5100, coils, and AAL thoughts

Here is my 2 cents about these parts and how install went. I just recently installed 5100 and all four corners, eibachs, wheel spacers, and AAL. I took it to my dad's warehouse because my uncle has basically put in a pro garage in the back. He has a lift and air compressor which made install go much smoother. Everything was pretty straight forwards thanks to some awesome write-ups by other members! Wheel spacers were real easy to intall. We did run into a few problems though. When we were compressing the first eibach of the 5100, the spring compressor got stuck between the coils and we couldn't get it back out . There are a few more coils in the eibach coils than there are in the oem coils so if you are sticking with stick coils you should be alright. We ended up taking it to the local tire guy and they got the compressor out for us and put the other shock together as well. After all the parts were on, took it back to the local shop and had them put my new tires on and do a front end alignment. I noticed 5 miles down the road that the front right shock was acting funny so i pulled over and looked at it. The shock that the shop put together was shooting through the housing! No bueno. Took it back and told them that they didn't assemble the shock correctly and luckily I had the piece that they "missed". Thankfully they fixed it with no hassle and now everything works the way it should.

Ride Quality:
IMO, the ride has improved greatly! It a bit of a rougher ride (probably due to the eibachs) but I like that so it doesn't matter to me. I don't know how it has affected my gas yet, but as soon as I know ill give ya'll an update.

Install:
Really easy WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS! A buddy or two also makes a huge difference. If I ever do 5100's with eibachs again, I will probably have a shop put them together.

Overall Thoughts:
I would do it again in a heart beat. It has completely changed the way my truck looks and I love the way it drives now.

Thanks for letting me rant lol I just wanted to share my thoughts with everyone and hopefully answer some questions for future reference

 

what kinda aal did you use?

 

it is from toytec and this is what i used

 

ok cool. i ordered the same lift as you except i got the icon 1.5 leaf pac, i see you got the toytec 2 inch. i was wondering how mine was gonna look. still havent put my lift on yet. what size tires are you running?

 

Same setup I run on my 1st gen. Good stuff!

 

Keep the overload in place with the Icon 3-leaf AAL and it'll look the same to the OP's. The Icon is a 1.5" AAL without the overload, keep the overload in place for an extra 1/2".

 

hmm i think i might take mine out as to level the truck a little more and make my 5100s a little more friendly. what will i lose if i take it out?

 

You'll lose the overload leaf and the extra 1/2" of lift. For normal day to day driving, the overload does nothing to affect the ride, it only helps out when you really load the truck up and the leaf pack squats enough so it's sitting on the overload leaf. Then the 1/2" thick overload becomes part of the active leaf pack so it won't squat any further. I kept mine on because when I do haul, it's usually pretty heavy however I've found that the 3-leaf AAL kit does a great job handling weight and I rarely hit the overload leaf.

 

im runnin 285/75/16 and they do scrub quite a bit but i was planning on cutting anyways its just a matter of finding time to do it

 

yeah man i love it!

 

i just ordered the billstien adjustable lift kit with 5100s. and a top plate since i got a double cab. the guy at toytec said i should get a full 3 inchs of lift. is that the kit you used

 

I have the exact same setup, bilstein 5100's set at 0.85, eibach 1.8" springs, and 0.25" top plate spacer w/ the toytec aal. But I also have LR UCA's. A lot of the "scrubbing" you mentioned would be solved if you added some aftermarket wheels...I went with the ATX chambers.

 

Your truck looks kickass in the signature pic.....can't wait to get my lift & tires!

 

thanks man! it makes a huge difference!

 

I mean the eibachs have a few more coils in them than the OEM's. I think it is a bit rougher because I felt like i was driving around in a pillow but when i put all the parts on it felt like i was actually driving a truck which IMO is a great ride

 

I'm attempting the exact same setup this weekend. Although I haven't bought the AAL until I know which one will level it properly.

You were able to set your 5100s at 0.85" with Eibachs and you didn't need to get new UCAs?

I'm contemplating setting them at 0 to play it safe or 0.85" which would be much nicer...

 

no i haven't gotten new uca's but i plan on doing so in the near future

 

I set mine at .85, and highly recommend it. I've been very happy with my setup