4" lift + 5100's ???

[zonacats]

I recently ordered a 4" Tuff Country HD lift for my 84 K5. Instead of buying the Tuff Country shocks that they offer, I decided to order some Bilstien 5100's from another vendor (double checked they were the correct length for 4" lift). Nothing has been installed yet, but now im worried that i'll run into trouble with the 5100's (at least with the stock tower location). I saw a thread a few days ago where someone had their bushings squirt out the sides because of an issue with the Bilstien's length....Then I read on ORD's website that they highly recommend using the Ford shock towers with Bilstiens because of their longer length.

I dont plan on doing the Ford shock tower anytime soon, but even if I did get a pair, wouldnt my new 5100's that I have now be to short? Its my understanding the extended shoch towers use longer shocks as well....

So, now I have these 5100's sitting in my garage that are either going to bottom out using the stock location, or are to short for extended shock towers... Am I going to run into issues? What do you all think?

 

[badmix]

Im the one that had the bilsteins squish out. After talking to Bilstein, it wasnt the shock length. It was a mix of a few things;

1) Prematurely wearing out the poly bushing by spraying petroleum based silicone spray on my shocks & bushings. I live near ocean and have been trying to keep truck from rusting away.

2) The steel sleeve the shock goes on, was 6" long, the shock is only 3" wide, so the shock was able to move and there was room for the bushing that was weakened to squish out.

3) Im running 2" lift and didnt take account with my bumpstops, so Ive since lowered the bumpstop 1.5" this should fix the issues along with spacers on the shock sleeve.

 

[Greg Ducato]

I have had 5100's on my Burb at stock height, two inch and four inch and not had a problem. I had to buy shocks every time I changed lift but Bilstein makes a set for each level of lift I have used.

 

[zonacats]

Ok, thanks guys. I figured I was over thinking it, but I just wanted to run it by someone else first. Thanks!

 

[Blue85]

Nice job getting real shocks instead of the lift kit ones. The shocks you bought should work fine with the stock mounts, but if you install the Ford towers first, you can use the same length shock front and rear. The towers are cheap and probably a 1-afternoon project. If you stick with the stock upper mount, just make sure you have the right amount of space for the bushings in there. You may be able to repurpose part of the sleeve/spacer from the stock shock.

 

[454Sub]

Ford towers are nice, I used them. Make absolutely SURE you dont put the shocks in a bind when bolting them up. I used one bolt to line them up, installed the shocks to make sure everything was kosher, and then marked and drilled the other 2 holes.