cjlangellier

Took me a little bit to get used to seeing them on the truck. I honestly like the look of the truck without any boards better, but I was worried about destroying my seats without them. I like them, but there are a few fitment things that could be better. I am having trouble getting them perfectly level. I'm a little anal about that stuff so it catches my eye when one of the gaps are off or the board doesn't sit flat on the mounts. There is enough adjustment in the mounts that I think I can shim them with some washers to get them perfect, I just haven't had time to mess with them yet. They are rock solid though and look like they will hold up better than the nerf bars that were originally on the truck.

I finally got my Wildpeak's (275/70r18 E load rated) mounted up. I have very limited drive time since install, but the ride quality is noticeably rougher compared to the P-rated SRA's. I expected that moving to the heavier, higher load rating tires. The ride is not terrible, just noticeably rougher than with the 5100's and stock tires. Overall, I am very happy with them so far though. They look great and are relatively quite at highway speeds. Here's the initial pics from before the 5100's and tires and after. I'll get some better quality pictures after I get the truck washed up.

The dealer advertisement for my truck. Followed by the day I brought it home. Followed by today. Desperately needs a wash. Added trifold tonneau, Bilstein 5100's all the way around (set on top notch), Go Rhino! RB20's and 275/70r18 Wildpeak A/T3W's

I just installed Bilstein 5100's on my crew cab Z71 Sierra last night. I was a little nervous about the ride quality after reading some of the bad reviews but I am happy to report that the ride was vastly improved over the stock Rancho shocks. Mine are set to the top notch. Aside from having issues getting the spring compressed far enough to use stock top hat retaining nut, the install went relatively smooth. I did end up using the Bilstein supplied top hat nut. My truck has 44,000 miles on it. Switching to the 5100's resulted in a firmer, more planted feel at highway speeds. Body roll in curves is drastically reduced, and the harshness and chatter that I would feel when the Rancho's would rebound is gone. At low speeds you will feel small bumps and expansion joints in the road, but they are not harsh or jarring at all. Honestly, I'm not sure I notice much of a difference between the shocks driving straight line at lower speeds. Thanks to all those that provided info in this thread. It made the installation a breeze. It took me about 3.5 hours to do the swap. If I had to do it again, I'm guessing I could cut 45 minutes to an hour off that time. I have a set of 33" Falken Wildpeak A/T3W's on order. I'll be sure to post some before and after photos after those are installed.