Replacing factory susp. on '14 reg cab 4x4

I have a 2014 regular cab 4x4 (base trim level) and the factory suspension is pretty bad. I do lots of driving on shitty BLM dirt roads in the desert for work and I'd like my truck to handle these roads better. I don't need or want a lift.

General consensus is to put bilstein 5100's all around (for my case, I'd set them at 0 since I don't need/want a lift). If I do this, should I also get stiffer rear leaf springs? Or will the bilstein 5100's alone significantly improve the ride quality even with the stock rear leafs (my '14 has the 4-leaf setup)?

 

Had 5100 ride is okay now I run Fox way better best thing you can have them Rebuilt http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/de...-2-0-performance-series-coilovers-shocks.html

 

Cool, I'll look into these. Can they run at stock ride height? Can anyone else comment on these shocks?

Linked store is in las vegas so that's convenient...

 

Yes they can be set at 0 check on the Fox 2.0 performance for the rear at the same time http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/345926-fox-2-0-ifp-coilover-looking-feedback-2.html

 

I understand that you don't want a "lift."

However, you may be thinking about this in too limited a way.

As you describe your needs, the best "off road suspension" for your purposes may still sit at higher-than-stock ride height. That's because it'll have a bit more travel between the minimum load point and when the control arm contracts the bump stops. This'll give more room to soak up those bumps.

For your purposes, 5100s, by themselves, probably won't help that much. When you're running down a dirt road, slamming into bumps and potholes, you're still gonna max out those factory coils in front and slam into the bumpstop.

You need a slightly stiffer, slightly longer spring, and a shock that can handle it.

Since you're out there driving around "for work" I'm guessing there's a lot of tool weight in your bed also, so more load carrying capacity makes sense.

Also a tougher off road tire.

So, for your purposes as described I'd seriously think about:

Front:
OME 884 springs with nitrocharger shocks.

Rear:
OME Dakar lift pack, again with nitrocharger shocks.

Tires:
Good All terrain tire (pick one that doesn't throw gravel) in 265/75R16 size mounted on your stock rims.

This will allow you to travel significantly more comfortably and more quickly over those BLM roads. Especially if you throw a good 12v compressor (that runs off a dedicated cord with alligator clips - not one of those cheapies that tries to run off the cigarette lighter) so you can air your tires down to about 22 psi while you're off pavement.

You could also go an adjustable coilover in front, such as the FOX. That would cost you more money, but it would also allow you to fine-tune your ride height if you want. Keep in mind the FOX, King, Icon, Camburg, all by default actually run a stiffer spring than the OME 884. So if you buy them, given that you've got a 4cyl regular cab, you want to buy them from a place that can set you up with a 600lb spring rate coilover, rather than the "out of the box stock" 650lb spring rate that's way over the top stiff overkill for a regular cab.

 

thanks for the comprehensive response. I'll get to researchin'.

I suppose I should have clarified that I don't *need* more ground clearance instead of saying I don't need a lift. More suspension travel is definitely welcome though. I don't really carry much weight in the back. I mainly just drive around looking at rocks... drawing rocks... breaking rocks open with my hammer... checking wells, etc.

Oh and I put on new all terrain tires last week so I'll be stuck with my 245/75/16 choice for a while.

 

If you really just got them last week, it may not be too late to exchange them back for a larger size, especially if you're willing to pay a small restocking fee.

That might be worth your while over the life of the tire.

 

I'm also hesitant to lift the truck / change the driveline angle for fear of introducing vibrations (my truck has an ever so slight 25-30 mph driveline vibration straight from the factory, don't want to make it more severe). Even my old tacoma had really bad driveline vibrations and its not something I wanna mess with again.

 

The reg cabs have a single piece driveshaft. No carrier bearing

 

If you don't want to raise the back at all - perhaps something like this so that when it bottoms out, it's more graceful:

 

Neat, never seen something like that.

 

Fox doesn't seem to provide any specs about the spring on their coilover setup. Spring rate, length, nothin'. Are the springs fairly standard? i.e could you put the OME 884 spring on a Fox coilover? I'm fairly new to all this...

 

No, but you can have a dealer that knows what they're doing choose the right spring from a variety of choices.

Talk to a knowledgeable human at a place like down south motor sports, or Wheelers. Don't just try and order blind from the website of some company like auto-anything or four-wheel-parts. You won't end up paying any more money by doing this - but you will end up with the right parts.

 

d'd'd'd'd'did y'y'y'youu'u'u'u'u' ss's's'ss'ay'y'y'y something?

 

PS: I'm pretty sure somebody at some point has done that and put springs like that on a regular cab and claimed that they liked the result.

Personally, I bet you'll flatten your alignment tabs over speed bumps unless you go over them at don't-jostle-the-egg-carton speed.

 

Not as much worried about the CV angles as I am driveshaft angles. I fear changing my driveshaft angle even a tiny bit will amplify the already barely-present vibration at certain speeds. Also I just kinda like the proportionality of my truck and I think anything more than an inch or two lift would look silly to me given I am probably gonna stick with the stock 245 75 16 tire size for a while.

 

F16Taco - you should definitely consider 884 springs if you only want 2" of lift on the Regular Cab.

885 springs maxed out the lift on my Regular Cab and required that I put on UCAs to get my alignment back. Also see what I wrote to this other Regular Cab owner recently about getting a trouble free lift:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/349947-lift-kits.html#post9373245