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cool rod

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Only did one side today. Had to stop working and throw some pork chops on the grill for dinner. I did drive the truck up and down the street in the neighborhood tho. First impressions are the same improvements as the rear. The front feels much better controlled. The passenger side (last stock shock left) was bouncing when the driver side was not. It was a very odd sensation but I wanted to test it out. Definitely not leaving the neighborhood with the truck like this. I eyeballed the difference between the driver and passenger sides and I think the 13th Gen shock may have raised my truck half an inch and the ride is pretty firm. However, these monotube shocks need to break in as previously mentioned. The shock will soften up and the slight bump in height may go away or be reduced. I’m pleased with the improvement over stock.

I wish I had just bought all 4 at the same time from rock auto. I did get my fronts from American trucks because they actually listed them as fitting 15-22 but I wish I had ordered elsewhere. The shocks were not packaged for shipping at all and arrived in the bilstein retail box beat up, taped back together, shock shaft poking through the box, hardware bag torn and the shocks were scratched up. They offered me $20 because I didn’t want to ship the parts back so I’m glad they seem to fit because I cannot return them now that I’ve accepted a partial refund.

when I get the last one on and go for a drive I’ll comment back or even make a new thread with all 4 installed.
Oh man, now I have something new to worry about. Mine should be here in a couple of days, if they're packed like yours I'll send them back. I'm not in a rush to get them installed.
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JerseyMike

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installed 5100's on my 2021 4x4, rear only as I already have 2" level on stock front.....wow what a difference, so much better ride....makes me wish I did 5100's without the 2" spacer lift in front...may swap it out eventually
 
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IconicXLTsport

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Oh man, now I have something new to worry about. Mine should be here in a couple of days, if they're packed like yours I'll send them back. I'm not in a rush to get them installed.
Technically I wasn’t in a hurry either but the scratches weren’t so bad that I wanted to wait either. And I checked the directions and compared the two hardware bags and I still have all the hardware, amazingly nothing fell out of the big hole in the bag.

American trucks has a good chat feature on their site and they were 100% willing to accept the returned parts if I wanted to go that route.

installed 5100's on my 2021 4x4, rear only as I already have 2" level on stock front.....wow what a difference, so much better ride....makes me wish I did 5100's without the 2" spacer lift in front...may swap it out eventually
The bilstein shocks make all the difference in the world in ride quality. Their 5100 leveling shock would be great and give you the same level, if you’re inclined to take out your existing level
 

cool rod

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Only did one side today. Had to stop working and throw some pork chops on the grill for dinner. I did drive the truck up and down the street in the neighborhood tho. First impressions are the same improvements as the rear. The front feels much better controlled. The passenger side (last stock shock left) was bouncing when the driver side was not. It was a very odd sensation but I wanted to test it out. Definitely not leaving the neighborhood with the truck like this. I eyeballed the difference between the driver and passenger sides and I think the 13th Gen shock may have raised my truck half an inch and the ride is pretty firm. However, these monotube shocks need to break in as previously mentioned. The shock will soften up and the slight bump in height may go away or be reduced. I’m pleased with the improvement over stock.

I wish I had just bought all 4 at the same time from rock auto. I did get my fronts from American trucks because they actually listed them as fitting 15-22 but I wish I had ordered elsewhere. The shocks were not packaged for shipping at all and arrived in the bilstein retail box beat up, taped back together, shock shaft poking through the box, hardware bag torn and the shocks were scratched up. They offered me $20 because I didn’t want to ship the parts back so I’m glad they seem to fit because I cannot return them now that I’ve accepted a partial refund.

when I get the last one on and go for a drive I’ll comment back or even make a new thread with all 4 installed.
I received one front shock today, the other one is supposed to be here tomorrow. The one I got wasn't in a Bilstein box, it was packed in brown paper in a generic cardboard box. It was in good condition but there wasn't any hardware in the box although all the pictures I've seen show bolts, locking nuts, and other things that I assumed were needed to do the installation. I called American Trucks and the representative sent me a followup email that said he sent a request to the warehouse for the hardware and that it would ship out in two weeks. That's a long delay and I'm thinking of dropping the transaction, but I'll wait until tomorrow and see what comes with the other shock.

