Bilstein 5160 and 6112 shock review for 2023 AT4

[FunHuman]

Credit to @Purple MF review of Fox 2.0 shocks, I used their format.

I bought my AT4 about 2 months ago and have amassed 1900 miles. My other vehicle is a 2021 Escalade ESV Sport, Magneride/air suspension. When I bought the AT4 I traded my 2022 HTC Z51Corvette loaded with Magneride (got a dog). I drive to the limit!

Driving the AT4 I already loved the 6.2 engine, and the handling was decent but not for me. So, I began my research. I watched every YouTube video and read every review I could, and they all kept coming back to Bilstein, Fox or Icon. I especially paid attention to Shock Surplus videos. The guys there were using all the brands on their own trucks.

Their take on the Bilstein's was you get a firmer ride with better agility, cornering, and road feedback without much comfort loss. I will never see any real off roading. My driving is made up of 90% street and highway, potholes, torn up roads, curb action etc.

So based on Shock Surplus Bilstein 5100's would be a good choice. Obviously, money is involved, and I did not want to spend it twice. Most reviewers felt the 5100's were an upgrade like many of the other next step shock recommendations were. But nobody raved about the lowest level upgrades from any shock.

So for that reason, I decided to spend the money once and go for the 5160's rear (installed myself) and the 6112's preassembled (dealer installed). Kit including tax $1600., dealer install and alignment $425. so, $2025. total.

I installed the Bilstein 5160 shocks in the rear about two weeks ago. I waited to get my front 6112's installed to give my full review. The 5160's in the rear made an immediate difference. The rear tires were no longer dancing over train tracks through a corner I take daily, and the rear felt more planted. I KNEW the truck felt better and could not wait for the fronts to be installed.

With the Fronts installed, what a difference! I am not off roading, this is high speed driving on country roads with dips, soft shoulders, hair pin turns along with typical highway and city street conditions.

The trucks handling is amazing (compared to stock and in general). Body roll and dipping into corners is almost nonexistent. At high speed over peaks and valleys where you could get air you can feel the shocks pulling the bed down and eliminating any bounce.

The daily train tracks have the slightest chatter but no more lane changes! I am just throwing the truck around having fun. The sound of the Borla ATAK muffler just eggs you on.

Sorry, this is not an "off-road" review but wow the truck feels amazing.
I don't BS people. I knew if I were spending top dollar, off road the Bilstein's would be an improvement.
My worry was would they help on the street, they did!

My expectations were met or exceeded by the Bilstein shocks:

CORNERING - Amazing
HARD BRAKING - No issues tracks straight with minimal dip
HANDLING - Boat to Sports car
BIG POT HOLES - Avoid
SPEED BUMPS - 100% Improvement no chatter or bed bounce/rebound
HIGHWAY BUMPS 70MPH - 100% Just soaks them up

So overall they are a Huge difference/upgrade and what I was hoping I would get for the money.
I have no idea how the 5100's would have performed and I would have saved $1000.
No second guessing here the $1000. was worth every penny.

I had some buyer's remorse not buying an AT4X.
Not anymore, don't need front lockers or additional skid plates.
And appearance wise for me there is no contest, the AT4 front and rear bumpers look sooo much better.

Now if they could fix my instrument cluster, 9 DAYS! Clueless.

 

AT4 Forum Fav 👍

JKCOVER Center Console Organizer Tray - Grab one through Amazon!

[Admin]

Great writeup! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and photos of your suspension setup.

 

[BigLaker]

Thanks for these excellent write-up. Did this also level the front end?

 

[FunHuman]

Thanks for these excellent write-up. Did this also level the front end?

Thanks. No, I still have 1.5-inch rake. I did ask Shock Surplus about lifting the front further than the stock setting.
They said I would need UCA's if I wanted to go higher. I don't mind the rake. I also don't want to cut up the fender wells for bigger tires.

 

[Jimmy23]

Credit to @Purple MF review of Fox 2.0 shocks, I used their format.

I bought my AT4 about 2 months ago and have amassed 1900 miles. My other vehicle is a 2021 Escalade ESV Sport, Magneride/air suspension. When I bought the AT4 I traded my 2022 HTC Z51Corvette loaded with Magneride (got a dog). I drive to the limit!

Driving the AT4 I already loved the 6.2 engine, and the handling was decent but not for me. So, I began my research. I watched every YouTube video and read every review I could, and they all kept coming back to Bilstein, Fox or Icon. I especially paid attention to Shock Surplus videos. The guys there were using all the brands on their own trucks.

Their take on the Bilstein's was you get a firmer ride with better agility, cornering, and road feedback without much comfort loss. I will never see any real off roading. My driving is made up of 90% street and highway, potholes, torn up roads, curb action etc.

So based on Shock Surplus Bilstein 5100's would be a good choice. Obviously, money is involved, and I did not want to spend it twice. Most reviewers felt the 5100's were an upgrade like many of the other next step shock recommendations were. But nobody raved about the lowest level upgrades from any shock.

