Review on Bilstein 33 253190 33253190 Shock Absorber by Jorge Maertz

F150 drove ideally as I wanted it to when I bought it new. After driving 17,000 miles, which includes about 1,200 tows, normal daily driving, and the occasional full load, I've noticed the truck getting sloppy/floating, especially on rough pavement. Based on my previous experience with Bilsteins, I was a bit nervous. On the originally stiff 1st gen TRD Tundra they were still quite stiff and seemed to make the rear end even stiffer in some ways. I liked that the new F150 was manageable at first but didn't hit me in the kidneys this Tuesday. I gravitated towards the Monroe Reflex as they are softer yet stiffer than the originals but durability has always been in the Bilsteins' favour. Flipped a coin. I installed 5100 in the back. First impressions are positive. The cups seem to easily let small cracks and stones pass under them. Big movements are definitely felt BUT the chassis springs back immediately, while stock shocks might not "buck" as much, but there are more aftershocks after the bump. Bilsteins have a comparatively more abrupt starting event, but it's isolated from a single event and ready. Compared to the originals I leave these. At 17,000 miles, the removed original shocks took about half a minute to fully expand on their own and were easy to fully compress and hand-extract with minimal resistance. In other words, the original shocks were made at 17,000. I considered adding a rear anti-roll bar as rear lift was becoming an issue on the freeway. I don't think it's needed now as the truck feels well planted with these shocks. Acceleration in and out of corners seems stable again. The fronts are a little more work and I'll probably wait for them, but based on this experience I'll end up running a 5100 in the front (at stock height) as well. Please note that the 5100 and 4600 valves may be slightly different from my general understanding. There is some evidence online that the fronts of the 4600 and 5100 are very similar, with the 5100 being slightly stiffer and the 5100's rear being noticeably softer than the 4600; and 5100s loosen up at the end of the road ("valve deflection" according to Bilstein, preferably off-road), 4600s not. Can't tell either - I called Bilstein a few years ago and they said the 4600 and 5100 have the same valves. One can only guess. Installation on the F150 took 30-45 minutes on both rear panels.