They do ride rather "firm". Glad you mentioned tires didn't help because in the back of my mind I figured Michelins would be smoother than the Coopers I have. Saved me some bucks there! I've contemplated 5100's but still looking.

 

Bilstein makes a 5100 for the Gen2 Titan. Go to their site and search by model/year and you should be good to go.

 

I had 5100s on my Gen 1, rode so much better than the stock non-Pro-4x shocks.

I have heard that if 5100s aren't setup right, they can ride poorly. I had my mechanic set them to the recommended height that everyone on here agreed rode the best, and that was a good call.

Get too ambitious with the height adjustment of the 5100 and you won't be happy.

I plan to get 5100s for my 21 Pro-4x when the time comes.

 

Hmm if only there was a supporting vendor on here that offers more titan suspension than anywhere for less than anywhere. Oh wait! There is!

@aej9374

This is what you are looking for: BILSTEIN | 5100 | Height Adjustable Struts | (2016-2024) Nissan Titan,

Icon coilovers ride far more superior: Icon | 0-3" Lift | 2.5 VS Coilover Kit | Nissan Titan, Armada or Infin

 

You guys are the best! Thanks.

 

From my experience over two earlier year Titans, for more likable ride Icons ARE the winner,Just go ask Nick

 

If you went from a P rated tire (which comes stock on our trucks) to an LT tire (which SHOULD BE stock on our trucks) the ride will be rougher. Couple that with Pro4x suspension and it's not the smoothest ride.

 

The P rated tires I replaced with the LT didn't change my terrible ride unfortunately. The mechanic shop said that Nissan told them the 5100s would ride worse than the factory ones and are trying to fine the best stock or better ride. I don't want to pay that much for the Icons if I am just trying to get back to stock or smoother ride with no lift. They said they would call me back on monday on it. I travel for work so I haven't really driven it much at all, but when I do, it rides terrible. Bounces and rattles like crazy. The shop said they confirmed everything is tight and mounted correctly on my suspension, so I don't know why this is taking so long to get right to get back to stock ride quality.

 

My understanding is that the 5100's ride worse when you approach the max selectable lift on them.

Although this video is for 6100's on a Gen 2 Titan, it's an excellent video on improving the ride of a Pro-4x:

 

Just my 2 cents worth, probably shouldn't have bought an off road package truck if you were looking for ride quality.

 

This is my third pro4x Titan. Two first gens and now a second Gen. Other two road great especially after putting 5100s on them. The dealership is recommending my local shop that I do not put them on and says it will make the ride worse. Which I know is crap on first gen. I put the 5100s on my last two and they road great. Didn't know if there were issues with the second Gen with the 5100s vs stock before I told them they were wrong.

 

@aej9374 you’ll notice a mild improvement with 5100. Icon will give you a dramatic ride quality experience.

 

As a nerdy mechanical engineer, that video was great. I was done waiting for what the dealership wanted to tell the local shop to get. So I just ordered the 5100s from thebassn8tr. Local shop is great and apologized for the delay they were getting from the dealership. They will put the 5100s on when I get them.

 

You've overlooked that this truck the Titan Pro4x was built to be driven off road on the trail which is why it has skid plates under it. When I bought my 2018 it rode great and didn't have a mark on it but the tires were loud. They needed to be replaced as they had some dry rot and an unusual tread wear which left the middle raised. I put on Good Year Wranglers A/T(was surprised to find they weren't 20") and the ride got real quiet. But the suspension responded different even when going over minor bumps. I took it back and they did another alignment-which is closer to what it was when I bought it. It will not be driven off road or plowed but for my first truck a better choice could not have been made. BTW my new tires are made of kevlar!

 

So you have bullet proof tire? Neat

 

I'll add my 2 cents. Currently driving stock 24 P4X, my fourth Titan. Last Titan was an SL with OEM Goodyear 20" tires and I can honestly say the P4X rides just as good as SL! The reason being, IMO, the 275/70R/18 has more side wall flex than the stock 265/60R/20 which is more of a low pro tire.