American Trucks is the only vendor that claims the front shocks they sell are appropriate for '21 and '22 RWD Powerboosts. I talked to Bilstein about the rears and they said they didn't have a product for the fronts yet, so I'm a little leery about the front shocks anyway. Maybe I'll just cancel them and go with the rears alone.

Do you think your fronts made any difference after you got them installed? Would just the rears have fixed the ride?

Thanks
 
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IconicXLTsport

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Short version: all 4 is much better than just rears. Definitely worth it. I’m not sure why bilstein hasn’t released fronts for 21+ 2wd trucks, the 2015-2022 installed without issue. Will report more when I’ve driven more.

Long version:

they shipped mine separately also and I got mine on different days. You definitely need the hardware bag that comes with the shock. The original shock has studs through it so you must have the bolts for the bottom. The shafts are different diameters so you probably do need the top washer and nut provided by Bilstein. And most importantly You need the collar that comes with the hardware. It goes under the spring perch to support the spring on the snap ring around the shock body.

i have about 120 miles on the truck with all 4 shocks installed and the fronts make a great improvement in the control and stability of the truck. I have zero regrets installing all 4 shocks, even though the fronts are not technically listed for the 21+ f150 by bilstein. I would do it all over again for sure.

first impressions after driving a few miles are still consistent with the improvements the rear shocks provided. They do feel more firm but I can already tell they are breaking in and softening. The very first drive with both shocks felt stiff and I could tell the truck was higher in the front. That has already improved in just 100 miles.

Single Small cracks and bumps feel about the same as stock. “Washboard” or several repeated bumps and broken pavement are much smoother and better controlled.

Large body movements have been massively improved, this is where the stock shocks were the weakest. Anything that made both fronts compress such as a big dip in the road just made the truck bounce along in the stock shocks. Also changing direction at low speed like in a parking lot or taking a speed bump at any angle other than a direct perpendicular made the truck jostle side to side uncontrollably. These issues are all massively improved if not completely eliminated with all 4 shocks on the truck. Now the truck will compress as it should and then slowly return to ride height without bouncing when encountering bumps and dips. The truck will also just roll over speed bumps and change direction without making my wife reach for the grab handle. She alsohasn’t complained of motion sickness, which was common no matter how carefully and slowly I drove before the new shocks.

bilstein doesn’t list any front shocks for for 2wd 21+ F150 that I know of and I don’t know why. I can tell you the shocks I ordered for the 2015-2020 2wd truck bolted right in place and installation went as the directions state. Initially it looked like it raised the truck so I measured from the ground to the fender wells. It did raise the front 0.5 inches but that has already settled out to maybe 0.25 inches and I can’t tell just by looking at the truck that the height is different. I’ll post when I get more miles on all 4 shocks if it settles more. I’ll also be getting an alignment after I drove some more just to make sure nothing was significantly changed, though I seriously doubt there are changes.
 
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I believe that there is a change in the geometry of the front suspension components between Gen13 and Gen14.

I'm not saying it was so significant that a front 5100 for a 2020 wouldn't fit and significantly improve the the truck because many have reported both to be true.

Still, I suspect that the reason all the aftermarket manufacturers will not officially state their products for 2015-2020 are compatible with 2021-2022 is the change in geometry/spring rate, which also has been reported by some to require a change in valving.

If you look at the front sway bar on the new trucks, for example, they are puny compared to the previous trucks. Very noticeable. But the attachment points of the end links are relocated from the lower control arm all the way up near the top of the aluminum vertical hub carrier, and according to Ford allowed for the much smaller bar.
 
