Bilstein 5100 or N3 Loaded Struts - Front - For 2” Level

[fisher]

Looking to add a 2” level on my 2023 F150 XLT 5.0L V8 4WD SuperCrew 10 spd transmission.

Current rake is 3”. It seems anything more than 2” I’ll need upper control arms and it gets into a whole can of worms and other things I need to replace, so I went with 2” and my thought process was leaving some rake should allow me to tow easier.

That being said, of these three options, which would you recommend? N3’s are fully loaded. Bilstein’s are a bit more than N3’s and reuse OEM parts partially from what I’ve gathered. New ringer in the hat: Eibach

Also, additional question, maybe someone can enlighten me, but I’ve noticed that Bilstein refers to them as “front shocks” while N3 calls them “front struts.” Are these two different kind of things and is this something I need to be aware of when deciding which route I take?

Edited to add Eibach as an option.

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[Porpoise Hork]

I went MotoFabLifts F150- 2.5" front lift kit and have not had any problems for the past nearly 3 years on stock upper control arms.



As for the dampers Bilstein 5100's they are struts and IMO are the way to go. They offer the closest to OEM overall ride quality out there while vastly improving it for FX4's with much better rebound damping that kills the rolling boat. For regular 4X4's it will be just slightly firmer on the rebound than OEM. Never was much of a fan of how Rough Country dampers rode compared to the 5100's Just seemed very harsh. Reminded me too much of my old 3/4 trucks that had very rough rides due to the HD suspensions in them.

 

[fisher]

Another ring in the hat: what about these Eibach struts?

 

[Hotshot Offroad]

Bilstein 5100s are always a great entry level shock set up. They typically work for just about anyone that’s needing doing daily driver.

We would tell you to consider Eibach though as another option. They will ride a little smoother out the gate due to their design.

We did a full write up on the most popular kits for our customers on our website. These are not the same exact set ups that you were looking at, but should give you a pretty general idea of helping you make the educated guest as to what you need. But if you still have more questions or need some more help, let us know! We’d be happy to get you set up with the right kit!

Suspension write up

https://hotshotoffroad.com/blogs/tips-tutorials/the-great-suspension-debate-the-f150-version

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