Bilstein 5100 Questions

Hey guys, I've been steadily reading up on these shocks on here for a few days now, and haven't really been able to find what I'm looking for.

I'll be getting home in probably a week or 2, and plan on buying a full set (front/back) of Bilstein 5100's from DSMS, but prior to installing them I'm going to get the Rear Leafspring TSB done.

I have a 2011 DB Short bed TRD TX|pro, my question is, I want to level out the truck, or maybe even have just a slight higher front end, i don't like having the back end higher than the front, If i put set the Billies in front for 1.75 or even 2.5, how much will that actually affect my ride? I don't know very much about how it all works, I just want to make sure that if i do set them for that, I'm not going to having to go around pot holes for fear of the jarring bumps and all that, and having to go over speed bumps at the speed of snail.

I've been considering getting an OME lift, but I don't really want to put a huge lift on the truck just yet, and don't want to have to worry about UCA rubbing or anything like that.

Also, i've seen a few people mention something like OME 885's over the Bilstein 5100's, but same thing, no real mention of ride, just how much lift they got. I want to have a good ride, while leveling out the truck and maybe getting 2 inches and under of lift. Any recommendations?

Thanks guys! And trust me, I don't do anything much these days except look through TW with 4 pages open at a time lol.

Ciao~
~Jeff

 

Well first off the OME lift and billys give roughly the same ride height if you set them at 2.5". The ride on mine(OME) is pretty stiff but I have no jarring or anything like that. It just makes it so my truck drives like a sports car, which is awesome.
I know that I had to get a rear aal to bring up the rear so it wouldn't look funny, but I don't know how much the tbs helps that. I would recommend the billys at 1.75 in yours case. Someone else please chime in because I don't know what the billys ride like.

 

Maxing the 5100's out at 2.5 is fine for a street truck, you will only really run into problems if you offroad with them like that. the rears are for 0-2" lift, you will be fine with just the TSB. thats what i have and my rear fender to ground afterwards measured 37". the front driver side was 34" and front passenger was 34.5" i had to get a ToyTec spacer to level the front out. so front 5100's @ 2.5 for me made me completely level. IMHO the ride is nicer that stock, you don't need the springs.

 

So putting them at 2.5 will be fine...I really don't off road at all, i just wanted to give the truck just a little bit of lift to start for now, whilst leveling it out. I just don't want to regret it later when i'm having back spasms from driving down my street (lots of pot holes and uneven road).


PS Go MM's!

 

whatever you decide on, install the front lift first, then have the dealer do the rear tsb so you get the free alignment..here's mine 5100's at 0 with eibach coils, and rear tsb.

before



after

 

before



after

 

Umm.. I don't see much of a difference other than the 2nd shot is brighter and you can see the coil/shock.
Your getting 3 inches?

 

not 3 inches, i got just over an inch in the front and 1.5 inches in the rear... i know the pics suck, but whatever

 

So you have Eibach's on over the 5100's? I'm considering that if DSMS has eibach's in stock, otherwise I'm considering 884's or 885's. Wondering if i can set the 5100's at .85 and still have plenty of travel and no compressing the springs a little to much.

I've also read a little that some dealer's won't do the TSB if you've changed your suspension, which I can understand their reason, technically your "harsh ride" could be because of the suspension change.

My plan was to go get the TSB and then suspension...

 

Here you go...

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/159342-2010-toyota-tacoma-tsb-5100s.html

 

get your measuring tape out and either measure from the ground to the bottom of fender on front and back or measure from top of tire to bottom of fender for rough estimate on how much high the back is to the front. then if you raise 1.75 and your rear is roughly 1.75 higher than front then you will hopefully be level. I think mine was about 1.25 higher in the back and I raised to 1.75 in front now I sit 0.5 lower in back. cant really tell. But if you get tsb done you will be even higher in back (+1.5?) and may need to do 2.5. you may even still end up with a little rake.

I asked similar question before -

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/98995-bilstein-5100-1-75-no-aal-any-pics.html

 

Hey, OP, did the dealer charge you to put on the shocks? If so how much? Thanks.

 

i believe the eibachs are only available from Toytec Lifts, i paid around 150 for my pair.. if you have the cash, i recommend them. and my dealership didnt hassle me about having a lift on the front of my truck. good luck man, and post pics when its done..

 

WaGood24- I'm not home yet, *fingers crossed* rescheduled to fly off tomorrow. From what I've read up on here, the dealer severely overcharges to put shocks on and such. I'm going to shop around a different off roading places in San Diego and see who's the cheapest for install and alignment. I'll let you know though.

Zano- Well, coming off a 5 month deployment, I've managed to put aside about 1500$ for the truck alone. I've already partially spent it (in my mind) on a new color matched grill and getting the read bumper painted, and a few little other things here and there, so i'm trying to keep the end result of suspension change to around a grand. I might just go for the Billie 5100's all the way around and buy the Eibach coils off Toytech, and then have the billies set at .85 and see how i like.

Thanks for all the response guys, I still have another good 3 hours to do nothing but sit here and research this stuff. So please know that i'm using my search function as much as possible. I just can't seem to find the exact info. Hopefully once i get home DSMS can help me out a bit in ordering the right lift for me

 

Are you running UCA's?