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Rc 3.5 vs bilstein 6112/5160 help

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GermanDreams

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I had my mind set on buying the bilstein 6112/5160 setup with icon springs and UCAs once my oem tires needed to be replaced. For the last few months I've been waiting for the bilstein's to come back into stock but nothing! I have a few thousand miles left on my tires and I'm getting worried.
I have never thought about putting RC stuff on this truck but I keep reading good things. Which option would you guys do.

1) wait for the 6112/5160 to get back in stock and possibly have to order oem tires instead of the icon rims and 35s I want.

2) order RC 3.5 with v2 shocks, icon springs, icon or RC UCAs with icon rims and 35s.

The RC option seems to be a money saver, just worried I might be missing out on a better setup.
 
Following as I'm trying to read all I can on the different combinations people are using.
 
For #2 are you talking the RC loaded struts or just the top hat and preload spacers? The Bilsteins are a fantastic product. I've run 5100s before. They were a stiffer ride but still great. If you're doing any offraloadong or high speed dirt running go with those. I'm a street queen. I went with the RC struts and I'm thrilled with the ride. I haven't added tires yet. Those go on Friday and I'm sure they'll stiffen the ride and change the feel of the truck and degrade the ride comfort some. Struts alone and N2 shocks out back with a 2 inch rear spacer is what I'm running and for the price it's fantastic.
 
doolin64 said:
For #2 are you talking the RC loaded struts or just the top hat and preload spacers? The Bilsteins are a fantastic product. I've run 5100s before. They were a stiffer ride but still great. If you're doing any offraloadong or high speed dirt running go with those. I'm a street queen. I went with the RC struts and I'm thrilled with the ride. I haven't added tires yet. Those go on Friday and I'm sure they'll stiffen the ride and change the feel of the truck and degrade the ride comfort some. Struts alone and N2 shocks out back with a 2 inch rear spacer is what I'm running and for the price it's fantastic.
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I was looking at the loaded struts. I know the bilstein are great I've had them on other vehicles. Just worried my tires will need to be replaced before they come back into stock.
As for offroading, anything I will be doing will be extremely minimal. My truck has only gone into 4x4 3x since 2019 and that was only to test it and at the boat ramp lol. This truck is my daily but I like the idea of having decent struts incase I need them. Have you taken the RC setup off-road? If so how did they do?
 
There are plenty of 6112s available currently and you can order 2 of the left 5160s. Only the 5160 rights are out of stock and the only difference between the left and right is the lettering on the reservoir brackets. I recently installed that setup and love it. The wheels and tires block the view of the reservoir brackets anyways you'll never see them.
 
Are the RC struts really a 2.5in strut with a 1in spacer already installed? I was reading on another forum and a few posts made it seem that way. I would assume you could add a spacer to the Bilsteins to make up the difference.
 
GermanDreams said:
I was looking at the loaded struts. I know the bilstein are great I've had them on other vehicles. Just worried my tires will need to be replaced before they come back into stock.
As for offroading, anything I will be doing will be extremely minimal. My truck has only gone into 4x4 3x since 2019 and that was only to test it and at the boat ramp lol. This truck is my daily but I like the idea of having decent struts incase I need them. Have you taken the RC setup off-road? If so how did they do?
Click to expand...
I just had them installed on Saturday. Nothing offroad yet. Likely won't ever have much more than bumpy dirtroad ever. I have a dirtbike and 4 wheeler for offroading. After 200 miles of street driving, including some rough pavement, I've go no complaints.
Cbzr1107 said:
Don't the 3.5in struts say you need to have the 3.5in lift installed?
Click to expand...

Yes. You will need control arms up front for any lift over 2.5" really. If you go 3.5" up front you better lift the rear. By then, you're at the full lift install.
 
Oh ok. Gotcha. UCAs were something I was going to replace even with 2in added up front. They didn't say much on their website so I assumed their struts were like others but thought I'd ask just to be sure.
 
SurfRebel20 said:
There are plenty of 6112s available currently and you can order 2 of the left 5160s. Only the 5160 rights are out of stock and the only difference between the left and right is the lettering on the reservoir brackets. I recently installed that setup and love it. The wheels and tires block the view of the reservoir brackets anyways you'll never see them.
Click to expand...
There are plenty of 6112s in stock but I have yet to find any 5160s. Where have you seen 5160 lefts?
 
doolin64 said:
I just had them installed on Saturday. Nothing offroad yet. Likely won't ever have much more than bumpy dirtroad ever. I have a dirtbike and 4 wheeler for offroading. After 200 miles of street driving, including some rough pavement, I've go no complaints.


Yes. You will need control arms up front for any lift over 2.5" really. If you go 3.5" up front you better lift the rear. By then, you're at the full lift install.
Click to expand...
Yeah I get what your saying. My truck will never be an "off-road" vehicle but it will see the occasional dirt road. I have other toys to beat up in the desert lol.

If I can't find the bilstein's I might just go this route.
 
SurfRebel,

With the 6110s and the 1/2in spacer, how are your brake lines? Any issues there? Is the 1/2in Motofab spacer your using a top hat spacer?
 
Cbzr1107 said:
SurfRebel,

With the 6110s and the 1/2in spacer, how are your brake lines? Any issues there? Is the 1/2in Motofab spacer your using a top hat spacer?
Click to expand...
No issues at all. The 6112s come with a brake line relocator bracket there's plenty of slack. The 1/2in spacer is a top hat style it just sits on top of the assembly im really glad i added the extra half inch i think it makes a big difference in appearance
 
With the 3.5 SST setup how is everyones alignment coming out to be. Is there the common Caster issue like most other vehicles with lifts and does camber actually going into spec with the UCAs?
 
There is tons of good info in this thread. Thank you everyone!

Shock wise, is the bilstein setup worth the increase in cost? The bilstein's have bigger shock bodies and the rears have the remote reservoirs but what else would be different? I honestly don't know much about the RC and just curious.
 
My guess...Bilstein will last longer. That's just a subjective guess. I have no idea how long the R/C struts will last. 10k, 20k, 30k, 40k miles? As long as I can get 25k out of the struts I'll be happy. My Bilsteins started to ride rougher after around 40k miles. Chances are I won't have the truck past 50k miles anyhow.
 
What did the OP end up doing? I did the 6112s on setting 8 up front with motofab .5” spacer up front (like @SurfRebel20 ), Icon delta joint UCAs, 5160s with 1” motofab spacer + Rebel springs in the rear, 18” Icon Rebound wheels, 35” BFG KO2s. Everything feels perfect. Only minor trimming required. CV angles look great too!AA88FE4D-74A8-423E-9DD3-EBE00FA61714.jpeg
976156F4-2FCA-41A8-9F8E-16B0E9E1C79C.jpeg
 
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