 

My ride got significantly better with the new shocks but not as dramatically as on my two first gen P4X. This truck has been in an accident and I already noticed that some noise in the bed was from a bed bolt not being completely tightened and letting the bed rattle. It almost rides as well as my 1st Gens on P4x so I wonder if there is something else loose. I might go drive a newish one at a dealership for comparison before I start changing more suspension out.

 

My 2023 Pro4X rides fine with the stock Bilstein shocks.

 

I just put 5100’s on a stock pro4x. Had to use the 2nd from bottom circlip position to maintain the front height. With the circlip set at the bottom position I was .19 inches lower than stock and with the second from bottom ended up with a gain of .40 inch up front.

Ride is awesome if you like a sports car feel. No dive when braking or excess roll on curves. Any hint of “Cadillac bounce” is gone. Significantly reduced oscillations when going over bumps…

When the road is rough you will still feel the imperfections transmit through but overall I wish I did this the day I bought my truck.

Also, I reused the stock 4600’s front shock boots since the front 5100’s do not come with boots…

 

I just put 5100’s on a stock pro4x. Had to use the 2nd from bottom circlip position to maintain the front height. With the circlip set at the bottom position I was .19 inches lower than stock and with the second from bottom ended up with a gain of .40 inch up front.

Ride is awesome if you like a sports car feel. No dive when braking or excess roll on curves. Any hint of “Cadillac bounce” is gone. Significantly reduced oscillations when going over bumps…

When the road is rough you will still feel the imperfections transmit through but overall I wish I did this the day I bought my truck.

Also, I reused the stock 4600’s front shock boots since the front 5100’s do not come with boots…

How high can you go and still keep the stock UCAs?

 

I also want to point out I put the front 5100’s on my Armada but due to having to use the fourth circlip to maintain the factory ride height it significantly compressed the spring making the ride too firm. I pulled them off and placed on the Titan…

 

Everyone will tell you what they did is best without comparing it to anything else. I have actually had the opportunity to compare bilstein, radflo, icon and king on the same truck. Icon is not a small improvement in ride quality, it is a dramatic improvement.

 

It would have to be dramatic at 4-5x the price. I'm still not sold on the tradeoff.

And I've ridden in a lot of trucks and cars in my life. Even spent a few miles in a Raptor, which has coilovers, IIRC. Don't recall it being dramatically different enough to make me think spending $1500 on shocks instead of $375 was worth the price. Maybe im just uncultured swine?

At the end of the day, everybody needs to truck their own truck. But the law of diminishing returns is always applicable. Whether it's between Bilsteins and Icons, or Icons and Kings, there's a point at which a lot of money gets a little gain. Do what your budget allows that seems right, and you should be okay.

 

Bilstein 5100 will ride better when set at the bottom perch slightly softer than the middle perch which can be called sporty feeling. To get the ride height closer to level you can add a strut spacer above the strut assembly. Or you can lower the rear with drop shackles.

However the Bilstein and Icon are both digressive designs. As such they require more force to get them moving so small bump compliance is not great. But the ride is more sport like than a traditional linear design. This means less body roll in turns and nose dive with braking.

I have a first gen Pro4x. Had 5100 on lowest perch. Then added strut spacers. If the strut spacers firmed things up (less droop) I don’t recall. I do recall the 5100 being a little nicer to begin with but firming up with use (on road only).

I even switched out the front 5100 for another new set thinking I screwed them up on a crazy deep gulley coming downhill off a side road onto a main roadway. That’s when I added the spacers. Rode just as before for a short while then began feeling overly firm again. Never a problem on highways at speed, but lower speed suspension movements like local roads at 25-40mph it felt jarring.

I declined to consider Icon as digressive valving seemed to be the greater issue. I’ve also read that they can be problematic not making it terribly long before needing a rebuild compared to other brands.

I chose Fox 2.0 coilovers on a closeout and first installed them as set from the factory (1.5-2” rise). The ride was much softer on local roads. The same route driven routinely was far less jarring. Body roll in turns was a more evident. Bounce / oscillating was also slightly more pronounced.

