Best On-Road Suspension Replacement/Upgrade

Hello! Great forum with lots of great discussion and information. A real treasure for us.

Here is another suspension question.....

I picked up a new 2018 Tacoma Off Road last week for my daily driver. For the previous about 25 years I drove highly modified sports cars that handled on the street very very well. I’m working to get comfortable with the “squishy” Tacoma suspension and not doing so well.

I would like to reduce lean in the corners, reduce the nose dive during hard breaking and generally improve the stiffness of the suspension. I would like much better on-road handling all around. No concerns over off road performance. I have a CJ3A for hard core wheeling.

No real budget, maybe $5k or less would be good. Would go more for the ultimate on-road suspension.

Thanks,
Michael

 

I had 5100’s on my Ram and they stiffened up the ride quite a bit. Rode nice too. Might be a possibility for you.

 

I changed out to OME suspension kit. Great!

 

I’ve got King coilovers with 700# springs and that definitely stiffened up any body roll or nose dive... You probably would just want to keep them closer to stock height and get some wheels and tires with a wider stance and contact patch to keep you from taking a tumble... I honestly love the switch to coilovers more for the on road characteristics than the off road characteristics. They’re actually super versatile. (Coming from a built WRX STI as my prevoius DD)

 

Well, I have an '18 TRD ORDCLB and an lowered, Koni'd, '88 911 in the garage, which is decidedly not soft, and I am surprised at just how much I love the way the stock Tacoma drives. Sure, it's softer and it leans a bit, but nothing excessive, and with the much higher center of gravity, you generally want some give in the suspension. It took me a little while to get used to the valving on the Bilsteins, which make them seem softer than they are, but they actually have pretty decent control. Toyota designed the suspension to be more effective off road where you really do need to soak up large and small bumps. That's why they call it the Off Road and why they also make the Sport. Did you drive one of those? Maybe that's the one you really want. Maybe not.

 

Icon. Sounds like stage 1 is all you will need.

My truck feels like a Eurpean touring sedan on road. Off road it is smooth as silk.

 

I've got 4600's and a Hellwig rear sway bar. And the FN FX pro wheels helped too. Handles great now and rides good.

 

Why'd you buy a Toyota 4x4?
Sounds like you want a sports car

 

Any well made digressive system will get you better cornering. Icons.

 

Thanks everyone, I will consider each of those. Appreciate it. Great suggestions.

I wish did drive a sport. When I test drove the off road and it was soft I asked the salesman if the sport handled different and he told me that all Tacoma’s other than the Pro have the exact same suspension. I realize thats not the case now. My bad.

I bought a Tacoma 4x4 because I don’t want a sports car. I bought for a couple of reasons; 1) I wanted a new truck to tow our vintage trailer to replace our 1960 F100 for more comfort and reliability, 2) I am struggling with cancer and now walk with a cane. It became pretty hard to get in and out of my lowered BRZ, and 3) to drive to our very-remote-off-the-grid cabin in the Sierras.

Thanks,
Michael

 

You beat me to it, a digressive Shock will be stiff and tight on the street. I have 6112/5160 combo and there is no body roll or dive.

You feel the road imperfections more at lower speeds but on/off road at higher speed it gets really plush, especially aired down off road.

 

If you are carrying a load be care full for over steer.

You will probably be ok regardless, but thinking through the steering response I would keep an eye on that. Assume you are not going to lower profile tires.

 

I have some Fox 2.5" adjustable coilovers (no reservoir) up front with some Fox 2.0" (with reservoir) shocks in the rear. I rode around with this setup and stock leaf springs for a few months. The Old Man Emu Dakar medium duty leaf springs I installed somewhat recently really firmed up the overall ride of the vehicle. Yes, it's technically "lifted" but it's only about 1" higher up front and 2" higher in the rear once things settle. My 70+ mile a weekday commute is much more enjoyable. It's mostly highway but I like to drive "spirited" but not reckless. It corners really well for a small truck. I'm really happy for about $2,000 in suspension components. As someone else mentioned, wheels and tires make a big difference in how the vehicle rides as well. Before I modified my suspension I upgraded the 16x7" alloys and Firestone 245/75/16 tires that came on my truck and had 17x7" 4Runner wheels and Falken A/T3W 265/70/17 tires installed. That may have been almost as drastic as changing the rest of the suspension.

 

^^^ THIS ^^^

Have an 18 Sport with Bilstein 6112/5160 combo, also added Hellwig front & rear sway bars. A much more satisfying driving experience indeed. My .02

 

Look into the teraflex falcon setup. Will ride better than the bilsteins without as much as a lift. And be far better on road. Fox, bilsteins will ride stiffer unless they're an adjustable setup. Think fox offers that, but gonna pay for it.

 

I see a lot of great upgrade suggestions.
I’ll depart a little differently - there are plenty of SR5 and Sport folks who wish they had the Offroad suspension. Simply offer to trade (Front Struts, Swaybar, Rear Shocks, Leafs) for whichever you prefer.
I personally like the Sport, with the SR5 swaybar (thicker).

 

I have a TRD Sport. I drove it 50k miles and all of the shocks were blown. I like the way it initially rode.

I went for digressive valving, which meant going to 6112/5160s. I love the way they ride. They don't nose dive during braking and they keep firm in the corners.

 

You can find plenty of take off with low miles for a good price in the marketplace. Go test drive a sport and see if you like the way it rides, if you do you can save some money. You might even find a trade like @NoOne suggested

 

I have a '18 TRDOR and a '11 128i with Eibach springs and Koni yellows (my track car). The 1er was my DD for 5 years until I bought the truck, and it was definitely an adjustment. At first I wasn't too thrilled with the way the truck handled but reminded myself it's a truck. After a month or so it started to grow on me. Now, after 8 months of ownership, I can honestly say I love the stock suspension on my Taco. It's very different than the BMW but I find it to be well controlled and comfortable. I would suggest giving it some time to see if it will grow on you before dropping $5k on suspension mods. I think you'll find that no matter what you do, it's going to handle like a truck.

 

I believe the Sport has a thicker sway bar up front; you could possible swap yours in addition to the other suggestions noted.