REVIEW 3rd gen suspension on 2nd gen

Hey guys, I'm normally just a creeper on the forums. But I recently purchased and installed a 2017 TRD Off Road suspension (100 miles) on my 2015 DCLB TRD Sport with 36k miles. My stock suspension is far from worn out. But I read that some have put the 3rd gen suspension on their 2nd gen and that most have noticed a gain in ride height and have improved ride quality. However thats about as far as most peoples reviews go. It's a bit frustrating when you're looking at a thread and someone does a write up and doesn't give more of a review than "it lifted the front about an inch and it rides better". What does that even mean!?

EDIT: Long overdue install tips and other info update is in BOLD!!! Don't get caught up on the COLOR of the DOTS. What is important is that the DOTS and lower spring mount coil cut-off section are facing the REAR. You can see the coil cut-off circled in RED barely peaking out behind the sway bar link. While the springs with certain color dots are factory installed on a certain side, I have not see any evidence that the spring rate or length is different between the part numbers/dot colors. In fact, Toyota has 5 different part numbers for the spring specifically for the TRD Off Road (also happens to be for the TRD Pro as well) depending 2wd vs 4wd and even wheel base (127" and 140"). One would assume that the left front from a DCLB could have a slightly higher spring rate or slightly longer, but I can't find that info. I'd be curious if we have any Toyota Parts or Service employees that may be able to help to break this down a little.

Here is some pictures to help with the front shock orientation. Thanks to @splitbolt, @ChrisK7UND (modified your image a little bit) and others from the thread linked below, sorry for stealing your pictures...but thank you

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...n-trd-off-road-shock-strut-assemblies.618845/




For the rear the shocks are the same on both sides so there is nothing to worry about there. BUT the leaf springs...there are 14 part numbers!! The differences are left vs right, standard vs Off Road/TRD Pro vs "firm ride" (these are 3 leaf +1 helper), Access cab vs Double cab and even Auto vs Manual. I assume the majority will be the "firm ride" since I have never seen a TRD OR without a tow package. I won't get into detail too much on that. The best way to find out which side they need to go on is to look up the part number on Toyota Parts website that is on the leaf spring if it's still there.

As far as install tips.
- I'm going to assume you know how to jack the truck up, use jack stands and remove your wheels. lol Just make sure that both front wheels are off the ground when doing the front, same with the rear.
- Remove dirt and debris build up from all the areas you are going to apply penetrating oil. Soak your upper sway bar link nut, upper ball joint nut, lower shock bolt (both sides) and lower control arm alignment bolts (both sides and in between the frame and bushing, most important things to soak) with your favorite penetrating oil (BG En-Force has been the best I have used except for Toyota penetrating oil, that stuff is great...but I don't get it free anymore since I don't work at the dealer now lol) for as long as you can. If you can spray those points a couple times beforehand while you're still driving the truck, it really helps. Especially the Lower Control Arm (LCA from here on out) Alignment bolts!! Those are frozen on almost every truck!! Remember to mark the alignment bolt position on the forward and aft bolts before loosening so you have an approximate mark to get you close until you can get it aligned. ALWAYS loosen from the NUT while holding the bolt head. If the bolt head turns too much, the alignment cam will turn and bend or break off the alignment tabs welded to the frame.
- Remove the upper sway bar link nut on both sides. Once both are removed, you should be able to rotate the sway up and out of the way.
- Remove the brake line and ABS wire bolt from the knuckle, keep an eye on it during the project to make sure it has slack and doesn't get tugged on.
- Loosen the lower shock bolt, do not remove.
- Put a jack under the LCA ball joint area to support the weight of the LCA, brake and spindle. Just needs to be kissing the LCA so you don't bind the lower shock bolt making it difficult to remove.
- Remove the upper control arm ball joint nut and separate from the spindle. I recommend a bungee on the spindle to pull it aft and inboard so it doesn't flop out towards you and possibly bonk you in the face or pull the CV out of its joint. Just keep an eye on the brake line and ABS wire to make sure there isn't tension on them.
- Loosen the LCA alignment nuts (no need to remove the nut) and make sure they rotate freely a 1/4 or so turn in both directions via the the bolt head/adjuster side with a wrench. If they do not, then work on freeing those up AFTER you are done with installing the new shocks.
- Now with the LCA supported by the jack, remove the lower shock bolt. If you don't have a jack be ready for the spindle and hub assembly to drop a little bit since the shock is holding the LCA from dropping.
- Remove the 3 upper shock mount bolts and remove it from the truck. You may need to lower the jack to lower the LCA out of your way.
- Do those steps in reverse to install the new shock. Torque values are over-rated, but they are located below for people who have not had their wrist and elbow torque metering devices recently calibrated. lol
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-torque-spec-guide.318116/