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IconicXLTsport

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I compared the shocks side by side when I had disassembled the stock shock. The only visible difference is a possible slight difference in the fully extended shaft length which wouldn’t really have any affect when the truck weight is on the spring. Other than that, the only thing I can think is that the collar that sits on the snap ring might be different whenever they come out with their 21+ strut.

As far as the spring rates, a year to year change in spring rate isn’t going to be massive and the damping characteristics of the bilstein are far and above the stock shock so even if the new spring is significantly more stiff, the bilstein will not have any issue damping the spring.

I need to go back and look at the suspension deep dive from autoblog. They detail some of the generational changes.

the sway bar change comes from the motion ratio change that happened when they moved the sway bar from the control arm to the steering knuckle. The control arm attachment only translates a percentage of the force so a stiffer sway bar was required to get the desired force at the wheel (further out than the sway bar attachment). The attachment to the steering knuckle (moves with the wheel) gives a 1:1 motion ratio, requiring a smaller bar for the same force. Smaller, lighter bar also feels better from a ride quality standpoint.
 

cool rod

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Short version: all 4 is much better than just rears. Definitely worth it. I’m not sure why bilstein hasn’t released fronts for 21+ 2wd trucks, the 2015-2022 installed without issue. Will report more when I’ve driven more.

Long version:

they shipped mine separately also and I got mine on different days. You definitely need the hardware bag that comes with the shock. The original shock has studs through it so you must have the bolts for the bottom. The shafts are different diameters so you probably do need the top washer and nut provided by Bilstein. And most importantly You need the collar that comes with the hardware. It goes under the spring perch to support the spring on the snap ring around the shock body.

i have about 120 miles on the truck with all 4 shocks installed and the fronts make a great improvement in the control and stability of the truck. I have zero regrets installing all 4 shocks, even though the fronts are not technically listed for the 21+ f150 by bilstein. I would do it all over again for sure.

first impressions after driving a few miles are still consistent with the improvements the rear shocks provided. They do feel more firm but I can already tell they are breaking in and softening. The very first drive with both shocks felt stiff and I could tell the truck was higher in the front. That has already improved in just 100 miles.

Single Small cracks and bumps feel about the same as stock. “Washboard” or several repeated bumps and broken pavement are much smoother and better controlled.

Large body movements have been massively improved, this is where the stock shocks were the weakest. Anything that made both fronts compress such as a big dip in the road just made the truck bounce along in the stock shocks. Also changing direction at low speed like in a parking lot or taking a speed bump at any angle other than a direct perpendicular made the truck jostle side to side uncontrollably. These issues are all massively improved if not completely eliminated with all 4 shocks on the truck. Now the truck will compress as it should and then slowly return to ride height without bouncing when encountering bumps and dips. The truck will also just roll over speed bumps and change direction without making my wife reach for the grab handle. She alsohasn’t complained of motion sickness, which was common no matter how carefully and slowly I drove before the new shocks.

bilstein doesn’t list any front shocks for for 2wd 21+ F150 that I know of and I don’t know why. I can tell you the shocks I ordered for the 2015-2020 2wd truck bolted right in place and installation went as the directions state. Initially it looked like it raised the truck so I measured from the ground to the fender wells. It did raise the front 0.5 inches but that has already settled out to maybe 0.25 inches and I can’t tell just by looking at the truck that the height is different. I’ll post when I get more miles on all 4 shocks if it settles more. I’ll also be getting an alignment after I drove some more just to make sure nothing was significantly changed, though I seriously doubt there are changes.
Thanks for that reply, you've put my mind at ease about the front shocks. When I get the second one and see that it has the parts bag included and receive the missing parts too I'll go ahead and put on all four.

The ride you describe is exactly how I'd describe mine, lots of sway and body roll when I come onto my driveway and whenever I hit bumps at an angle so first one wheel bounces the truck and then the other does so there a back and forth movement.

Your write ups are very informative and thoughtful and I look forward to any further posts from you, and I'm sure others are following along too.

