Well, if I may step up to the plate?
After about 6 months of driving the '11 PSD, I ditched my half-ass factory Rancho shocks for a complete set of 5100 Bilstein shocks. I looked online and read almost every review on BILSTEIN, and that may be where I went wrong. Don't get me wrong, the shocks have not let me down and they were a true night and day difference over the absolutely unacceptable Rancho shock setup, but in the end I didn't consider all of my options at the time.
Bilstein shocks were the only shocks I looked into and I may have screwed myself into essentially buying a shock setup twice. In addition to my Bilstein order, I also got a Pro Comp Pro Runner dual-steering stabilizer setup; again, I should have looked into other options there as well. The fact of the matter is that when I ordered the damn Bilsteins it took over 3 months just to get them. The vendor constantly had no idea where they were, had next to no contact with Bilstein, and did not know when they would be shipped out to me. Apparently, Bilstein wasn't producing enough to keep up with the demand and they were also building a new plant somewhere else in the States. Fast forward about 2.5 months- the shocks finally came and they were impressive in their out-of-box configuration. Once installed, I noticed a huge difference IMMEDIATELY! I really couldn't imagine them being tuned/valved by another company because they were just so smooth and comfortable in their current form.
Now I find myself getting the truck ready for a complete Carli leveling kit/upgrade. The Bilsteins are still great performers on my truck but when I finally ordered the leveling system it was supposed to come with tuned Bilstein shocks, no longer the case. A call to Carli and I learned briefly that they (Carli) have dropped the manufacturer and gone exclusively over to the Fox 2.0line. Shocked (no pun intended) by this I went to look at other vendors across the internet - low and behold, everyone pretty much is dropping Bilstein across the board! Rave reviews apparently have been pointing new and repeat business in the direction of Fox shocks over Bilstein it seems.
In closing, I still have the 5100's on the truck now and once they come off I will hold on to them. They did me right and I only have a mere 10k on them, so why throw them out? I have no experience with the Fox line so this will be an added measure in case I happen to "like the 5100 more" and sell the Fox 2.0 res shocks. Although that sounds real crazy, I have yet to experience the brand. The fact of the matter is that this transition to Fox with every former Bilstein vendor is worth having a look into...