-Freeing up the LCA alignment bolts. Remove the LCA ball joint nut and separate from the spindle. I find leaving the nut on at the end of the bolt to avoid marring the threads and hammering on the nut end while trying to turn it from the bolt head in between blows works pretty well. If you have an air hammer you can use a wide/blunt tip bit with a wrench on bolt head with a box end wrench on the bolt head and trying turning the bolt while air hammering away! There are many approaches to breaking a bolt loose, use what works best for you. Careful with heating it up though. Heat ONLY the bolt if you must, remember you sprayed flammable stuff on there and if you get it too hot you can melt the rubber bushing. So heat is kind of the last resort IMO. If they were frozen I would recommend removing the bolt 1 at a time AFTER removing the shock, use a wire brush or wheel to remove excessive corrosion and coat that sucker with anti-seize!! It'll help you down the road and your alignment guy will be thankful!

The rear shocks and are very straight forward. I don't think I need to elaborate, but I can if requested. Just make sure to clean the bolts/nuts off and sprat with penetrating lube beforehand.

END OF EDIT

Here is old and new.... New on left and old on the right. From previous research it seems like the spring with the RED and GREEN dots go on the drivers side (see EDIT above). Thats the way I did it and it seems to work fine for me. You can tell the thickness of the coil and the amount of winds that are in the coil.







Well, I took measurements and I'll give my best opinion on my suspension swap.

So for the measurements...

Before -
LF 34 1/2"
RF 35 1/4"
RR 37 1/4"
LR 36 3/4"





After -
LF 35 1/4"
RF 35 3/4"
RR 37 1/14"
LR 37"





As you can see it gave me about 1" lift in the front and took away a little bit of the lean. My suspension only has 36K on it so it's not like it's sagging a lot worn out. So some of you that have more miles may even see more of a lift over your current stock suspension. I tried to park it as close to the same spot as possible and measured from a rivet (aft of center) on each of the fender flares to the ground.

The ride is in-fact MUCH better! These are my impressions after about a week of driving. It feels more planted/settled in every situation from cruising down the interstate to going over rough train tracks, gravel roads and mild off roading. Before I felt the rear end seemed unsettled/nervous and wanted to bounce around a bit over really bumpy roads and bad train tracks. It seemed like it just was not dampened well, like a really really stiff set of cheap Honda coil overs almost(not quite that extreme of course). There is a certain on-ramp in my town that has really bad potholes and shady repairs as you turn from the street on to the on-ramp. With the Sport suspension as I noticed it wanted to bounce around a bit and it would loose traction on the inside tire pretty easily even in the dry. Now it soaks up those bumps really well, stays planted and never really looses traction under medium-heavy acceleration in that same situation. The front you can tell is more stiff, but not in a bad way. The stiffer springs don't make it ride more stiff in my opinion, which I was worried about. From the research I have done I have found that the 3rd gen front spring rate is 717lbs and the 2nd gen is 500lbs. Even though you can tell the spring rate is heavier but the damping is night and day difference! It leans less when entering corners due to the spring rate, feels more stable in bumpy corners because it is able to dampen better and gives you that little bit extra lift. It also dives less when heavy braking or when hitting a dip in the road because of the stiffer springs. It seems like it has more suspension travel as well or at least smoother travel of the suspension. If you have ever test drove the 2016+ TRD Off Road and compared to the 2016+ TRD Sport you will be able to tell the difference. I think it makes my 2015 ride almost identical to the 2016+ TRD Off Road for reference. Heck even my wife noticed an improvement in ride quality and thats odd for her to notice anything about a vehicle. Link to spring info below VVV

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...2016-tacoma-presented-by-toytec-lifts.395798/

Overall for $200 or less you can't beat it! Especially if you are replacing a 100k+ old suspension or if you were like me and just wanted a smoother ride. It only took about 2 1/2 hours to replace everything as my front struts were still assembled. Everything bolts right up, no modifications needed at all! I haven't aligned it yet, I have an appointment in a couple days.

I hope this helps someone else out. Let me know if you have any questions!!

 

700lbs!?

Holychit, people cry about eibach 620s

 

Thats kinda what I thought too. I don't know if thats what the spring rate actually is but thats what I read a few times while doing research. I have no idea where others got their information from. I highly doubt someone has removed springs off of stock trucks and tested the spring rate, not many people have that capability. But just looking at the coil one would assume that spring rate is higher due to the thickness and turns.

