What shocks to get!?

kennerz · March 2, 2019

King OEM - no complaints. Best craftsmanship, excellent ride quality. The only shock I researched where I couldn't find any negative reviews. I joined the club and really enjoy the ride now. Huge handling improvement , awesome shock dampening. Not much improvement in initial plushness, but once it's more than a small ripple they shine from that point on.

I want to drive my truck more now.

I have not installed the rears yet, but just the front radically changed the driving dynamics.

Lstarr87 · March 2, 2019

10 hours ago, TXGREEK said:

Just do the Bilstein 5100’s front and back, they come longer in the rear making up the difference for the new rear blocks you should be getting with your 4.5” lift. Be forewarned, with that lift you will get a wider track width which will cause your wheels and tires to stick out more as well as widen your turning radius. You’ll most likely need to get rear spacers too so you can match the front track width. This is why I went with CST amongst other reasons. Just holler and post pics once you’re done, pick out new wheels and tires yet?

Sent from above

Yes sir. I have the TIS 545 MB. It has a positive 18 offset. And I’m getting the Nitto ridge grapps in 305/55/20. So hopefully it looks good! I’ll get the Bilsteins!

TXGREEK · March 2, 2019

Yes sir. I have the TIS 545 MB. It has a positive 18 offset. And I’m getting the Nitto ridge grapps in 305/55/20. So hopefully it looks good! I’ll get the Bilsteins!

Just remember, once you’ve been driving it awhile, the actual little bit of rough ride when compared to stock is due to the much heavier tires not necessarily the lift but you can at a later date and after you’ve saved up, purchase higher end coil overs that’ll completely swap out your whole strut/spring assembly along with the Zone 4.5” spacer that comes with your kit and will make a huge difference. Mine are CST but King is another awesome setup and Fox is too but Fox is slightly stiffer riding for everyday driving and performing excellent as the others on dips and harsh hits. Enjoy it and start saving up cause you’ll always be looking for the next addition [emoji6], good luck and looking forward to the truck pics

Sent from above

kennerz · March 2, 2019

3 hours ago, Lstarr87 said:

Yes sir. I have the TIS 545 MB. It has a positive 18 offset. And I’m getting the Nitto ridge grapps in 305/55/20. So hopefully it looks good! I’ll get the Bilsteins!

I was torn between the 33x12.50r22's and that tire size. Just remember they have two versions of that tire. one is a 4ply and the other is a load "F" I believe. Do yourself a favor and get the lightweight tires if you can. The weight is livable, but lighter is much better and there is a 12~15LB difference between the two, like 50 vs 60 something - you notice that. The grapplers are great tires, your going to like them.

Madcow2020 · March 3, 2019

Just remember, once you’ve been driving it awhile, the actual little bit of rough ride when compared to stock is due to the much heavier tires not necessarily the lift but you can at a later date and after you’ve saved up, purchase higher end coil overs that’ll completely swap out your whole strut/spring assembly along with the Zone 4.5” spacer that comes with your kit and will make a huge difference. Mine are CST but King is another awesome setup and Fox is too but Fox is slightly stiffer riding for everyday driving and performing excellent as the others on dips and harsh hits. Enjoy it and start saving up cause you’ll always be looking for the next addition [emoji6], good luck and looking forward to the truck pics

Sent from above

I agree, nothing wrong with building stages and bilsteins are light years better than stock. I would look into companies that do custom valving on any brand of shock when you get ready to spend the money. It won’t cost you extra usually, and i recommend accutune. They did me right.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TXGREEK · March 4, 2019

I agree, nothing wrong with building stages and bilsteins are light years better than stock. I would look into companies that do custom valving on any brand of shock when you get ready to spend the money. It won’t cost you extra usually, and i recommend accutune. They did me right.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Most people that get lifts installed and purchase any of the high end coil overs do not have custom valving done primarily due to shelved products being installed (still great products) on their mall crawlers and do not even know it’s even something that they can do but primarily buy them for looks and then ride quality. One thing I’ve learned in these forums, you always know the type of suspension some will be getting into just based on the quality of the lift they’re having installed. Doing a cheap lift just to have the lifted truck look will have you contemplating getting rid of your truck much sooner rather than later. This is why I ALWAYS recommend people save up a few more months rather than doing a cheap lift due to ZERO patience. Good luck to all and be safe!

