift of 4.5".

As for the 5100s, they're a decent shock but definitly entry level. Without the external reservoir, you're limited on travel and tunability. They should be better than stock but definitly won't be up to the duty of our 5160s, 7100s, or King 2.5s.

To clarify, our 5160s are not the same as CT is referencing above; we developed our own proprietary valving to work with our suspension systems. Feel free to pm me of Skyd Ram (George at 8Lug) for further information, clarification or to chat about systems!

[OCVeloMan]

Also, here's the link to our leveling kit preview:

Carli Suspension - Official Thread

[CT Performance, Inc.]

External Rez's have nothing to do with valving...or travel unless they are a short body version..they can have a longer shaft installed.

7100's, 9100's can come with the same valving as other series Bilsteins.

Their only so many valving options available from Bilstein...unless your having custom valve stacks milled.

I've sold thousands of Bilsteins and only had a couple of customers not happy with them...but very often when I see a Bilstein post you will get 1 person who says they are the worst shock they have ever had even worst that stock...that right theire makes me suspect...

Kings, Fox, Icon, Pure etc all are great shocks but they do cost much more than a #5100 and do not have a lifetime warranty...most just have 90 days...

Again True 4 link arms will make a bigger difference and where the $ should first be spent before $$$ shocks.

We do sell the above but sell very few for the reasons stated above. I would love customers to upgrade the shocks but its much less bang for the buck for them.

[ZMANN]

I have 5100 bilsteins with a leveling kit right now and the ride is so much worse than stock.

In My opinion you did nothing to alter the ride quality other than the Shocks ,, I have never liked the 5100's stiff ride ,

I know there are some awesome shocks being thrown around up there but for Me an adjustable Ranch suits Me fine ,, if you go Hi end I suggest one that is tunable to your likes .. not one that someone else choose for you

[OCVeloMan]

Originally Posted by CT Performance, Inc.

External Rez's have nothing to do with valving...or travel unless they are a short body version..they can have a longer shaft installed.

7100's, 9100's can come with the same valving as other series Bilsteins.

Their only so many valving options available from Bilstein...unless your having custom valve stacks milled.

I've sold thousands of Bilsteins and only had a couple of customers not happy with them...but very often when I see a Bilstein post you will get 1 person who says they are the worst shock they have ever had even worst that stock...that right theire makes me suspect...

Kings, Fox, Icon, Pure etc all are great shocks but they do cost much more than a #5100 and do not have a lifetime warranty...most just have 90 days...

Again True 4 link arms will make a bigger difference and where the $ should first be spent before $$$ shocks.

We do sell the above but sell very few for the reasons stated above. I would love customers to upgrade the shocks but its much less bang for the buck for them.

Wrong... External reservoirs allow for the dividing piston to be moved from the body into the reservoir giving the shock a longer stroke all other things held constant. To say a 4-link has more to do with ride quality than shock valving is incorrect. A single shim can make or break ride quality in a shock. Further, if you deal with 9100 ACVs are you really going to tell me an external reservoir has nothing to do with valving? Frankly, it has everything to do with it in many cases.

As for the four link, we've had this conversation numerous times... So long as the arms are parallel to the ground and the proper leverage is applied, there is little difference in ride quality of a 4-link; especially when using a stock sway bar which won't allow the front to articulate enough to bind the stock radius arms. If you want to see what a true 4-link rides like, go drive a stock dodge and you'll run back to your ford.

We will put our systems against anything out there, even with the stock radius arms.

[OCVeloMan]

Originally Posted by ZMANN

In My opinion you did nothing to alter the ride quality other than the Shocks ,, I have never liked the 5100's stiff ride ,

I know there are some awesome shocks being thrown around up there but for Me an adjustable Ranch suits Me fine ,, if you go Hi end I suggest one that is tunable to your likes .. not one that someone else choose for you

Many people will not see an increase in ride quality for the 5100s as they're not meant to be a plush ride. They're a budget off-road shock so they will be a bit more firm than a standard emulsion white body shock. The 5100s are decent for what they are. They are what's called an Internal Floating Piston design; this meand the oil and nitrogen are separated by a dividing pistion in the shock. The nitrogen pressure on the piston prevents the oil in the shock from cavitating. For the price, they're pretty decent shocks but again, not plush...

[ZMANN]

I guess My point is they are stiff IMHO and that may Be his issue

so I was suggesting another "similar price shock that is adjustable and worked well for smoothing out my ride