Review on 🔧 Bilstein 5100 Series Shock Absorber (24-186940) by Jake Davies

I first fitted a Bilstein 5100 to an '06 speedometer a few years ago. It made a big difference. So I bought a 2011 Tahoe and immediately noticed that the ride was bouncy and a bit slow. The truck almost rocked from side to side. The first thing I did was look at these 5100 Bilsteins and saw that they flattened the front end as well, which is what I wanted to do. From the factory the rear was 38" floor to fender and front was 35 1/2" up front. The truck not only looked low in front, but also behind the wheel. This new strutted speedo made it stiffer than the old torsion bar suspension. Removing an old rack isn't the end of the world, but depending on the mech's skills and your tools, it can be a chore. There is a great video on YouTube that will help you with this, which will definitely save time. I've rented spring compressors from Advanced Auto, but they didn't compress the big Tahoe springs, not to mention very scary to use. I changed the springs at a local store for $150. I used the highest setting and in fact it raised the truck exactly 1 3/4 inches. The assembled new stands were not easy to reassemble as they were about 1/2-1 inch too long with this tall build. A big crowbar and another guy helped a lot. Installing the lower shock mount on top of the A-arm was interesting. Once you did that, it screwed up nicely. The Tahoe is perfectly aligned and the ride quality is 100% improved. No more jumping or swaying. You can tell the springs are a bit stiffer, but the truck handles better and the shocks work much better than the factory ones. By the way, it says "Made in China". A really good Chevrolet! They are value for money and you will not be disappointed. I'm glad I didn't spend a little less and end up with the same factory rebound issue. By the way, there were only 59,000 on the Tahoe. Factory shock absorbers were really shot! I will never use anything other than Bilsteins on anything I have, that's for sure. After installing them I put a Bilstein 5100 in the back and this speedometer is even better!