Bilsteins and top plate spacers.

No im not trying to jack my truck right up. The opposite actually. My truck has fairly high kilometers, its time to replace the factory SR5 shocks.

Im going with Bilstein 5100's, The truck had the Rear leaf spring TSB done a long time ago and the back end has sat higher ever since.

My question is I know the truck has a bit of lean, and I want to get rid of some of the suspension rake, would adding a 1/2" drivers side and 1/4" passenger side spacer be a good solution? Maybe OME 884's or Eibach's as well to get it pretty level ?

 

Set both shocks at 1.75 and add one 1/4" spacer on the driver side. You should be able to do that instead buying two spacers.

 

X2.

 

I was going to originally but I don't want to preload the springs, a firm ride is fine but a harsh ride is not welcome on the terrain around here, ruts, big pot holes, cross ditches, washboard, exposed rocks/washed out roads. The stock SR5 suspension soaks it up nicely, even with 185km on it but it eventually fades, and it "wallows" a bit to much. I know Bilsteins are a firmer riding shock so they may not be the answer, they are how ever the easiest for me to get from Essex Distributors (Bilstein Canada).

The more I read, the more indecisive I am and ive been reading suspension posts every other night for the past few months here.

Basically what I want:

Stock soft ride quality but without the fading
Near level with the TSB springs, and correct the lean.
Better Load Handling in the rear suspension (Bilsteins will help a lot)

OME 884 with Nitrocharger's might be a very good option, Fox 2.0 fronts from All-Pro set at 1.75" over stock, and 5100 rears might be the best option.

Ive been considoring Eibach's as well, but there isn't much info about them on here other than "they are good".

 

My 5100's set at 2.5" and added 1/4" spacer on drivers side, and now truck sits even on both sides. Before the drivers side was 1/2" lower. That annoyed me big time.

 

The ride won't change much at only 1.75" and the spacer goes on top of the strut assembly so it's not preloading the spring. This setup is nothing new, a lot of people on here run this and love it.

FYI, any lift you do is going to stiffen the ride, unless you get a drop bracket lift.

 

Not necessarily.

So far, It seems all of the "cheap" options will leave me with a firmer riding suspension. I suppose I should just spend the money and go with a quality set up that I can tune and adjust to my liking (Fox 2.0 stands out)

 

Coilovers give a stiff ride also... Anything that preloads the spring will stiffen up the ride, whether it's a top of the line King shock or cheap Bilstein.

 

Not necessarily. At least with a coil over I have some adjustability. I can set them to the exact height I want, and change the valving, fluid wt, and nitrogen psi. I could also go as far as getting a lighter spring rate coil.

From experience with my older Toyota's Bilsteins are a firm riding shock compared to an OEM style, is why im weary of them especially when preloading the springs. They are cheap so I will order the rears for now and decide how I like them on the Tacoma.

 

I agree with you on the adjustability of coilovers, but they will still be stiffer then stock.

Ask anyone on here with coilovers and they will tell you the ride is stiffer then stock, even with valving and lighter spring rates. Coilovers are made for offroad use, so they are oviously going to be more stiff. Plus, coilovers already come valved specificaly for our trucks to give the best ride, so why mess with it?

Trust me, what you are talking about is nothing that hasnt been done on here before...

Good luck on whatever you go with though

 

hi tacomanator im also running the king coilovers and was wondering if you also used a 1/4 spacer on your driver side to compensate the lean