what are the best options and what is the exact part number of the option. I’ve had the hardest time trying to figure out what will fit and as far as I know suspension is still factory I’m 2nd or 3rd owner. I see a lot that says it will fit but then says does not fit pro 4x or w/o off-road package. I see a lot of ppl saying bilstein 5100. Can someone please help I don’t know much about any of this stuff.
JRye
I put some Bilstein 5100s on my ‘08 Pro4x and used the stock springs. Honestly, great ride and no issues. My bro is a master tech for Nissan, recommends the Bilsteins and Ranchos all day.
My 2011 Pro4X is doing great with 5100s on the front, on the middle perch, and a 2" lift spacer, along with a 2.5" rear lift. I swapped in the Bilsteins and used my OEM springs. Be sure to grab some aftermarket UCAs for clearance, extended sway bar links, and Energy Susoension extended bump stops.
Rancho isn't bad, but having had both Rancho (OEM on my 2011 Pro4X) and swapping to the Bilsteins, I can tell you the 5100s are markedly better than the Ranchos were even on their best day.
If you're planning to lift the truck at all the kit you pictured won't do what you want. I made the assumption you wanted to upgrade meaning lift a little, but maybe you just want to rebuild the stock suspension to get rid of play/squeaks/clunks and give back the original ride quality. So here's a couple of different ways you could go.
For just a stock rebuild of the front end, I'd stay away from kits from unknown parts makers. you're far better off getting Moog branded parts (check with RockAuto for probably the best pricing - we just ordered tie rods for my son's 2000 F150) as Moog is a quality brand with a longstanding reputation, and most of their parts are still made in US/Canada, so quality is higher than a lot of the stuff made out of chinesium and sold dirt cheap. You could do a full upper/lower/tie rods/sway bar links for about $450 or so, depending on shipping, using Moog branded products off RockAuto. The kit above appears not to include outer tie rods, as well, and I'd change the inners and outers together if you're rebuilding the whole front end.
Now, that said, you may not need to rebuild the whole front end. What's the condition driving this for you? Are you gettiing steering wander? Noises? Constant misalignment? You may only need tie rod ends ($80 and not hard to install in the driveway), ball joints, new shocks, or something simpler than pulling apart and rebuilding the whole front end.
If you want to lift the truck (whether that be a small lift of 1.5" to level it out, or more than just leveling), you're going to want to review the sticky on leveling a Gen1 Titan at the top of this suspension forum. For that, Rancho aftermarket quality notwithstanding, I'd still recommend the Bilstein 5100s as the basis for your lift. Beyond that, you'll need to consider what you want to do and that will get a list of requirements in terms of suspension parts and upgrades.
To give a little more info on my opinion of Rancho, let me say that I did not dislike my OEM Ranchos. They lasted about 100k for me before they started really going south, and I'm not gentle on my truck. I tow and offroad and use it like a truck (big loads of mulch in the bed, hauling furniture, doing truck stuff) and the OEM Ranchos performed well for me up to about 75k, then they got a little soft. But just after 100k, somewhere in the 110-115-ish range, the fronts went south in a big way, and I started getting handling/control issues on bumps, to the point it was gin-clear I needed to replace them. I decided to go to Bilsteins and do a lift, as I needed new tires, as well, at the time. Got it all done and wrapped up around 122k, and I've put another 4k on it since. I'm very pleased. I grew up on Rancho shocks. Used them on trucks and Jeeps with all my 4-wheeling buddies in high school and college. But back in 1990, Rancho got bought by Tenneco, and has steadily become a "house brand" type shock, rather than the high performance shock they used to be back in the 80s. My guess is there is little to no difference between the Rancho offerings and Skyjacker, Superlift, and whomever else is making branded shocks these days. They may even be produced on the same assembly lines, but I can't speak intelligently to who is produced where. Rancho is still good kit, but it's not Bilstein, and there's a reason Bilstein is known as the best standard style shocks out there.
