Need advice: Bilstein 5100 vs. 6112 (or mixed setup)

[Eaglecountry]

My Big Bend bronco is currently running Hitachi stocks. My end goal is 35" tires so I will lift accordingly. I spend 90% or my time on pavement or "Pavement" depending on how screwed up the roads are. I looked at 5100 and I would spend about $600 for those and $1800 for 6112s. Does anybody have a full or front/rear mixed setup of these shocks that they can speak for.

Note: money is limited, or I would already have a 25.7 foot lift kit and $3500 a piece FOX shocks

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[RC Bronco]

Bilstein 5100s are a great budget option, but they’re on the firmer side. I don’t have hands-on experience with them on a Bronco, but between your two options, I would favor the 6112’s (coming from someone who started with Hitachi then went Eibach Pro Truck 2.0 Coilovers and next Monday is having Bilstein 8112’s installed)

You could consider 4WP / ProComp
2.5 Coilovers. They can be found for very cheap since 4WP got bought out. Several folks on here run them and love them on and off road

(Personally) In the budget category, I’d skip the 2” shocks and go for the 4WP 2.5 Coilovers

 

[dkittel]

For what it's worth, we replaced all four of our stock bilsteins with 5100s on our 2025 non-SAS Badlands at about 5k miles after a reservoir fell off one of the rears. About 7k miles later, maybe 90% on road and they've been great. More planted feel on-road and to my limited off-road experience every bit as good at the stocks were and maybe better at higher speed on washboard roads.

 

[contented]

My Big Bend bronco is currently running Hitachi stocks. My end goal is 35" tires so I will lift accordingly. I spend 90% or my time on pavement or "Pavement" depending on how screwed up the roads are. I looked at 5100 and I would spend about $600 for those and $1800 for 6112s. Does anybody have a full or front/rear mixed setup of these shocks that they can speak for.

Note: money is limited, or I would already have a 25.7 foot lift kit and $3500 a piece FOX shocks

I replaced the leaking OEM Badlands yellow SAS Bilsteins W/ Bilstein 6112 eighteen months ago. Main reason for this selection was I didn’t want to lift or spend a ton of money. Already had factory 35”’s and no desire to go bigger. On/off road handling is ok, but I think they ride harsh off road and I need to drop tire pressure to 16# to get any semblance of a decent ride. No high speed desert running just Moab, Colorado mountains and Easter Jeep badge of honor trails crawling for me.

What you‘re going to find is most times people love what they bought. If memory serves me, forum member @Snacktime has a detailed thread you might find helpful.

 

[Rkgzx9leftcoast]

I ran the 6112s on mine for about 2 and half 3 years. I had 37s in a E ply rating, to me the 6112s were stiff, E ply tires prolly didn't help. I just changed to the Pro Comps, the backs seem a little stiff to me, but not bad. Pretty good coil over for the money.

From what ive read on here from others, if you are staying with 35s, I think the Eibach Pro Truck 2.0 is going to ride the nicest. They are coming out with Pro 2.5s ( supposed to be 4th quarter release?)

 

[Red2000]

I have a 2 inch lift with 6100's and 33's. They are a LOT of shock compared to the Hitachis and you can go a lot faster offroad. You can go way faster off-road with 6100 if that is what you do. I'm sure the 5100's are great too. Depends on what you'll do with your truck. If you're going to do low speed off-roading then it might not be worth it to go big.

What kind of off-roading will you be doing?

 

[Hemisfear]

For what it's worth, we replaced all four of our stock bilsteins with 5100s on our 2025 non-SAS Badlands at about 5k miles after a reservoir fell off one of the rears. About 7k miles later, maybe 90% on road and they've been great. More planted feel on-road and to my limited off-road experience every bit as good at the stocks were and maybe better at higher speed on washboard roads.

The 5100's are definitely a down grade from the Badlands stock, position sensitive shocks, the 6200's are arguably a bit better with their overall diameter being larger, but without the remote reservoir and the 8112's are obscenely awesome!

