Part numbers for Bilsteins, unique suspension

[ruhg123]

I am going to see if I can put some of your expert minds to good work and see if you guys can help me, please. I have a 2005 f250 6.0 4WD that needs new shocks. The ride is complete crap, and very bouncy compared with other peoples F250's, and even F350's. I am leaning towards Bilstein 5100's as I use it for mostly a daily driver, summer trailer towing, and VERY occasional off road when camping. From what i read, these seem to be the best compromise for comfort, price, warranty for this kind of use, plus they look good. I don't need/want dual shocks or reservoirs just to look cool,(just turned 39 today, over that crap now.) If I am wrong on shock choice, feel free to correct me. My buddy just bought Fox racing shocks and loves them, but at about 1.5 times the price of the Bilsteins, and my driving habits, i don't know if thats worth it.

Anyway, on to the real question: I have a VERY unique suspension set up. I need to figure out what would be the correct part numbers for the shocks, so any input would help. When I bought the truck, it had about an 8 inch Fabtech lift on it. It looked good, but there was a little too much gap in the wheel wells for my liking. More importantly, I couldn't reach ANYTHING that was in the bed, and my small kids had a hard time getting in and out. Soooo, I went to a suspension shop and had the lift kit taken out. My buddy has an F350 with a leveling kit sitting on 20's with 35 inch tires. It is the perfect height, and everything fits together nicely. I needed to buy stock suspension parts anyway, so I figured, why not just get the F350 stuff and a leveling kit, and viola, it would be the perfect height! I got really lucky on Craigslist, and found a guy that had the entire F350 suspension in his garage left over from from adding a lift kit. It had been sitting there for 5 years, in almost brand new condition for $100. It even had the stock Ranchos, with 3000 miles on them! I had the shop throw it all in, and it's the perfect height and everything is great. The only problem is the Ranchos have sat for 5 years, and ride like crap. I planned on replacing them anyway at a later date, so here we are.

Now the problem. What model number Bilstein 5100's do you think I need? I am guessing that I would go with the F350 4WD STOCK height rears, and about a 2 inch lift for the front, again F350 4WD. Does this sound right? And if so, anyone have those numbers? Thanks in advance.

[shawnb99]

i didnt pull the numbers, but it sounds like you now have a stock f-350, or at least a stock leveled f-350. reason being, the bilstein 5100 and the yellow HD shock are the same. the 5100 is more specific to lifted trucks, and there fore has a limited warranty, were as the yellow HD has a lifetime. you will know better what length is required.

as far as your buddy goes, he probablly bought the fox for looks, but if ordered from the right vendor, you could have them custom valved for a far superior ride to the 5100, and they are rebuildable if needed. ????? your call, but i think you will be happy with either bilstein choice.