I am going to be changing the shocks on my truck what would you guys change to both are on special buy 3 get 1 free both lifetime replacement i have my truck leveled in the front bilstein I would have to mailorder kyb local parts store in town what would you run?

I just installed 5100's and I really like them. Can't even tell it's cranked.

I had the 5100s on my 03 diesel and i liked them just was thinking if I had a problem with them I would only have to go 5 minutes down the road and I know the guy at the parts store. The price on the kybs is 72 a piece and I belive the 5100ss are 80 or so

my vote is for the 5100 love mine

I am going to be changing the shocks on my truck what would you guys change to both are on special buy 3 get 1 free both lifetime replacement i have my truck leveled in the front bilstein I would have to mailorder kyb local parts store in town what would you run?

I think KYB makes great shocks, but for a truck application I would go with the Bilstein 5100's. If I was looking at shocks for my car it would be KYB all the way.

Go with 5100's.

love the 5100s i have, definently worth the money!

I have the 5100's on my truck and so far have been very pleased with the ride. A little sharper than the stockers, but that's to be expected. I had KYB's on my 03 and I really don't think their ride is any different than the 5100's

I don't think that KYB is making a replacement for the 2500HD with a 2-3" lift. I have called them on this and they haven't had enough call for this application which is a huge oversight.

I don't think that KYB is making a replacement for the 2500HD with a 2-3" lift. I have called them on this and they haven't had enough call for this application which is a huge oversight.


i have heard good things about KYB. they should market a HD truck shock for lifted applications.

I had bilsteins on my '03 dmax and loved the ride - mostly unloaded freeway and single lane commuting.

I put hd bilsteins (yellow) on my 2005 3500 SRW about 6 months after I bought it in July 05. I now have about 45k miles on these shocks. I recently purchased a Northern Lite 9.6 camper and couldn't get the ride working right - sway bar, air bags. I wanted more safety margin for when my wife was at the wheel while still preserving a "decent ride". Very frustrated - with sway, bottoming (lack of compression dampening) and pogo (lack of rebound dampening).

I had assumed the dampening was still good on the rear shocks but planned on replacing them in another year or so just to be safe - Bilstein kinda claims a long life (100k + miles, lifetime of use, etc.). When I pulled them off the rear bilsteins were "at the end of their service life" - almost zero compression left in them, little rebound and not alot of pressure. After 45k miles with very light duty use - they were "done"....

So after running Bilsteins for 90k or so miles between my two trucks - I switched to KYB monomax. Valved much more firmly but not harsh. The ride is confidence inspiring with my camper on board. Corners much flatter, handles g-out situations in stride - stays up in the suspension stroke and dampens more aggressively on any bounce, etc.

So after thinking nothing could be better than bilstein on my duramax's since '03 - I now really really like the kyb monomax and will be purchasing them in the future instead of the bilsteins. They advertise them as being valved to handle big loads & top heavy loads, etc. They live up to this claim.

The desired behavior of suspension has alot to do with use and, also, personal preferences. I used to love Bilsteins and thought nothing was better. "Better" is "which is better for what you need and like..."; For what I am doing now, hauling a truck camper on occasion with the desire to tow a horse trailer as well, the KYB monomax's are better suited to the application.

The KYB Monomax use the same basic construction as the bilstein; The KYBs are high quality being "made in japan". Heavier valving (more compression and rebound) when compared to the bilstein, making them great when hauling a load, etc.

jeff