 

[Eaglecountry]

I have a 2 inch lift with 6100's and 33's. They are a LOT of shock compared to the Hitachis and you can go a lot faster offroad. You can go way faster off-road with 6100 if that is what you do. I'm sure the 5100's are great too. Depends on what you'll do with your truck. If you're going to do low speed off-roading then it might not be worth it to go big.

What kind of off-roading will you be doing?

Mostly Texas dirt roads with small boulders. I'm a little out of money for a rock crawler rig(some day)

 

[23OBX2.7]

Bilstein Hoss2 takeoffs complete coil over are cheap and excellent bot on road and speed bumpy holed roads. Huge leap from Hitachis.

My city inner city is so jammed with ubers and gif workers I now take alleys as much as possible don't even slow down for big speed bumps and easily handles alley to road steep transitions. Way better than Hitachi.

Also excellent at speed on trashed back roads really smoothes them out. I had ordered Fox 2.5 but cancelled when landed the takes offs.

 

[Red2000]

Mostly Texas dirt roads with small boulders. I'm a little out of money for a rock crawler rig(some day)

People downplay the stock hitachis all the time but they are great for the majority of drivers. If you have dreams of high speed off-roading or 35's then yes the hitachis might feel lacking.

I beat the heck out of my highway terrain 30s and hitachis before I upgraded.

 

[natureguyusa]

I installed Bilstein 6100's with the stock Badlands springs. They are a huge improvement over the stock, Badlands shocks. The road ride is much more comfortable with less body roll. They handle the largest bumps and drive better on dirt roads. Ford should have just used the 6100's. The 6100's ride more firm than most stock SUV shocks. I suspect the 5100's will ride less firm if you don't run much of a lift, but they are more of a compromise on rough dirt roads. It depends on your driving and what you are looking for. You can ask Bilstein Tech for recommendations. Give them a detailed description of your rig, what you plan on doing with it, and your driving style. They were spot on for recommending the 6100's for me. The biggest problem I had was figuring out the lift from the charts Billstein gave. My lifts were in the middle of two charts. You might want to do the rear first. Measure the lift, then reconsider before doing the more difficult front. That is what I did, and I still need to take the rear back apart to do a minor re-adjustment.

 

[Snacktime]

Bilstein 5100s are a great budget option, but they’re on the firmer side. I don’t have hands-on experience with them on a Bronco, but between your two options, I would favor the 6112’s (coming from someone who started with Hitachi then went Eibach Pro Truck 2.0 Coilovers and next Monday is having Bilstein 8112’s installed)

You could consider 4WP / ProComp
2.5 Coilovers. They can be found for very cheap since 4WP got bought out. Several folks on here run them and love them on and off road

(Personally) In the budget category, I’d skip the 2” shocks and go for the 4WP 2.5 Coilovers

I agree!

4wp shocks are definitely the best option still available for the price. Several people have 60k+ miles on them which is amazing. They do give to much lift for some but you can swap springs which adds cost.

6100 are worth it but since you have to buy springs the 5100s are a much better deal. You won't regret the upgrade as they perform on par with stock SAS suspension and last longer(normal street use). 5100 are very comparable in performance to Eibach Stage 2 that cost $1800.

 

[TheKim]

I love my 6112s, but I also tow near max weight, and have a good amount of gear regularly in the vehicle which is specifically why I got them.
They can be firm, but very planted. Nose dive and leaning from turns feel so much better. Rides pretty flat, in a good way.
They've been a great upgrade over HOSS 2.0.
I do mostly slow and technical, but I actually like them quite a bit at desert running speeds around 60-70mph as well.

 

[userdude]

If you can find some HOSS 2.0 Bilstein takeoffs like-new for $300-400, I'd go that route. And then go 34" tires. So yeah, the non-Sas Badlands is really all you'll need and it should be a good deal compared to other upgrades out there.

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