Moog 81104 Coil with Bilstein 5100..Scratch that..went with OME 2880 with 5100s

Yota - 2003 Tacoma PreRunner 3.4l, Double Cab. Approximately 150,000 miles
Yota's Career - Mall Crawler, Garage Princess, Pampered & Spoiled. Afraid of dirt roads.
Current Suspension
Front - OEM Coils, Bilstein 5100's
Rear - OEM leaf springs, Bilstein 5125's


Later this Month Project -
Replacing the OEM Springs with the Moog 81104 coils & keeping the Bilstein 5100's in place.
I'm just looking to restore the ride height & freshen up the front suspension.
Also replacing the OEM strut mount with the Low Range Off-Road Part# TAC-SP-SM-9604 x 2

I read TW member Tacomameat2019 post (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/eibach-cool-new-lean.655483/) about the "Taco Lean".
Thank you TW Member SkunkMan17 for the below thread. Good information.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/educate-me-on-the-taco-lean.286420/

So, when I do swap the oem coils with the Moog 81104 coils do I need to order some sort of spacer for the drivers side??

 

Not what you asked but quite a few of us used

$169 Moog 81082 Coil Spring Set

Moog 81082 linear rate springs for a stock height suspension refresh. see thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...uspension-upgrade.540654/page-2#post-18358926

 

Some people notice the taco lean, others don't.

If this is the first you're hearing of it, I wouldn't bother doing anything about it.

But there's nothing you'd need to do with your coils anyway. If it bugs you, you can just get a small spacer that goes in between the coilover and the frame shock mount

Something like this:

 

At the very beginning of building my truck I replaced my coils with Moog and installed them on Bilstein 5100s... the Moog coils should come side specific, meaning they will be labled which side they go on. One coil was visibly taller. (This is to account for the lean)

If your plan is to run those coils on the lowest of the 5100 adjustment settings, you should be alright, and they should ride pretty well. If you plan on preloading the coils be going up on the 5100 settings, my advise would be to get different coils for the lift you want and leave the 5100s on the lowest setting.

 

I'll check the new Moog coils (81104) when a get home from work to see if they are labeled or if there is a height difference. I haven't opened the box yet.
The Bilstein 5100's will be left at the lowest setting.
Appreciate the response.

 

No problem

 

You were correct. I checked the coils and the drivers side is slightly higher.
I love Tacoma World for all the information and good people it brings, but at times it's a double edge sword.
You feel good about a purchase, then you read where someone had a bad experience, etc., and you start doubting your decision.

 

Don't doubt your decision here bud. From what you describe, the Moogs will be fine.


Buuuut... you may end up going in another direction down the road. But that's just part of owning a truck that you're modifying (especially when you're on TW)

I started of where you're at. A stock 02 Prerunner... it all started when I added Moogs on 5100s.

 

Well, I may fast foward and order the OME 2880 Coils to pair with my 5100s (lowest setting).
I'm at Low Range hovering over the trigger!!

 

Lol... that may save you money in the long run brotha. OME are less likely to sag (although I haven't personally seen Moogs sag) and they will probably ride nicer.

Lowest setting is definately the way to go. Like I said earlier... 5100s are good shocks. But not with pre-load.

 

Just a follow up....
Sent the Moog 81104's back, and I'm currently waiting on LowRange to email me with a quote for the Toyota 2880 Front Old Man EMU Coil Springs / Bilstein 5100 combination.
I already have a set of Bilstein 5100s on the front, but they are right at 4 years old and are the older style (3 settings). I think the new ones have 4??? I may be wrong on this.
I contacted LowRange about the setup below, and asked if I could get the 5100s set at "0" or the lowest setting. So as of today, I'm waiting on the quote.

 

Got it ordered late Friday afternoon.

 

A shock has the same damping rate no matter where it is in it's travel (or "preload" setting). What you have rough ride with is 5100s with progressive coils. As the higher adjustment on the 5100s will preload the coils to their stiffer position. If you use constant rate coils, you can use the shock on any setting and it won't change the ride. Common misconception.

 

Got a question for you guys that have way more experience with suspension setups than I do. Finally installed the OME / Bilstein 5100's (0" setting) from Low Range. Talk about a live and learn experience. Since I replaced the lower ball joints, I already had the outer tie rod disconnected. I also disconnected the sway bar link which helped in getting the lower control arm down further.
I asked a friend of mine to come by for some back up. Even with me standing on the brake caliper, we couldn't get the lower mount to line up enough to insert the bolt.
Finally used the upside down bottle jack method which worked like a champ!! To help distribute the force being put on the top fender well, I placed a piece of scrap 4"x2" up top.

My concern is that the upper knuckle is extremely close to the coil, and even hits when you turn the hub left/right. I'm hoping this is because the outer tie rod isn't connected yet (waiting on new ones to arrive), and the truck hasn't been lowered off the jack stands.
Is this the case???
Answer: TW Member Uphillshunter informed me this was caused by the suspension being at full droop. He was correct. Once the truck was lowered, it was corrected.

 

Finally got the below task completed Friday, and the front end is now tight!!

• New OME 2880 Coils with new Bilstein 5100s (set to 0).
• New Inner Tie Rods (555 from Low Range)
• New Outer Tie Rods (555 from Low Range)
• New Rack Bellows (from Low Range)
• New metal CV style boot clamps from Amazon. Could not locate the original style clamps that secured the bellows to the rack. I usually find everything at ToyotaPartsdeal.com, but they showed it as discontinued. Local Toyota Dealer said they were not able to get them.
• New OEM Lower Ball Joints from Camelback (included bolts)
• New sway bar links (555 from Low Range)
• Went Saturday and got a front end alignment.

There was a LOT of frustration in doing the above but it was a valuable learning lesson, and I'm loving the ride!! One reason I was wanting to get new coil springs was due to the body roll when going around corners. That is no longer the case. I was afraid the ride may be harsh, but it's not much different than before.
I had a little play in the steering, and now that's gone. It's like a brand new ride again.
Appreciate all the suggestions and Tim the Toyota Man for his videos.

Look at all those new goodies!!!


New bellows from Low Range with metal bands installed


If you do the inner tie rods yourself, I highly recommend this tool. I got it from AutoZone. Best $20 I spent!!

 

Nice, looks good and good to hear it handles well

Any particular reason why you didn't replace the LCA bushings?

 

Thank you for the compliment!
To be honest with you, I was to the point I wanted the project done. Have you ever started something and then thought to yourself, "why the hell did I do this?" That was me several times when dealing with getting the lower shock mount to line up with the lower control arm, removing the inner tie rods, etc.
When I had the lower ball joint off, and sway bar links removed, I was able to move lower control arm up and down with no noticeable play or noise. I know it's probably overkill, but ever since I purchased the truck new, I spray the lower / upper control arm bushings, and rear suspension linkage liberally with silicone spray. I do this every time I change the oil/filter.

 

That's the one thing I forgot to include is that if I were to ever do this again, I would go straight to the bottle jack method. I unbolted the sway bar links which helped, but it wasn't enough. I stood on the brake caliper, and even rented the coil spring compressor. I couldn't even get the claws in between the coils to try and compress it.
I finally took the factory bottle jack, turned it upside down and placed a small piece of wood on the bottom of the bottle jack (pointing up toward fender well) so that pressure would be evenly distributed. I dang sure didn't want to mess up the fender. Amazingly, it only took a few turns on the bottle jack with my hand to get the coil/shock in place.

 

I'll also note that I feel bad for you guys that live in the salt belt. If some of the bolts on mine were this hard to release, I can't imagine you poor souls having to deal with rust!