I ordered these shocks a 2 weeks ago, they were backordered and expected to ship before the end of the month. Well they arrived today....The install on the front was somewhat tough.....They were not compressed....so I had to Heman up.....The rear shocks were compressed....but things happen...so I Heman up once more. I test drove the truck about 15 miles.....big difference...I can't wait until I hook-up the work trailer. The stock shocks 3 of them had 27.4K miles 1 other had 2K miles....it was replaced under warranty..because of leaking. Granted they were stock..out of the 4 the 1 with 2K miles was in the best shape. I'am looking for a Bilstein Steering stablizer...but from what I am told it's not available yet in the 5100 series..I will keep yall posted as I put more miles on these shocks...

 

You didn't say if you were lifted or leveled, did you use Part Number: BIL24-186018 (no lift). Thanks.

 

I have a 2011 SD FX4 CC....it's stock ...shock pn's Front 24-186018 / Rear 24-186025
I have purchased a leveling kit...but it's not installed......Thinking of 20 inch stock wheels
285/65/20.......I'am still thinking...

 

Did the new shocks make the ride harsher, I am thinking of upgrading since I pull a trailer most of the time.

 

Please post where you ordered them and how much you paid. I'm interested in this very much since the rancho shocks suck *** and I really want to get the Bilsteins.

 

I just replaced the factory ranchos with the bilstein HD shocks, wow what a difference.

The ranchos had about 53,000 miles on them and I could easily compress them by hand and the range of motion was not smooth either, I could feel little sort of sticky places in them.

The new HD shocks are much harder to compress by hand, I'm sure I was all kinds of red and purple colors trying to get the bolt holes to line up. And the best part? No, the ride is not harsher, it's smoother and more stable.

I did not get the 5100 series, opted for the heaviest I could get, mine are the yellow with the blue dust covers.

I ordered from shock warehouse, same shocks as the '08-10 trucks. Price was about $185 for all 4.

 

Bilstein 5100's from Summit Racing:

BSN-24-186018 FORD 4WD BTS KIT FRT SHOCKS Shipped 5/13/2011 $86.95 2 $173.90
BSN-24-186025 FORD F250/350 4WD REAR SHOCKS B Shipped 7/8/2011 $86.95 2 $173.90
Part Total $347.80

Delivery and Handling Charge$12.95
Total Charges $360.75

Front shock: Bilstein 24-186018 - Bilstein 5100 Series Shocks - Overview - SummitRacing.com

Rear shock: Bilstein 24-186025 - Bilstein 5100 Series Shocks - Overview - SummitRacing.com
The picture for the rear 5100 is wrong, both part numbers are 5100 Bilstein silver shocks w/black boots.

These were the first change I did on my truck and they are a definite improvement over the FX4 Rancho shocks. Much better control on compression and extension. The front end of my truck no longer bounces off of the bump stops when going over parking lot speed bumps and the rear is not as 'jarring' when going over railroad tracks. These are a great improvement over stock.

 

I've checked a few times at different shock places...as yet no one has part numbers for Bilstein shocks for 2011 F450.

Has anyone seen new shocks available for the F450?

 

Sounds like an upgrade that everyone could benefit from. I don't drive over rough roads much at all, and the ride seems fine - but can it be better?

 

I have the 5160's on my F-350 and they made a big difference. I only did the front for now, but will most likely put the 5100's or the 5160's on the rear.

 

The shock up grade...was a must for me.....since 1 had failed at 25K miles...There is a big difference in ride with or without the work trailer.....Like I posted if you do the install ...compressing the shocks will be the hardest part....I purchased these shocks from Autoanything.com .....I have had good service with other items for my truck.....mud guards,canvous seat covers front and back......They are just a good company to do business with. The total cost was $ 370.00 that was with some discount.....shipping was free.

 

I'm looking forward to finding this out for myself and have some Rancho 9000XL's and dual stabilizers on my garage floor right now. The front shocks are on back order and I'm waiting for them to arrive. I'm looking to eliminate the little bit of steering wobble and shock rebound feeling of the OEM shocks. Sometimes I wonder if I would have even noticed if it wasn't for the forum but I'm always up for an improvement even if I didn't think of it myself.

I'm glad Lexus figured out the bad ball joints and stabilizer on his front end. That little experience should be summarized and added to the tech folder in my opinion. I have no reason right now to suspect bad joints on mine as they passed the wiggle and video tests so far but with all these other components upgraded, this big one-ton truck will ride better than was intended.

 

Might have to call bilstein, they have a good website so a phone number should be easy to find. If I had to guess, the '11 450 would probably be the same as the 350. From what I see posted here the new 450 took a step back to a lighter chassis. Do you have the wide track front end? Could be the shock part # for the front pair from the '08-10 450 and the rears from the 350.

 

"If I had to guess, the '11 450 would probably be the same as the 350. From what I see posted here the new 450 took a step back to a lighter chassis. Do you have the wide track front end? Could be the shock part # for the front pair from the '08-10 450 and the rears from the 350."

All F450's have wide track front end.
I contacted one of the shock warehouse type places, the F450 uses different part numbers. This would make sense in that the F450 uses different spring rates than any other truck. The shock damping would need re-valved to match.

 

Ok, I thought the '08 450 could be gotten with the standard narrow front end. If the spring rates did not change from '10 to '11 then it's probably the same shock.