Cheers
 

hotrodmex

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I need to go back and look at the suspension deep dive from autoblog. They detail some of the generational changes.
They mention the motion ratio change from Gen13. Based on the way spacer lifts fro mthe 2015-2020 worked on the Gen14 (raised it higher), it looks like it's as much as 20% difference. That means there would still be improvements going with a Gen13 strut, but from a tuning perspective that's way off for a suspension engineering company.

That being said, Eibach just extended the application range to include up to 2022 so 🤷‍♂️
 
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IconicXLTsport

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They mention the motion ratio change from Gen13. Based on the way spacer lifts fro mthe 2015-2020 worked on the Gen14 (raised it higher), it looks like it's as much as 20% difference. That means there would still be improvements going with a Gen13 strut, but from a tuning perspective that's way off for a suspension engineering company.

That being said, Eibach just extended the application range to include up to 2022 so 🤷‍♂️
I’m rereading it now to see changes. I don’t really follow you on the spacer lift you mentioned.

the motion ratio may have changed as much as 20%, sure, cause they went from An attachment point that only translated 80% of the sway bar force to the wheel. If they had moved the attachment point AND kept the same sway bar, then yes, when the sway bar is active (and only when the sway bar is active, ie:turning) there would be a significant increase in spring rate at the wheel. However they moved the sway bar attachment point, now providing 100% of the sway bar force to the wheel and therefore downsized the sway bar so the spring rate at the wheel is probably much closer to the same than we might think. The 21+ truck without the max duty towing package has a hollow 1” bar vs the much larger bar on the previous generation previously mentioned.

all of that aside, the bilstein is a stronger shock and can generate Larger damping forces than the stock shock can ever dream of. In my opinion the stock shock behaves like a blown Strut with 60k+ miles on it. If any vehicle besides a full size truck bounced around like that, any mechanic would tell you to replace your blown shocks.

20% increase in wheel spring rate or no increase, the bilstein is a better shock and the suspension tuning is better with the bilstein.

the only wild card is if something about that spring perch is different than our 21+Shocks. I intend to crawl under my truck and see if it’s still possible to look under the spring perch while it’s still installed to confirm how the perch is sitting on the collar and shock body. That is my only concern at this point I really cannot think of any other fitment issue at this point.
 

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hotrodmex

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I don’t really follow you on the spacer lift you mentioned.
Sorry, I was specifically referencing the differences in regards to the damper. The spacer-lift example was an indication of the motion ratio change of the damper. The damper attachment point moved on the control arm from 15-20 to 21+.

Everything you wrote about the sway bar differences (the move from control arm to strut body) was correct.

all of that aside, the bilstein is a stronger shock and can generate Larger damping forces than the stock shock can ever dream of. In my opinion the stock shock behaves like a blown Strut with 60k+ miles on it. If any vehicle besides a full size truck bounced around like that, any mechanic would tell you to replace your blown shocks.

20% increase in wheel spring rate or no increase, the bilstein is a better shock and the suspension tuning is better with the bilstein.
Yes. I was getting at was that the reason that Bilstein would say it doesn't "fit" in the application is that it doesn't suit the application, because it technically doesn't. That's not saying it won't work in the application, or work good enough, it's saying it's not designed for that application.

Where in the same book, just a page or two off.

bilstein doesn’t list any front shocks for for 2wd 21+ F150 that I know of and I don’t know why
Bilstein just released the 6112s for the 4X4 Gen14 trucks in April. I'm sure they go by historic sales rates for prioritizing development. I'm sure the 5100 for the Gen14 will eventually show up.
 
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IconicXLTsport

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I really wish I had taken more pictures for you guys. That’s my bad but the angles of the mounting points and such were all the same on both shocks. The top mounting point can move so it wont have much affect. The spring perch is in the same location once the collar provided by bilstein is installed. All the dimensions of the two shocks look the same.

