Front suspension upgrade?

I am along time reader but first time poster here. As you can see from the pic I have a brush guard and the TRD pro skid plate on my 20 off-road. Since adding them it feels like my front end is dipping fairly hard when going over speed bumps. Do you guys think the added weight will mess anything up? If it's really needed is there a fairly inexpensive option to beef up the front suspension without it feeling like I'm riding on a lowrider? Thanks in advance

 

Bilstein 5100s are a relatively cheap option. Probably the cheapest, but you may need beefier springs than stock, also. What does that weigh?

 

I will try to find out.

 

Around 75-80 lbs. For the brush guard. Not sure about the TRD pro skid

 

They're 27.2 lbs. according to this random TW search result.

I think beefier front springs are your only real option here. I ended up going with 700lb springs to help compensate for all the steel skids and disappearing sway bar.

 

That's less than an additional teenager on your truck. Don't go with a heavier spring rate. If you feel the need to upgrade your suspension, by all means go ahead, but all heavier spring rates will do is make your ride significantly harsher.

You don't upgrade your springs when your wife gets in, do you?

 

Are not the stock springs already 700lb?

 

With that amount of weight, the main thing you need (in my opinion) is a digressive valved shock to reduce the nose-dive.

Get some billstein 5100’s and don’t look back. They take care of the nose dive. Ask them to be set for factory height, or whatever lift you want.

 

I think they're 600lbs. but I'm not 100% sure. Maybe it's the 2nd gens that were 600? The suspension I bought advertised 700lb springs as an upgrade from stock rate, but now that I think about it, they're compatible with 2nd gens so maybe that's what it was advertised towards?

I didn't upgrade my suspension to cure nose dive, I just noticed it was much better afterwords.

 

I believe the 3G has heavier front springs. However, the nose dive is a problem even with factory weight. I found 5100s got rid of it for me.

 

You either get the ride of a Conestoga Wagon with the sport, or the Edmund Fitzgerald with the Off Road suspensions. I couldn't wait to replace mine.

 

So true.

Best metaphors I’ve read in ages.

 

Yeah I put like 500 miles on my stock suspension on my OR and I had to replace it. It nosedived like a submarine crashdive. Bilstein 5100 set on 4 took care of the problem!

 

AFAIK, the stock 3rd gen coils are already ~700lbs.

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

 

That settles it then, because it is a Toytec lift that I have. On their website it advertises the springs as an upgraded 700 lb spring for bumpers and winches and such, so it must be there for the 2nd Gen guys.

 

More food for thought here.

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/coilover-spring-rates-for-toyota-tacoma-4runner/

 

Thanks for sharing. This is a good read and some valuable information.