Bilstein suspension upgrade

I though I would post a recent suspension swap on my 21 Badlands 2.7 Sasquatch at 34K miles. I had experienced a leaking rear shock, which was replaced under warranty, but I felt it was time to change out, so I decided on the Bilstein 6112 to provide a stiffer spring to help level out ride. After the stock shocks were removed, noticed that the other rear shock has started to leak and rusting between the shock body and reservoir on all of the shocks. I started with the stock height of 39" in the rear and 38" in the front. After the swap and a brief drive for the suspension to settle in, I’m now closer to level at 39-3/8" in the rear and 38-7/8" in the front. Since I like the ride stock, I left the circlips at the first position and installed the springs with a claimshell spring compressor. The install of the swap was straight forward. The most difficult was getting enough clearance to remove the shock from between the lower control arm and the upper stock mount. The use of the spring compressor provided the little extra to get spring out without loosening the lower control are fasteners. The 6112 shocks are beefy with a 60mm body diameter and weighing 3 lbs more than stock. Early impression is that the ride is a little stiffer, but I’ll provide another review after i get more miles on them.



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I’m looking forward to checking out the ride and how the suspension performs on and off road.

Can I ask how much the Bilstein 6112’s were? (ballpark…)

Can find them for under 1700. They don’t come withe the springs assembled to the shocks.

Update after a week installed and 600 miles with some light trail ride. There was no noticable handling difference between the factory Bilsteins and the 6112 on the road and trail. What the 6112 did help improve leveling.

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I would be interested to see what you thought of some higher speed sections, like the power lines in Oscoda and the whoops at the bottom of the hill climb on that same trail. That’s where the SW shocks go from pretty good to bump stops, especially with the added winch weight.