Lorenz 5100 kit

[B-rock]

placed the order yesterday, Bilstein 5100 6% with the dual purpose leafs and the extended link upgrade. Hope to have it here soon so i can get my truck looking good and handling great!



merry christmas to me!

 

[RAlberg]

I have had Lorenz leveling kit with Bilstein's on for about a year and have no regrets and greatly improved handling. Hopefully your experience will be as good as mine.

Merry Christmas to you!

Bob

 

[JBonpua]

Will the Lorenz rides better than stock? I've been looking at it.

 

[B-rock]

Will the Lorenz rides better than stock? I've been looking at it.

With all the research i have done I have found VERY few who say there ride is not a night and day diference (better) over stock .



Probably sometime VERY soon after the kit arives ( after the first of the yeay????) I will be able to give some very good first hand experience.



There are a ton of threads on it. pull a search and read till you are satisfied with what you are looking for.

 

[Bob4x4]

Adding a stiffer spring will not soften the ride. Adding travel will prevent bottoming out. Improved shocks will improve the ride.



Bob

 

[Buffalo]

Back in Oct. , I installed the Lorenz Bilstein 5100 System on my '03, 3500 SRW with stock-sized tires & about 60,000 miles.



The truck does ride a bit better but, the biggest thing that I noticed was that it takes speed bumps, in my neighborhood, much better. I've hit them, numerous times at abut 25 mph & the system absorbs the shock quite well. With the stock suspension, I would have never hit the speed bumps at 25 mph & the suspension would compress to the bump stops, quite easily. Since the installation, I have never hit the bump stops.



I have not taken the truck on rough/dirt roads, yet so, I can't give an opinion about how the suspension works in those conditions but, I would think that that it would work well.



After the installation, I took the truck one of the best wheel alignment shops in the Phoenix area. The mechanic took the truck for a ride before & after the adjustment. He thought the suspension worked very well. Was quite impressed with it.



Joe F. (Buffalo)

 

[Lorenz]

Adding a stiffer spring will not soften the ride. Adding travel will prevent bottoming out. Improved shocks will improve the ride.



Bob

The DP leafs will soften the ride substantially, the HD 6% Coils will keep the nose out of the dirt and the truck off the bumpstops up front. The Bilstein 5100 shocks can't do this alone under the weight of the Cummins, this is why we run the higher spring rates. The front is to soft and the rear is too stiff in stock configuration.



85% of the horrible ride on our trucks is directly related to the OEM Rear Leafs. Yank these cheap chunks of metal and your ride will most defiantly be softer, more controlled and they'll pass the wife test.

 

[JBonpua]

The DP leafs will soften the ride substantially, the HD 6% Coils will keep the nose out of the dirt and the truck off the bumpstops up front. The Bilstein 5100 shocks can't do this alone under the weight of the Cummins, this is why we run the higher spring rates. The front is to soft and the rear is too stiff in stock configuration.



85% of the horrible ride on our trucks is directly related to the OEM Rear Leafs. Yank these cheap chunks of metal and your ride will most defiantly be softer, more controlled and they'll pass the wife test.

I hear you about that "wife test". My wife complains when sitting in the rear seat of my MC that it givees her headache when sitting back there while keep an eye of ouw 10 month old in the car seat. I've aired down the rear tires to just 40lbs which helped slightly but my fuel milage dropped slightly. I definately need a better leaf pack in the rear.

 

[Lorenz]

Is 40 psi higher than what the OEM manual calls for on the rear of an unlaiden truck with you size tires?

 

[Bob4x4]

The Mega cabs call for more air than Quads,All the later trucks call for more than earlier years,I beleive to deal with the death wobble issues,per the tsb ( 22-005-06) released some time back. There were new stickers sent out to increase the pressures on front tires. (60-65 psi in the front)empty. The door placards are to be considered the most current specs.



Bob

 

[JBonpua]

Is 40 psi higher than what the OEM manual calls for on the rear of an unlaiden truck with you size tires?

I'll have to check on that. She still complains being jolted around in the back. She said it is like riding a tank but she never rode in a tank so she would not know. I've been inside and M1A2 Abrams sprinting along in the middle of a desrt @ over 45mph and it rides surprisingly very smooth.