I am sure they are doing as you said and prioritizing the configurations that sold more shocks. And I’m sure they are just keeping themselves out of trouble until they can confirm the existing strut fits or release a new part number.

the only thing I can find in the deep dive about the spring and damper:
“The coil-over shock mounts much the same as it did before, and the attachment point (yellow) looks to be about 70% of the way out from the inner pivots, so the motion ratio for the spring and the damper is close to 0.70.”

Where did you find the changes in the damper motion ratio?
 
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thudnblunder

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Short version: all 4 is much better than just rears. Definitely worth it. I’m not sure why bilstein hasn’t released fronts for 21+ 2wd trucks, the 2015-2022 installed without issue. Will report more when I’ve driven more.

Long version:

they shipped mine separately also and I got mine on different days. You definitely need the hardware bag that comes with the shock. The original shock has studs through it so you must have the bolts for the bottom. The shafts are different diameters so you probably do need the top washer and nut provided by Bilstein. And most importantly You need the collar that comes with the hardware. It goes under the spring perch to support the spring on the snap ring around the shock body.

i have about 120 miles on the truck with all 4 shocks installed and the fronts make a great improvement in the control and stability of the truck. I have zero regrets installing all 4 shocks, even though the fronts are not technically listed for the 21+ f150 by bilstein. I would do it all over again for sure.

first impressions after driving a few miles are still consistent with the improvements the rear shocks provided. They do feel more firm but I can already tell they are breaking in and softening. The very first drive with both shocks felt stiff and I could tell the truck was higher in the front. That has already improved in just 100 miles.

Single Small cracks and bumps feel about the same as stock. “Washboard” or several repeated bumps and broken pavement are much smoother and better controlled.

Large body movements have been massively improved, this is where the stock shocks were the weakest. Anything that made both fronts compress such as a big dip in the road just made the truck bounce along in the stock shocks. Also changing direction at low speed like in a parking lot or taking a speed bump at any angle other than a direct perpendicular made the truck jostle side to side uncontrollably. These issues are all massively improved if not completely eliminated with all 4 shocks on the truck. Now the truck will compress as it should and then slowly return to ride height without bouncing when encountering bumps and dips. The truck will also just roll over speed bumps and change direction without making my wife reach for the grab handle. She alsohasn’t complained of motion sickness, which was common no matter how carefully and slowly I drove before the new shocks.

bilstein doesn’t list any front shocks for for 2wd 21+ F150 that I know of and I don’t know why. I can tell you the shocks I ordered for the 2015-2020 2wd truck bolted right in place and installation went as the directions state. Initially it looked like it raised the truck so I measured from the ground to the fender wells. It did raise the front 0.5 inches but that has already settled out to maybe 0.25 inches and I can’t tell just by looking at the truck that the height is different. I’ll post when I get more miles on all 4 shocks if it settles more. I’ll also be getting an alignment after I drove some more just to make sure nothing was significantly changed, though I seriously doubt there are changes.
Thank you for this review. On my test drive I felt the roll and excessive movement you mentioned and I had made a mental note to address it aftermarket.

I couldn’t test drive a FX4 before ordering and since my order is a FX4 I hope it will be a bit stiffer.

have you considered adding a rear sway bar or do you think that is unnecessary after the four shock upgrades?
 

Snakebitten

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By the way, on that deep dive article they were dead wrong about a vacuum line to the IWE. Or the E-IWE, as it is now.
Had they followed that hose with their fingers eyes they would have discovered it was vented to atmosphere because that's what it actually is. A vent hose.
 

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Where did you find the changes in the damper motion ratio?
There was nothing explicit, but like I said, it's apparent when you try to move something that adjusts height across the two platforms.

If you have the same spring displacement between two setups, but the wheel displacement is different, then the two have different motion ratios.

When you install a spacer that adds 2" inches of height on one setup (Gen13), and then the same piece adds 2.5" of height on the other (Gen 14), That is indicative of a different motion ratio, because you have only changed the spring displacement; you didn't touch the spring rates or suspension components.
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