People may cringe at the heavy spring rate, but if your damping still sucks then the ride will only get worse. These struts are made to work with this spring rate (from Toyota/Bilstien) so it works out great! That is how it makes sense in my head anyways, I am by no means a suspension expert.....a novice at best.

I also wished I knew someone locally on Bilstien 5100's as well so I could compare the ride differences.

 

Nice write up, thanks!!!

 

Thanks op well done.

 

Great write up. I was thinking about doing a 3rd gen swap eventually as well. I like to keep things somewhat stock as far as ride goes.

I have to wonder about the 3rd gen sport edition suspension. If I recall, the sport was to have a stiffer suspension where the OR would have a softer suspension. I know this is true for 2nd gen anyway.

Thanks for posting this.

 

You are very welcome!!!

You are absolutly correct. The Sport has a stiffer suspension than the Off Road. Although I feel like the 3rd gen Sport suspension still rides better than the 2nd gen Sport. I prefer a softer ride in my truck because I want it to soak up bumps and rough terrain rather than be bouncy. Even with the Off Road suspension on it now it handles much better than it did before. If you did the 3rd gen Sport suspension I would imagine it may handle even better, but I’m unsure. I think they put a little more time and effort into the suspension on the 3rd gens. Also the 3rd gen Sport struts and shocks are blue. I can’t recall the manufacture but it is not Bilstien.

 

Tokicos, and the base/sr5 gets the black hitachis

 

Nice write up! I just did the same thing last weekend but haven't put enough miles on the truck to comment yet.

 

Cool! I'm curious what you think about them too! What was the mile you had on your pickup and is it an Off Road or Sport?

 

I have my alignment appt for Wednesday, haven't been driving the truck this week so hopefully I can add some input by next weekend.

Mine is a Sport with 196k on stock suspension.

 

I bought take off 2nd Gen shocks and coils from a TRD OR with less than 5k miles from a TW member. I got a really good deal on them but now I wish I would have waited for a 3rd Gen set to put on. Nice write up OP

 

You're welcome! I will say if you wait till the next best thing you will always be waiting. lol I've done that in the past, realized that I just put things off, research for months on end and just end up purchasing the original thing my gut told me to get months before. It's a disease I'm sure. haha

The good thing is you can pick up a used 3rd gen suspension for $200 or less and sell yours for at least $100 unless you already have 100K miles on them.

 

I haven't put on the new shocks yet, my truck has 107k on her now so I was gonna replace them this summer. I'm gonna keep my eyes open for a 3rd Gen set of take offs. If not I'll just put on the 2nd Gen take offs that are sitting in my closet.

 

Taco ,

Are you still please with your shock and strut swap. I am looking at a set that came off a 2018 and wanted to see how things were still going with yours. From what I see the 16,17,18 shocks and struts are the same and will interchange with a 2nd gen 2010-2015 like yours do you confirm? I appreciate the feedback!

 

All shocks, struts, leafs, and upper control arms from a 3rd gen will fit the 2nd gen. Only the front coils will provide lift (1"). Lower control arms will not fit.

 

Did the same swap on mine. Added a progressive aal and 1/4 top plate spacers as well. Killer little lift for the money.

 

I've put about 200 miles on the truck now and I'm satisfied with the ride quality. I can say that it's pretty much what I was expecting, which is it basically rides like stock again. I put about 400 lbs of soil in the bed the other day and it took it like a champ, didn't appear to even budge. I had 196k miles on stock suspension so anything would've been an upgrade. I did add a 3/4" spacer to the front coils with the intention of gaining 2.5" of total lift (1" from coils, 1.5" from spacer) so that I could retain stock UCA's. Since the 3/4" spacer was shorter than the OEM studs, I had to cut them down. This is just a temporary lift until next year and I do not go wheeling. Overall I got 2 1/4" up front and about 2" in the rear with a full tank.

Here is what I used/replaced:

2017 TRD OR front struts/coils
2017 UCA's
3/4" spacer
MOOG LCA's
New sway bar links & bushings
New OEM cam bolts
Pro Comp 36" AAL w/ overload left in
Rear 5100's installed a few months ago


Measurements from center of hub to fender:

LF
Before: 20"
After: 22 1/4"

RF
20 1/4"
22 1/2"

LR
21 3/4"
23 3/4"

RR
22"
24 1/4"



Before


After

 

My experience is pretty much the same. About 3/4" lift, less body roll in the corners and feels more stable at higher speeds.

 

Just installed some 2016 rear shocks onto my 15. Rides great!