Sean, will just instaling your rear spring pack improve my ride to satisfy the wife?

 

[MickeyMiller]

I installed Lorenz's mini-pac and that made the ride a little smoother. Mini-pac and a couple hundred lbs in the back made it much smoother!

 

[ENafziger]

Sean, will just instaling your rear spring pack improve my ride to satisfy the wife?<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

The dual purpose leafs will definately improve the ride! This is not just one of those talk-yourself-into-thinking-you-notice-a-change-to-justify-the-cost-in-your-own-mind differences; or, if you pay attention to it close enough, you psychilogically think you can tell a difference.

If you replace the factory leafs with the dual purpose, it is a night and day difference. I recently installed the 2. 25 Lorenz kit with the dual purpose leafs. While the front VR coils and shocks made a huge difference, the dual purpose leafs made even a greater improvement.

The only downside to the dual purpose leafs, is that air bags are probably necessary if you have a heavy camper or will tow. I run with the bumps installed all the time, because I have a toolbox and two other side boxes full of tools, and the ride is very compliant.

Bottom line, your wife will definately notice the difference!

--Eric

 

[Bob4x4]

You might want to check with Sean but I think he has changed his rear springs.



Bob

 

[Lorenz]

She'll be happy.

Rear DP Leafs will cure 85% of the bad ride the Dodges have.

With all of the tricks we have up our sleeves ie; 4 different front coil, 4 different shock option, multiple hours of work in valving, Billet Drop Blocks, Extended Link, Mini Packs... . The DP Leafs are far and away the best SINGLE component that will change the characteristics of your truck.

Enafziger and Bob are perfectly correct. We have recently made changes to the DPs and made them dummy proof.

 

[ASchwartz]

they'll pass the wife test.

If you want your wife to beg you to drive her in your truck, get a set of new engine mounts and they will give her a tingle down low.



Avi

 

[Ghost Rider]

Lorenz, i know this is 3rd gen, but I also have a 2nd gen that is needing some attention. I am considering your kit very seriously. Do you have rear leaf packs for the 2nd gen or plan to have any? Also, your system raises the back 1" and front about 3", right? Will that make it sit level? I'm looking to run 35" tires and want a nice ride. What coils will suit me best. Thanks.

 

[Lorenz]

Lorenz, i know this is 3rd gen, but I also have a 2nd gen that is needing some attention. I am considering your kit very seriously. Do you have rear leaf packs for the 2nd gen or plan to have any?

We have Rear DP Leafs in the works for the 2nd Gen, and they're on the "to do" list. Though they've been on the to do list for a couple of months now.



We have our 2. 5 System on the Long Beach Racers 2nd Gen Chase Truck. They ran the Baja 500 and the last Baja 1000 on the System, but we haven't had the time to get together since then to go over it. Until that happens, I can't release it to the public. They'll have the first set of DP Leafs on that 2nd gen as well. All in due time.

 

[LarryWard]

New shocks are on my list but after talking to one vendor today it appears there is no internal differences, only external, between the Bilstein yellow/blue BE 5's and the silver BE 5's (5100's). Silvers are about 10. 00 each more.



What also puzzles me is the same Bilstein shock numbers are used on Dodge 1500 as the 2500 series and diesel at that.



Do I need to go directly to Bilstein to clarify all this? Or could some vendors speak to differences if any on the Bilstein's they market. Aside from any other suspension changes such as springs, etc. , can one trust that the shocks are all the same from any vendor? If so then shipping and taxes and TDR discounts if any may influence ones vendor choice. This '95 w/235k deserves no further delay.



Regarding rear leaf changes, I opted to try the Velvet Shackles which certainly help when empty. But not sure if they are that widely used. Once significantly loaded they permit the normal spring rates to kick in. Not complicated at all. I considered them them cheaper but not necessarily the optimum

 

[B-rock]

I got the front springs and shocks on today, Still waiting on the rear DP springs. It raised my truck 2 1/4 inches total (6% springs) The handling is "crisper" and more reactive, very tight, Im happy with how it all came out.