REVIEW 3rd gen suspension on 2nd gen

I’m also curious to hear about lifting the rear as well. I’m going to be swapping out my fronts (73k) for some low mileage 3rd gen springs/shocks.

 

I swapped out the fronts and gained about 2 inches due to mine being a 4cyl and prerunner. I still have the leafs in the garage and was wondering if they would give any lift to the rear also.

 

Add a leaf or progressive aal would fit the bill. @HeadStrong Off-Road can help you with that.

 

Dang!! That's good to know!!!

So it was about 2" lift with NO spacers correct?

 

Yes sir. Just the coilovers.

 

here's my 05 sport with 18 dclb levels out the front perfectly!

 

Thank you so much for your recommendation @bigfoote13

 

Great detailed review. Thanks and I will keep this information handy.

 

I have a Gen 3 2017 OR suspension removed at 2300 miles if anyone wants to offer me garage sale or better price.
PM me. I’m in eastern mass.

 

^ Would've been better if you were in Los Angeles.

 

I have a 06 4x4 trd off road. I have a couple questions.

First is a major one:

1. Post #41 has a guy who installed gen 3 parts on a trd off road and has no change in front end height!? Even with adding 1/4” spacers... does this 1” lift only work on the trd sport and below models?

2. I ordered a 1/2” spacer for the driver side and a 1/4” spacer for the passenger(to fix taco lean). However my current suspension sits equal in the front(175k miles). Any thoughts on this? Shall I just go for the 1/4” thicker spacer on the driver side and see how it goes? Or run both at 1/4”? My main question is here, does the 3rd gen springs fix the lean issue therefore not requiring the shim? It seems like it does!?

3. Being that I’ll be getting 1-1/2 to 2” of lift in the front, should I order the diff drop kit just to play it safe?

4. What else should I order and have done at the same time? Are Sway bar end links are going bad? Are away bar bushings going bad? I want to hit this all at once.

5. My truck is a relatively clean california vehicle. Will I need new cam bolts for the lower control arms(I’m buying new factory LCA’s).

Thanks!!!

 

Post #41 are my post lift measurements. Meaning I got about 1.25” lift on both sides and it hasn’t settled much since install. They aren’t pre and post lift measurements

The 3rd gen shocks are also side specific so you shouldn’t need to have different size spacers to fix any lean. 1/2” spacers also require shock disassembly and longer top studs, so if yours are currently fully assembled it’s something to consider.

 

I have an 06 trd offroad with 175k. Per the advice of MANY here, I bought fresh used 2018 trdor suspension for very cheap, $200 including upper control arms. Stock, My front was 1.5" lower than the back. After the new suspension and my added 1/4" spacers, the truck was 1/4" lower in the front(+1-1/4"). However, now after a couple of days the front actually looks higher... Lets just call it level. The truck just had the TSB leaf springs at the dealer - so we are dealing with a level playing field here.

The truck on the stock trd suspension felt tired at 175k however wasnt terrible(it always felt hard). It hit the bump stops on the freeway with a timbersled in the back(snowmobile). I ended up replacing upper and lower controls arms along with this suspension freshen up, both factory new toyota parts, just to make sure fresh bushings were used.

Well now the suspension is fucked. I mean, the front end is oversprung and the rear and is "soft". I am not one to note huge differences in suspension on both mountain bikes and dirt bikes, which is why im posting. The 2016+ suspension is fucked on these earlier 2nd gens. If you feel different, let me know, however I already in the dry would pay anything not to drive this truck in some gnarly snow, which I do every year.... It just doesnt feel right(front end oversprung). And it feels exactly as the numbers show. Its more stiff in the front. It feels like the front is too stiff and the REALLY exacerbates the rear end softness. By the way the dealer just 3k ago replaced the leaf springs under the TSB....

Anyway, Id love to hear more thoughts. Because all Ive seen on this forum are great reviews, however, I am feeling the exact opposite. I feel that even If I remove the 1/4" spacers, its not going to be enough... Which is kind of what im disappointed about...

 

I have a 2012 DCSB with a 2016 TRD off road suspension swap. Like new Shocks/coils/leafs to that I added a progressive AAL in the rear and in the front a 1/4" top plate spacer. I don't have any of your symptoms, maybe it's the AAL I used to stiffen the rear. Not sure.

 

Thanks for the response! I feel that it needs that stiffening in the back end. I’m worried that is going to get less traction on the street and snow.

Anyway, it’s ok to run an AAL with the stock rear struts? How much did that raise the rear end? I’m seeing 1.5” is basically the minimum, which would put the front end back down 1.75”.... which would look like shit.

 

I have the blue Hitachi 3rd gen TRD Sport shocks in all four corners and TSB recall leafs on the truck since January 2017. Still on original UCAs and rest of the bits. These are supposed to be stiffer than the TRD Off Road Bilsteins too. I replaced my original TRD Sport Bilsteins at about 120k and those were DONE. I got 1" lift and rides great, not harsh, basically stock feel. I have 37k on this now and no issues except the ECGS bearing was installed shortly after.

I did not reuse my old coils with new shocks. Just swapped the new take off coils and shocks still assembled as they came of the 3rd gen. Did you buy just shocks and the spacer or did you get the whole 3rd gen setup and added the spacer to that?

 

No, I installed the fully assembled coils from the 3rd gen.

 

Has anyone installed the 3rd Gen TRD Sport fronts (Hitashi blue shocks) on their 2nd Gen?

I might pull the trigger on a set but want to make sure I will get the same 1 inch of lift from the blue Sport shocks like people get from the Offroad Bilstein yellows.

 

When i first installed mine it felt way to stiff and the rebound (going slow) over speed bumps was rough. I just chalked it up to the coilovers being designed for the weight of the V6 and the transfer case (which i have neither). About about 3 months of daily driving it had softened considerably and no longer rebounds too hard. I believe the guy that sold them to me said they only had about 10k miles on them so they were essentially new. Maybe give it some time