Sent from above

Grumpy Bear · March 4, 2019

35 minutes ago, TXGREEK said:

Most people that get lifts installed and purchase any of the high end coil overs do not have custom valving done primarily due to shelved products being installed (still great products) on their mall crawlers and do not even know it’s even something that they can do but primarily buy them for looks and then ride quality. One thing I’ve learned in these forums, you always know the type of suspension some will be getting into just based on the quality of the lift they’re having installed. Doing a cheap lift just to have the lifted truck look will have you contemplating getting rid of your truck much sooner rather than later. This is why I ALWAYS recommend people save up a few more months rather than doing a cheap lift due to ZERO patience. Good luck to all and be safe!

Sent from above

This is just good advice. Just say' n.

Lstarr87 · March 5, 2019

10 hours ago, TXGREEK said:

Most people that get lifts installed and purchase any of the high end coil overs do not have custom valving done primarily due to shelved products being installed (still great products) on their mall crawlers and do not even know it’s even something that they can do but primarily buy them for looks and then ride quality. One thing I’ve learned in these forums, you always know the type of suspension some will be getting into just based on the quality of the lift they’re having installed. Doing a cheap lift just to have the lifted truck look will have you contemplating getting rid of your truck much sooner rather than later. This is why I ALWAYS recommend people save up a few more months rather than doing a cheap lift due to ZERO patience. Good luck to all and be safe!

Sent from above

You seem to know quite a bit about this stuff. Of course I'm gunna go with coilovers in the next 6 months. But I heard that the zone lift kit was actually a really good lift for the money. Would you consider it a cheap one? I hear its better than RC and basically BDS little brother less the strut spacers.

Lstarr87 · March 5, 2019

On 3/2/2019 at 1:24 PM, kennerz said:

I was torn between the 33x12.50r22's and that tire size. Just remember they have two versions of that tire. one is a 4ply and the other is a load "F" I believe. Do yourself a favor and get the lightweight tires if you can. The weight is livable, but lighter is much better and there is a 12~15LB difference between the two, like 50 vs 60 something - you notice that. The grapplers are great tires, your going to like them.

I did go ahead and get the lighter ones! thanks for the advice.

TXGREEK · March 5, 2019

You seem to know quite a bit about this stuff. Of course I'm gunna go with coilovers in the next 6 months. But I heard that the zone lift kit was actually a really good lift for the money. Would you consider it a cheap one? I hear its better than RC and basically BDS little brother less the strut spacers.

BDS is the big brother to Zone. Zone is to compete as a lower priced and competitive lift to RC but much nicer. My personal experience is to ALWAYS look at the build quality, powder coating, welds and paint job. BDS was in the brink of bankruptcy until Fox stepped up and bought them out and is a very popular lift due to Fox, hence Fox shocks in the BDS lift.

Personally, I do not like widening my track width and turning radius which is why I went with CST Performance Suspension, all custom built in house, excellent welds with gussets for reinforcement which these extras alone stand out. Do your homework, don’t go for cost only, you can get incredible pricing if you do your homework. Zone is a great priced lift and BDS usually adds a bit more.

Sent from above

Lstarr87 · March 11, 2019

On 3/4/2019 at 8:33 PM, TXGREEK said:

BDS is the big brother to Zone. Zone is to compete as a lower priced and competitive lift to RC but much nicer. My personal experience is to ALWAYS look at the build quality, powder coating, welds and paint job. BDS was in the brink of bankruptcy until Fox stepped up and bought them out and is a very popular lift due to Fox, hence Fox shocks in the BDS lift.

Personally, I do not like widening my track width and turning radius which is why I went with CST Performance Suspension, all custom built in house, excellent welds with gussets for reinforcement which these extras alone stand out. Do your homework, don’t go for cost only, you can get incredible pricing if you do your homework. Zone is a great priced lift and BDS usually adds a bit more.

Sent from above

Lstarr87 · March 11, 2019

Lstarr87 · March 11, 2019

Finally got it and am really happy. can't believe how quite these tires are.

kennerz · March 11, 2019

Really Clean looking truck! Sorry if I missed it but how much overall lift did you end up with? Tire size is about as perfect as you can get without going larger (as we have all found out isn't easy). good job...

Lstarr87 · March 11, 2019

1 hour ago, kennerz said:

Really Clean looking truck! Sorry if I missed it but how much overall lift did you end up with? Tire size is about as perfect as you can get without going larger (as we have all found out isn't easy). good job...

4.5 inch zone lift with 305/55/20 Nitto ridge grapplers on it. I didn't wanna go 6.5 and that size because I wanted to keep my mileage and not regear with 35s. I get 16.8 mpg out of the 200 miles I've put on the truck since I got the lift so I'm pretty happy with that being I only got 17.4 with the 275/55 that I had on before. and they weren't aggressive at all. So I really like the ride. And these tires hands down are amazing for what they are. I haven't ever driven a tire this aggressive that is this quiet.