[alberta minimax]

Hi all:
After drooling over an ICON lift, then checking my bank account, I have decided to reduce my wants a bit!
Current consideration is Bilstein 5100 2" Frt., 1" RR. Shocks and rear shackle lift.
Of course will not have performance of ICON system but is less than 20% of the cost and still better than stock.
Truck is daily driver and overlander with roof top tent and gear.
Am interested if anyone else has this lift and experiences.
Thanks!!

 

[RollyPollieBenito]

I used supreme suspension 2” lift kit that cost $160. It includes 2 front spacers and 2 rear shackles.

$30 for sway bar drop
$160 for rear shocks, 2 x bilstein 5100.

The ride is stiff like factory, but the rear bilstein dampen the rear bumps very well. Which translate to a better than factory ride.

I honestly don’t think you can get any cheaper than my setup without sacrificing quality.

 

[alberta minimax]

RPB:
What is your recommendation re: front Bilstein lift vs. your spacers?
If I'm going to have front struts apart, my inclination is to go ahead and do front Bilsteins as well for matched damping.
Where did you get your sway bar drop?
Canadian pricing for 4 x Bilsteins, shackle and expected sway bar drop is $ 1000 Can. Not bad considering Icon stage 2 is $4K.

 

[RollyPollieBenito]

RPB:
What is your recommendation re: front Bilstein lift vs. your spacers?
If I'm going to have front struts apart, my inclination is to go ahead and do front Bilsteins as well for matched damping.
Where did you get your sway bar drop?

I did spacers because it was easy and I didn’t have to disassemble the strut tower. The spacer goes on top of the tower and I reinstall.

But I believe if you get Bilstein 5100 and eibach Springs for the front, it will be very nice. You will not regret it.

The sway bar drop was on eBay from StreetRay. But I would actually recommend longer sway bar link over the drop. The angles with the link will be much better.

Supreme suspension also sale on eBay.

 

[RollyPollieBenito]

Amazon got the best price on Bilstein when I was researching a few months ago.

 

[alberta minimax]

I can make longer sway bar links so no problem there, thanks for the tip.
The front bilsteins are intended to reuse stock spring which I intend to do. If I want better travel later, I may do the Eibachs with longer coil.
Thanks for your help!

 

[RollyPollieBenito]

I can make longer sway bar links so no problem there, thanks for the tip.
The front bilsteins are intended to reuse stock spring which I intend to do. If I want better travel later, I may do the Eibachs with longer coil.
Thanks for your help!

In that case, you can get away with 2” rear shackles from supreme suspension on eBay for about $60. The 2” shackles lift will translate to 1.25” actual lift. Great customer service.

Good luck

 

[AndyZ71]

I just installed the Eibach pro kit this past weekend, it's comparable to the 1500's, but the kit also comes with 2" lift springs (which you can also buy separately and use with the Bilstein's). The change in ride quality is night and day, I can't believe how much better the truck rides, the harshness is really taken out of the front end. Couldn't be happier with it. I put it on the one up setting which is advertised as a 2.7" lift. At the moment I'm roughly 5/8" taller in the front at the frame rail to ground. It looks pretty level, but I will be putting 1.5" block in the back to bring it up a bit as the wheel gap is not even at this point.

 

[Koach]

For me, I cannot stand the 'raked' appearance and combined with the low hanging air dam... absolutely horrendous! Well, unless you're looking to plow snow.
I immediately went in search of a leveling kit and was ready to pull the trigger on the inexpensive RC kit when I remembered the Dmax's that I was ready to purchase was a Z71 LB which definitely rode better than the vehicle eventually purchased- LT SB. So much so that my wife, without being provoked, even commented on how the vehicle purchased seemed to be 'bouncier' than the one I was originally set on buying. This got me thinking that if adding preload, via the RC spacer kit, to the LT OEM setup without changing the struts is definitely not going to get better. With this I decided to kill two birds with one stone and research adjustable strut kits. I ended up going with the Bilstein 5100 setup along with their shocks in the rear. Did it yield the advertised 2" lift- close. Is it level- no. And to me, this is ok. Because it still allows me to haul a little bit before achieving the Carolina Squat/Tennessee Tilt/Cali Lean appearance lol. I got the bits locally via price match sales and if I remember correctly, around $220 for the front bits. I then searched eBay and found StreetRays sway bar lowering blocks for $28 and haven't noticed any issues thus far... vehicle aligned perfectly without tracking issues. I went this route to provide sway bar clearance to allow the recently installed larger wheel/tire combo- Black Rhino Sierra's fitted with Nokian Rotiiva AT's in the 275/55-20 variety. This has provided some very slight rubbing in certain turn angles. I suspect another 1/2" to get 'level' and this would be eliminated. This has me now pondering the Fox setup which is supposed to provide 2.5" of lift.

Sooo...if properly provoked, I could let this Bilstein setup go for a very reasonable price...PM me if interested. BTW- this would pretty much be a 'plug-n-play' since the FOX setup comes with springs, I wouldn't have to disassemble anything and ship as complete/ready to install units.

 

[Koach]

I haven't checked to see if there's a marketplace on this forum, but in case anyone is interested: https://www.ebay.com/itm/253765224600