Next I installed 2.0 rear shocks and lower shackles but set to level. I also lowered the front by taking nearly all the preload out of the coil over. The ride is softer still but with more pronounced body roll and a little more bounce in the cab. I spoke to a suspension tuner with the same truck who has tried a couple of set ups and now runs Kings that he’s still dialing in. He suggested 5100 set to lowest perch with drop shackles in the rear. I asked if he had any criticism of the Fox 2.0 and he said not really maybe just a little underdampened.

For safety and a more sporty feel or hauling loads safely I’d probably look at digressive and Icon. For comfort I can’t say I wouldn’t chose them as I have no direct experience with them. Lots of guys seem to like them, but then lots of guys like the 5100 which I found to be a bit harsh as I get older.

I can say the Fox 2.0 feel quite a bit softer. Not plush like a Cadillac or Lincoln, more like a Chevy. But this is a solid rear axle truck so… I may explore a rear sway bar if they still make them for Gen 1 and/or bring some preload back to the front coilovers. Oh and my tires are Michelin all seasons.

 

I think u hit the nail on the head. At the end of the day I’ll take the benefits of improved cornering and control on the open road and live with the slightly increased choppiness on poor quality city streets..

Overall I am happy.

 

Drove a bunch more both laden (edit to add: about 500 lbs, will be interesting to see how they perform when I have 1500++) and unladen and the Fox are settling in nicely. The body roll is less pronounced as is the bounce. It seems they needed to break in a little more.

Now on turns there’s an initial bit of lean/roll but it remains steady after that and maintains the ability to soak up bumps too. The 5100s in comparison have more of a go kart feel with almost zero lean/roll. Mid turn small bumps with 5100 are sometimes apt to cause a lateral vehicle movement as opposed to absorption. Felt skittish at times.

For avoidance techniques like swerves it will take some getting used to the slight body lean/roll coming off the digressive valved 5100’s. It is certainly more pronounced when you load the suspension up jerking the wheel to the one side, and then quickly jerk it back as the suspension unloads. This is also a large truck which I have no previous experience with. I assume there’s a lot more suspension travel at play than in a small SUV. Add to that mass (COG) that’s higher, a longer wheel base and that lean feels more intense than it is.

I think I will come to appreciate the movement in the suspension that allows some degree of lean. There’s more predictability in it than the 5100 that I could never tell what was too tight a turn for conditions/speed and liable to lead to a slide. Like a go kart you’re either at the edge of traction or over it and tires are breaking free. Unfortunately in a large truck there’s not much margin for error especially when trying to maintain lane position or avoid shoulder debris. The caveat is the ability to recover with virtually zero body roll.

The 5100 felt the same through so much that I feared my ability to predict extremes of handling. I only had a few close calls requiring a swerve over the 3.5 years of ownership so not a whole lot of practice with it either. The Fox allow me more experience via road feel. That initial sudden turn in and subsequent body roll quickly stabilizes. When I push the same turn harder or harder mid turn the lean is only a touch more but that to me is significant for connecting with the truck.

I had initially heard the Gen 1 Titan has a more truck like feel than Gen 2 or other full size pickups. I felt exactly that with the blue/yellow bilsteins it came with. I didn’t know if what I felt could be finessed. I changed to 5100 on the lowest perch and it felt much the same. Reading about digressive vs linear suspension was an eye opener for me. I’m thankful I made the jump to the Fox 2.0. I no longer feel like I have to suffer a truck ride to own one and no longer fear such a trade off in safety going from stiffer to more compliant suspension design. If anything it’s feeling more predicable every time I drive it than I’ve ever felt in 3.5 years of 5100s.

 

Yup Fox rides better than Bilstein and….

 

That’s cool. What was his use? On road? Off? Ride preference? How worn were the 2.0? Anything else changed at that time? Gen 1 or 2?

These would be good to know as a data point however subjective it may be. Horses for courses and all that as they say.