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The best level for Rebels/ORP trucks - Bilstein 5100's

Waterfowler41

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Sharing my leveling kit journey in case someone ends up in the same situation as me and is looking for a permanent fix.

2020 Ram Rebel with factory Bilsteins.

Long story short, a few months back I installed a 2" top hat style spacer. A few weeks after installing it, I noticed clunking when my suspension was articulating and turning. I checked on everything and found that the leveling kit increased my suspension travel so much that my UCAs were hitting my springs. Ideally the strut should bottom out before the UCAs hit the springs. This is no bueno! The powder coating was even chipped in a few spots.

Attempt 1: I first tried to replace the control arms thinking that aftermarket ones might clear the springs better. I installed Rough Country forged arms. While my suspension travel improved a little bit, they still hit my springs at full droop meaning the struts were still not bottoming out yet.

Attempt 2: I removed the 2" spacers and replaced them with Bilstein 5100's set at 2" of lift. This fixed my issues by returning the the bump stop to an almost factory level. This means that the strut would bottom out before the UCA was allowed to hit the spring which is what you want on these trucks.

TL:DR - My 2" top hat spacer was making my UCA hit my spring at full droop, replaced it with 5100's and all is good again!

Here is my walkthrough on how these Bilstein's were able to resolve my front end issues.

Also BilsteinLifts set up a coupon code for my Chanel “WF41” will get you 5% off on their site.

kuiu it
 
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Waterfowler41

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Here’s how she sits post Bilstein install.

db7e8c28c223955609ff7a678d944878.jpg
 
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doolin64

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Great video! I watched the whole thing. Question, you have to mark the top of the strut to orient it the same way. But it's never mentioned about the bottom spring cup (the part you take off the oem strut and slide onto the Fox. Or is this orientation a given, since it can only fit one way properly if the top of the strut is oriented correctly. Hopefully this makes.
 

Waterfowler41

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Great video! I watched the whole thing. Question, you have to mark the top of the strut to orient it the same way. But it's never mentioned about the bottom spring cup (the part you take off the oem strut and slide onto the Fox. Or is this orientation a given, since it can only fit one way properly if the top of the strut is oriented correctly. Hopefully this makes.

I slide the perch onto the bilstein not fox struts but yes you are correct. If you line up the top portion of the spring, there’s only one way the lower perch will sit against the coil.

Biggest thing is lining up the top strut bolt and the bottom mount to make sure the strut slips back into the truck easily.
 

doolin64

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I slide the perch onto the bilstein not fox struts but yes you are correct. If you line up the top portion of the spring, there’s only one way the lower perch will sit against the coil.

Biggest thing is lining up the top strut bolt and the bottom mount to make sure the strut slips back into the truck easily.
Makes sense. Thank you.
 

JbVt

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What do your cv angles look like with the 2" bilstein lift plus the 1" factory lift? Have the ORG on my night edition and want to do the bilsteins. Thanks
 

Waterfowler41

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What do your cv angles look like with the 2" bilstein lift plus the 1" factory lift? Have the ORG on my night edition and want to do the bilsteins. Thanks

I don’t have a picture off hand but I did look at them and I am not concerned how they sit, they look good to me.
 

antwon412

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I wouldnt say 5100s are the best. Perhaps the best lowest price option.
Objectively there are better, though at higher costs.

You have the 6112/5160 combo.
Fox 2.0 or 2.5 combo
Falcon
King

Lots of options which is great.
 

Waterfowler41

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I wouldnt say 5100s are the best. Perhaps the best lowest price option.
Objectively there are better, though at higher costs.

You have the 6112/5160 combo.
Fox 2.0 or 2.5 combo
Falcon
King

Lots of options which is great.

I see your point. When it comes to a cost effective and quality level, hard to argue against the 5100 route. Checks all the boxes for most applications.
 

ecke555

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Nice video, Two questions, so you got an additional 1.7 to 1.8 inches on top of the 1 inch ORP package correct? Total of 2.7 to 2.8 inches with ORP? The Rough Country forged arms say their for 3 inch to 3.5 inch lifts, have you noticed any issues with that? Thanks, nice looking truck. Love the Rebel front end.
 

JbVt

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Nice video, Two questions, so you got an additional 1.7 to 1.8 inches on top of the 1 inch ORP package correct? Total of 2.7 to 2.8 inches with ORP? The Rough Country forged arms say their for 3 inch to 3.5 inch lifts, have you noticed any issues with that? Thanks, nice looking truck. Love the Rebel front end.
Also was wondering that, forget to ask.
 

Waterfowler41

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Nice video, Two questions, so you got an additional 1.7 to 1.8 inches on top of the 1 inch ORP package correct? Total of 2.7 to 2.8 inches with ORP? The Rough Country forged arms say their for 3 inch to 3.5 inch lifts, have you noticed any issues with that? Thanks, nice looking truck. Love the Rebel front end.

Correct, it’s a fraction of the inch to 3”. The controls are are still working great!
 

Zeeya

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What do your cv angles look like with the 2" bilstein lift plus the 1" factory lift? Have the ORG on my night edition and want to do the bilsteins. Thanks
I just did the 5100's last week on the Rebel on setting #5.
I just snapped a couple of shots when I got home, but it will give you an idea of angles. I ended up with right at 1.8" after install. So as you say with the ORG that would be a total of 2.8" I guess.

IMG_3091.jpg IMG_3108.jpg
 

JbVt

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I just did the 5100's last week on the Rebel on setting #5.
I just snapped a couple of shots when I got home, but it will give you an idea of angles. I ended up with right at 1.8" after install. So as you say with the ORG that would be a total of 2.8" I guess.

View attachment 82598 View attachment 82599
Great! That was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you. Are those the stock UCAs?
 

90goldtsiawd

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Sub'd. This might be worth doing to my ORP '21 Laramie in the front if I don't have to swap UCA's. I had the Mopar Bilstein Leveling kit on my '14 and loved the ride.
 

puba08

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Eibachs are another option that are actually in stock and cheaper. Either is fine though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Waterfowler41

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Eibachs are another option that are actually in stock and cheaper. Either is fine though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I’m all for Eibachs too BUT they do not provide info on the ORP/Rebel applications. They are still researching those use cases. I try to stay looped in with a couple of people over there.

I had the Eibach pro truck kit on my gmc and loved it. If Eibach can confirm final lift heights for ORP and Rebel trucks it’s a good alternative but as of right now bilstein is the only one who breaks outs out lift heights for the different spring packages.
 

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