For just a stock rebuild of the front end, I'd stay away from kits from unknown parts makers. you're far better off getting Moog branded parts (check with RockAuto for probably the best pricing - we just ordered tie rods for my son's 2000 F150) as Moog is a quality brand with a longstanding reputation, and most of their parts are still made in US/Canada, so quality is higher than a lot of the stuff made out of chinesium and sold dirt cheap. You could do a full upper/lower/tie rods/sway bar links for about $450 or so, depending on shipping, using Moog branded products off RockAuto. The kit above appears not to include outer tie rods, as well, and I'd change the inners and outers together if you're rebuilding the whole front end.
Now, that said, you may not need to rebuild the whole front end. What's the condition driving this for you? Are you gettiing steering wander? Noises? Constant misalignment? You may only need tie rod ends ($80 and not hard to install in the driveway), ball joints, new shocks, or something simpler than pulling apart and rebuilding the whole front end.
If you want to lift the truck (whether that be a small lift of 1.5" to level it out, or more than just leveling), you're going to want to review the sticky on leveling a Gen1 Titan at the top of this suspension forum. For that, Rancho aftermarket quality notwithstanding, I'd still recommend the Bilstein 5100s as the basis for your lift. Beyond that, you'll need to consider what you want to do and that will get a list of requirements in terms of suspension parts and upgrades.
To give a little more info on my opinion of Rancho, let me say that I did not dislike my OEM Ranchos. They lasted about 100k for me before they started really going south, and I'm not gentle on my truck. I tow and offroad and use it like a truck (big loads of mulch in the bed, hauling furniture, doing truck stuff) and the OEM Ranchos performed well for me up to about 75k, then they got a little soft. But just after 100k, somewhere in the 110-115-ish range, the fronts went south in a big way, and I started getting handling/control issues on bumps, to the point it was gin-clear I needed to replace them. I decided to go to Bilsteins and do a lift, as I needed new tires, as well, at the time. Got it all done and wrapped up around 122k, and I've put another 4k on it since. I'm very pleased. I grew up on Rancho shocks. Used them on trucks and Jeeps with all my 4-wheeling buddies in high school and college. But back in 1990, Rancho got bought by Tenneco, and has steadily become a "house brand" type shock, rather than the high performance shock they used to be back in the 80s. My guess is there is little to no difference between the Rancho offerings and Skyjacker, Superlift, and whomever else is making branded shocks these days. They may even be produced on the same assembly lines, but I can't speak intelligently to who is produced where. Rancho is still good kit, but it's not Bilstein, and there's a reason Bilstein is known as the best standard style shocks out there.
Suspension is wore out all around just broke 200k. Going over a bridge on the interstate it would feel like I was about to get bounced over the railing. about a month ago I went 90 miles over 200k and the front right just completely broke of going down my little county road I live on here in Alabama and my truck has been sitting ever since. A mechanic buddy of mine that has his own shop and worked as a mechanic for many years for the DOT crawled under and said “I’ve never seen one so that before” but after further inspection it wasn’t serious damage to anything but a tie rod and sway bar link and strut. I just figured I might as well rebuild most all of it since I have most of the money to now and it having 200k
Gotcha. Where in Alabama? I'm up outside Huntsville.
Sounds like you could use at least ball joints and tie rods, along with struts. Realistically, go with Moog products if you can. If your control arms are not rusted out, you could just do ball joints, provided you are prepared to get the old ones out (rent the tool from the local auto parts store and it will be easier, but not easy). The toss on new tie rods and sway bar links and shocks all around and you'd be all set. Total outlay around $700-ish, if you had to go new control arms and everything, and that's with Bilstein shocks. You could do cheaper on parts but the wear and lifespan won't be as good.
Sounds like you could use at least ball joints and tie rods, along with struts. Realistically, go with Moog products if you can. If your control arms are not rusted out, you could just do ball joints, provided you are prepared to get the old ones out (rent the tool from the local auto parts store and it will be easier, but not easy). The toss on new tie rods and sway bar links and shocks all around and you'd be all set. Total outlay around $700-ish, if you had to go new control arms and everything, and that's with Bilstein shocks. You could do cheaper on parts but the wear and lifespan won't be as good.
Nothing on the Titan front end is adjustable except cam bolts in the LCA. As long as you have those cam bolts, you should be good with the Moog parts. Even their basic RK line is OEM spec. The CK line exceeds OEM spec.
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