# Bilstein Shocks



## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

I'm about to order a new set of shocks for my 2012 F-250 4X4. The harshness of the ride when towing, plus moderate vibration and bounce going over bumps, is driving me crazy and about makes my DW sick. My truck had 55K miles when I bought is last year, and now sits at 61K miles. It still has the factory shocks on it, so I figure they are probably at the end of their useful life. Plus I know vehicle manufacturers don't put on the best shocks. I'm about to purchase a set of Bilstein shocks and see they have great reviews. Just wondering if anyone here has made the switch to Bilstein and if you're happy or not. I know an F-250 is never going to ride like a luxury car, but dang it's rough, especially when my Outback is hooked on.

Todd


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## Tiger02 (Apr 16, 2006)

You really can't go wrong with Bilsteins on a 4WD truck. I switched to Bilsteins back in 2013 on all 4 corners, and noticed an immediate improvement unloaded and loaded as the truck felt more planted and in control over rough pavement. The truck still had the original shocks on them from 1997, so big improvement over those. You will notice the biggest improvement when towing or hauling some weight around. I did change the front to KYBs this past spring as the Bilsteins became too stiff for my 2WD front end and caused some vibrations at highway speed when not towing.


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## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

Thanks for your input! I'll order them and hope for the best. I'll report back with my results after I tow again next month.


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## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

Just wanted to report back since I installed the Bilstein shocks on my F-250 about 3 months ago. Not towing, I've noticed a little stiffer ride, but it is a heavy duty pickup and will never ride like a car. Towing, the bounce and vibration I've felt on less then smooth highways with the old factory shocks has been greatly reduced. I feel a better control while towing too.

Todd


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## Parrothead (Jul 17, 2015)

Nice, Thanks for reporting back!


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## raddad73 (May 20, 2017)

I just ordered Bilstein's for my 2017 f250 FX4. Im hoping that it will firm up the ride when towing. My truck is only 3 weeks old, stock everything but the towing ride is a bit mushy. hope this solves my trouble. Im towing a 2017 328 RL


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## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

Bilsteins will firm up the ride some. Just expect a marginal difference/improvement since you're replacing shocks on a brand new truck.

Todd


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## raddad73 (May 20, 2017)

So I went to put my bilsteins on and discovered that there is a difference between 2016 and 2017 F250 FX4. The lower shock bolt is to big for the bilsteins. I have a 2017 and took the chance on the 2016 being the same.. Live and learn, now I need to send them back.. I did notice that I was able to easily compress the stock Ranchos where as the bilsteins would not budge when i tried to compress them. So I'm looking for advise on a runner up to bilsteins.

thanks in advance.


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

I replaced the stock shocks on our 2004.5 silverado at about 10K miles with bilsteins. made a big difference when towing. IMHO factory shocks, at least on the silverado, were set up more for empty ride rather than fully loaded, with to little compression damping and to fast rebound damping. Difference was very noticeable and a much improved towing ride with little impact on empty ride. When we got our 2015.5 denali 2500, I put on a set of bilsteins as soon as I could less than 1K miles. again, a very noticeable improvement.

Now the 2004.5 is now our son's truck, has 160K miles on it, and the bilsteins are still working very well.


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

raddad73 said:


> So I went to put my bilsteins on and discovered that there is a difference between 2016 and 2017 F250 FX4. The lower shock bolt is to big for the bilsteins. I have a 2017 and took the chance on the 2016 being the same.. Live and learn, now I need to send them back.. I did notice that I was able to easily compress the stock Ranchos where as the bilsteins would not budge when i tried to compress them. So I'm looking for advise on a runner up to bilsteins.
> 
> thanks in advance.


go to the bilstein website and see if they list ones for 2017 yet. If not, give them a call and they likely can say when they will be available.


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## raddad73 (May 20, 2017)

thanks KTMRacer... so after a lot of web searching i have found the there was a change in the rear shock mount bolt between the 2016 and the 2017. the 2017 is a bit larger at 9/16 with the 2016 coming in at only 1/2. So i found different size Bilstein bushing for the 5100 and finally go the rear installed. The difference in unloaded ride is slightly more stiff but a big improvement, the bouncing after a bump is gone. I towed my 8x10 utility trailer and noticed a big deference.. the bounce is gone.

