Got my Bilsteins 5100's today. Installed them in about 2 hours, not bad for never replacing shocks before. I did watch the video from BigSarge who did the same thing to his diesel, lots of help with some of the little things on the front install to make it easier. They went right on with no effort at all, perfect fit and replacement for the FX4 Rancho's.

Took the Rancho's off and was able to push them all the way down very easily, and they took about 2 minutes to fully extend. The rear shock's were even worse, they would not extend without me pulling the out.
The new one's are a very nice silver with a closed rubber boot on them, they also came with all the hardware needed to install the fronts, the back were a direct replacement with all the same bolts.

The truck is not so bouncy any more, a little smother ride too. But I only drove about 5 miles so far, I will know more when I am able to drive a little further and find some roads with more potholes (not hard here in MI).

Here are some pictures:
Stock shocks with hard plastic boot not protecting anything and allowing dirt to get to the piston, the Bilsteins have a sealed boot.




Here is a picture of the rears, stock have no boots at all:


These are the ones that came off:

 

Looks good, How many miles were on the ranchos?

 

I have 8860 miles on the truck. At first I just assumed that was the way it is supposed to be, a little bouncy, it's a truck after all. It's not anymore and rides good now. BigSarge changed his at 2900 according to his video.

 

Yea, I did mine also - although at about 30K

But when I called 4wheel parts (the local shop) - they said that the 5100 was for "lifted trucks" - they swore that the 4600 was the same shock - I questioned that - but they said they would sell me the 5100 but the 4600 was the actual replacement & I would be happy.. I went with the 4600 but only time will tell... right now they are real nice...A lot better than the Ranchos...

 

Get some kind of sealant on those shocks if you want to keep them nice looking. I had a set on my 2000 and they looked terrible after one winter (salt).. They may have added some kind of material to protect them in recent years but just keep an eye on them if you're in a salted area.

I wish they'd make a black shock, I'd be all over a set...

 

The black boot does look better the the red one. The silver is not smooth but rather like a rough feel, kinda like it was sand blasted. I am going to get some Fluid Film for the winter. And yes I am in MI.

 

I also have the 5100 bilstiens installed on my 2011 truck.Great shock IMHO

 

Kevin,

Do you happen to have the part numbers of the shocks? I'm thinking about ordering a Bilstein dual stabilizer setup from Top Gunz and might throw a set of 5100's on all 4 corners as well. As much as I'm shying away from "shiny" parts, Bilstein makes a hell of a good product.

 

Not sure which one is the front or rear but you need 2 of each. 24-186025 & 24-186018

I got them from 4Wheel parts, paid $311 with free shipping. If you use Google checkout they were giving $20 off too.

 

Thanks, I thought I saw somewhere that their fronts will accommodate a leveling kit down the road so I need to see if it's the same ones you have listed.

 

I just got the ones that fit with no lift. I dont ever plan on putting a lift ir leveling kit on mine. Today my wife admitted that it was a better ride and was able to text without being typing the wrong letters every ither word.

 

This is some good info.
Thanks for posting guys.

 

Top Gunz apparently doesn't want my business, they never replied back to me. Just ordered a set of RS9000's today, found 'em for $299.95 (free shipping) at truckaddons.com if anyone's interested.

Part numbers I ordered were:
RS999042 (Front)
RS999254 (Rear)

I'm waiting to hear back from the dealer regarding my steering issues (when turning left) but have a Carli Bilstein steering stabilizer in my crosshairs....

 

The only Rancho's i could find required a 4" lift. I too am looking at that stabilizer.

 

No joke, finding the right part numbers on Rancho's site is a chore. I ended up PM'ing them here to confirm I had the right ones.

Regarding the steering stabilizer, I figured I'd give the dealer another couple days before I order the Carli setup... Plus my wife won't hassle me as much if I break up the purchases into smaller amounts..