So for that reason, I decided to spend the money once and go for the 5160's rear (installed myself) and the 6112's preassembled (dealer installed). Kit including tax $1600., dealer install and alignment $425. so, $2025. total.

I installed the Bilstein 5160 shocks in the rear about two weeks ago. I waited to get my front 6112's installed to give my full review. The 5160's in the rear made an immediate difference. The rear tires were no longer dancing over train tracks through a corner I take daily, and the rear felt more planted. I KNEW the truck felt better and could not wait for the fronts to be installed.

With the Fronts installed, what a difference! I am not off roading, this is high speed driving on country roads with dips, soft shoulders, hair pin turns along with typical highway and city street conditions.

The trucks handling is amazing (compared to stock and in general). Body roll and dipping into corners is almost nonexistent. At high speed over peaks and valleys where you could get air you can feel the shocks pulling the bed down and eliminating any bounce.

The daily train tracks have the slightest chatter but no more lane changes! I am just throwing the truck around having fun. The sound of the Borla ATAK muffler just eggs you on.

Sorry, this is not an "off-road" review but wow the truck feels amazing.
I don't BS people. I knew if I were spending top dollar, off road the Bilstein's would be an improvement.
My worry was would they help on the street, they did!

My expectations were met or exceeded by the Bilstein shocks:

CORNERING - Amazing
HARD BRAKING - No issues tracks straight with minimal dip
HANDLING - Boat to Sports car
BIG POT HOLES - Avoid
SPEED BUMPS - 100% Improvement no chatter or bed bounce/rebound
HIGHWAY BUMPS 70MPH - 100% Just soaks them up

So overall they are a Huge difference/upgrade and what I was hoping I would get for the money.
I have no idea how the 5100's would have performed and I would have saved $1000.
No second guessing here the $1000. was worth every penny.

I had some buyer's remorse not buying an AT4X.
Not anymore, don't need front lockers or additional skid plates.
And appearance wise for me there is no contest, the AT4 front and rear bumpers look sooo much better.

Now if they could fix my instrument cluster, 9 DAYS! Clueless.

Great review. I'm looking to upgrade the suspension soon as well, and this helped a lot! Do you haul anything, and if so how is the difference?

 

[DesertSandAT4]

Thank you. Fantatic review. I'm running this setup on my 4Runner and will likely do the same on the AT4 now.

 

[Jpad22]

I agree 100% with your overview. I just installed 5100s up front and already had 5100s in the rear only difference is I lowered the rear an inch and raised the front to the 1.1 inch setting and added Cognito UCA’s. The truck is so much more planted now and feels incredibly nimble! I did notice the ball joint on my stock control arm was a lot easier to move by hand in comparison to the Cognito ball joint.

 

[Wes]

This review had me sold. But my guy said these won’t work with my RL 1.75” level kit?

 

[Jpad22]

If you are wanting to get that much of a lift you are better off getting adjustable coil overs that’ll give you a 3 inch lift and an upper control arm. It’ll be better in the long run.

 

[FunHuman]

I believe the 6112's will give you 1.75 over stock and then an upper spacer will add more. I know Upper Control Arms's are recommended. Just call Shock Surplus 213-433-3616 open 8-5pm West coast time. These guys take all the time you need. Highly recommended. I LOVE the way my truck handles.

 

[Wes]

Yeah, I don’t want more lift than the level kit provides. I was just trying to make the ride better, similar to an AT4X with the DSSV setup.

 

[FunHuman]

Ok here is the deal. You can run the 6120's with your current setup and no modifications at all. The issue is you will not get the maximum suspension travel of the shock because physically it will be set to position #1 which will stretch it out to its maximum setup by Bilstein.

The best way Shock Surplus suggests is to set the 6120's to position #3 and replace your current spacers with 1/2 inch spacers. This will allow much more shock travel and you will get the benefit of the shock swap. If you do use 1/2-inch spacers you will only lose a minuscule amount of leveling, .005 not even half an inch. Aside from the RL level kit is fine. There you go, nothing I can say but the shock setup is great.

 

[824L]

I just had the 6112’s / 5160’s with Cognito UCA‘s installed yesterday. so far I’m really impressed with the ride quality over stock.

 

[NMTXAT4]

I just had the 6112’s / 5160’s with Cognito UCA‘s installed yesterday. so far I’m really impressed with the ride quality over stock.

I was considering a similar setup with Bilstein UCA's (because they are servicable). How is the ride quality on-road with the 6112/5160 combo? I keep wondering if the AT4X spec system would be a better route for the money...and less noisy rear spring packs.

 

[Jpad22]

I was considering a similar setup with Bilstein UCA's (because they are servicable). How is the ride quality on-road with the 6112/5160 combo? I keep wondering if the AT4X spec system would be a better route for the money...and less noisy rear spring packs.

I thought about getting the at4x shocks but damn they weren’t cheap and for that price you could just get kings