I still need to do the front shock replacement. I wanted to see what the changes would feel like in stages.. rear then front. from what I can tell so far is that the 2016 shocks will work on the 2017 front... if they don't, FOX has a set that they spec for the 2017. if I get to this I will replace all 4 with FOX Shocks..

in summary, I am happy with the bilstein's looking forward to towing my 328RL to see if it made a change.

next mods will be a sway bar and then progressive overload springs.. I want my TV to ride firm... not hard as a rock but firm... Any suggestions welcomed.

PS.. once I get this they way I like it, i will post very detailed description of the setup... seems to me that I cant be the first one with a 2017 F250 FX4 towing 10,0000 lbs with 1000 lbs tongue weight and not like the ride... so if you have done this, let me know your setup.

thank you


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## raddad73 (May 20, 2017)

raddad73 said:


> thanks KTMRacer... so after a lot of web searching i have found the there was a change in the rear shock mount bolt between the 2016 and the 2017. the 2017 is a bit larger at 9/16 with the 2016 coming in at only 1/2. So i found different size Bilstein bushing for the 5100 and finally go the rear installed. The difference in unloaded ride is slightly more stiff but a big improvement, the bouncing after a bump is gone. I towed my 8x10 utility trailer and noticed a big deference.. the bounce is gone.
> 
> I still need to do the front shock replacement. I wanted to see what the changes would feel like in stages.. rear then front. from what I can tell so far is that the 2016 shocks will work on the 2017 front... if they don't, FOX has a set that they spec for the 2017. if I get to this I will replace all 4 with FOX Shocks..
> 
> ...


so the fronts Bilsteins ment for a 2016 f250 will work on a 2017 f250 fx4 with out any issues. I am now running all four corners on bilsteins.. my fist impression, unloaded is that there is not a significant change. It does seem to ride a little more firm, no bouncing after a bump, i feel a little more in control... We will be taking out the TT in two days, I will provide an update then...


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## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

Also look into Timbren SES rubber springs in place of helper/overload springs. They are available for the 2017 Superduty. I had these on a previous F-150 and loved them. I'll be buying a set for my F-250 in the near future.


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## raddad73 (May 20, 2017)

Just put on the Hellwig big wig sway bar... WOW what a difference... drive-ability has improved 100%. gone is the side to side rock... PS I did not have a factory sway bar before the addition.


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## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

Yea that sway bar sure is nice! I was lucky to find my truck with the camper package, which include the factory sway bar.

Todd


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## raddad73 (May 20, 2017)

Took it out this weekend for the first time after installing the sway bar i think i may be close to the perfect setup.

1) New Bilstein shocks on all 4 corners

2) New Hellwig Sway Bar

3) Front end alignment

4) New 2.5 inch drop shank

5) reset Ball Height

6) added 1 washer

There were times I forgot I was pulling a 10500 # box. i found myself at 75 mph a few time. May 2017 f250 Gasser pulled it up a 5% grade without any problem. If I could only get rid of the little bounce I sometimes get i would say its perfect. i think I may still have any issue with my WD hitch. im getting about 1.5 inch sag in the back and a little lift in the front. Im not sure if I have Strong enough WD bars.. How much tension can you really put on these guys? and then maybe the husky WD hitch is not the right hitch for my application. Trying to get one more run in this season.


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## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

That occasional bounce or porpoising you will never get rid of towing a travel trailer. Road conditions especially concrete roads are what causes that. You will get a drop on the rear of the truck, even with a properly set up hitch. As long as the steering and handling feel good, youre good to go!

Todd


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## 325BH (May 10, 2016)

raddad73 said:


> Took it out this weekend for the first time after installing the sway bar i think i may be close to the perfect setup.
> 
> 1) New Bilstein shocks on all 4 corners
> 2) New Hellwig Sway Bar
> ...


As said, with a TT some porpoising will always be present after some bumps.

Regarding your WD setup and rear sag. With a 10,500# TT, you will want the 15,000/1,500 bars... and need to put enough tension on them. Most problems I see people have with WD setups is too small of bars and not tensioning them enough.

I have a 10,500# GVWR TT that is at max most of the time with 1,500# tongue weight. I have a 2016 F250 with camper package... which means it has factory rear sway bar and factory rear overload spring. It takes quit a bit of tension on my 15,000/1,500 bars to set things right.

One other thing: I always carry a full fresh water tank so my loading (specifically tongue weight) is consistent from trip to trip. This is important for WD setup.

I also use TorkLift StableLoad pads for my overload springs. This really helps things I have found. (The pads keep the overload springs engaged all of the time.)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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