Toyota TRD OEM lift kit

stock 2021 Tacoma TRD off road manual OEM rear suspension components (shim is not referenced)

 

I can only tell u that I installed a set of 1 inch lift blocks on my 2019 trd offroad
myself and there are factory shims in there

 

Is it just the OR trim that comes with shims stock and no other trim levels? My stock height SR does not have them.

Ccarlson, when you say they won't address vibes in the MT, are you referencing the TSB about the rear leaf springs and steering damper? Also, a lot of people have these vibes with stock height trucks so it's not just a lift thing. Your test notes area great. You noted that you tested it coasting. Did you also test it in neutral both coasting and braking to a stop and what was the result?

I'm helping a friend sort through this on his truck and his vibrates when coasting to a stop in neutral or in gear which would lead me to believe it's not brake related but what is weird is that braking with just the ebrake makes it worse. Perhaps this doesn't prove that it's a rear brake issue, just that rear-only braking exaggerates it, perhaps by increasing the angle at the pinion since it might rotate down more in this situation and no work is being done by the front brakes.

We haven't tried any fixes yet but might try the carrier bearing drop since it's cheap and easy to test then return back to stock. We'll also try adding more weight in the bed and verifying the wheel torque. What else is an easy test? Shims aren't bad but a bit of commitment and I seem to recall reading that it's not advised to re-use u-bolts but I can't remember why that was.

 

Watched this last night about the 1 piece drive shafts. Their comments at the beginning are interesting.

https://youtu.be/fsNB0HQPxvw

 

Which Toyota parts online has the best price with shipping?

 

Just bought a 2022 off-road and am waiting on the lift to arrive at the dealership before install. I’m doing wheels and tires at the same time, and the dealer is insisting on 285/70 or 285/75s fitting without rubbing. Anyone have the same tire size? If so, so you experience any rubbing or anything?

 

It will depend on what wheels u install whether it rubs or not

 

Gonna be those TRD wheels

 

Should be good then.

 

I just did the same on my 200 mile TRD OR DCSB MT, went 285/70 Wildpeak 17’s on SEMA 17’s yesterday. Took it out last night and experienced no rubbing, up steep driveways and some rough roads, but the dealership service mgr said I’ll get just a bit on full lock back up. So far super happy. The dealership had about a dozen of the kits in stock, service manager, parts manager, and a few of the techs drive Tacomas, some w bigger and more aggressive tires than mine, so at the very least we all speak the same language . I’ll post more if I encounter issues but for now just gonna drive it, it looks, and drives out great!

 

Yes, that is correct - I was referring to the TSB for the leaf springs and steering dampener. From what I read, the TSB applies only to trucks with automatic transmissions, and I think I also read that it applies only to the 2016 O/R up to a certain VIN. It continues to apply to trucks through 2021 that did not have the O/R package.

In my "testing" - which is probably giving it more credence than it deserves - both braking modes yielded consistent results. If the e-brake made it worse, I did not notice.

I tested while coasting in gear 2WD, in gear 4WH, and in neutral. I did not test in 4WL - taking the truck up to 30 in 4WL didn't seem necessary given the other results.

Braking tests were done to both a full stop and down to about 10 mph depending on where I was in my testing path.

During the weight tests, I noticed less vibration while coasting than when braking. The vibrations continue down to a stop, but were most notable at about 14 mph.

When I apply just my e-brake, I seems like I get less front spring compression (nose diving) from forward momentum than I do with full brakes. It seems like that would result in a smaller increase in joint angle than a stop with full brakes, but I am by no means an expert on weight distribution during braking.

I tried the carrier bearing drop - no dice. The weight test (200 lbs & 350 lbs) definitely gave me the data I needed to proceed with shim testing. If you don't have one, I would suggest getting a decent digital angle cube and using it in a consistent manner (same surface, same location each measurement). My eyeballs are pretty good at estimation, but not when we're talking about 100ths of a degree.

Edit: I see no reason at all as to why you would be unable to reuse the u-bolts. Just make sure you have a torque wrench and torque the nuts to the proper value.

I plan to try installing 1-degree shims this weekend to see what that does. I was planning to do that this week, but I have been down with a cold.

There is another thread here on TW where some folks did a considerable amount of testing and shim work. I found it last night. I opted to post in this thread a few days ago because my issue seemed likely to be directly related to the TRD Lift kit; however, I am uncertain if that is the case any longer.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/drive-shaft-vibrations-solved-step-by-step.244535

Good luck; please post your results / progress!

 

Which angle cube are you using? I’m going to follow your process and shim the correct size as well. Thanks!

 

I am using one of these:

AccuRemote Digital Electronic Magnetic Angle Gage Level/Protractor/Bevel Gauge

$37 AccuRemote Digital Electronic Magnetic Angle Gage Level/Protractor/Bevel Gauge

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006JR8XBG?_encoding=UTF8

It seems to be well made, accurate, and - most importantly - it gives repeatable results. I used it on some known angles and it was spot-on. For example, my shims are Belltechs at 1, 2, and 3 degrees, and it measures them all perfectly. Resolution is .05. I don’t know where to get one with resolution down to 0.01, but I don’t think that matters.


I’ve done a great deal of reading on this issue this week, and it seems like it is entirely possible to eliminate vibrations by dialing in the angles.

Good luck!

I’ll update here with the results of my shim work.

 

perfect. Thanks.

 

VIBRATIONS SOLVED!

Recap:

2021 Tacoma DCSB OR MT w/ TRD Lift kit installed prior to delivery. It may also be worth noting that my truck has an OEM bed mat, OEM bed lighting, and an OEM electric tailgate lock - all things that add a bit of weight aft of the cab.

From day 1, the truck had significant vibrations from 30 to 10 while decelerating. Maximum vibration was at approximately 14 mph. I took it to Toyota multiple times and was assured there was nothing wrong with the truck because this is how lifted trucks ride.

The engineer and mechanic in me was extremely displeased by Toyota's response. When there is that much vibration, something is wrong. Period.

I tried lowering the carrier bearing since that seems to be a common fix for drive line vibes and is extremely easy to do. No luck.

I decided to put weight in the bed. I tested with 200 and 350 pound test weights. Vibrations were nearly eliminated with the weight, which gave me hope that a pinion angle correction may just do the trick.

I measured angles using Toyota service literature for similar trucks since I was unable to find the published for trucks like mine. The measurements were as follows:

Propeller shaft angle (P/A) = 8.15 degrees
Pinion flange angle (F/A) = 4.35 degrees
Joint angle (J/A) = 3.80 degrees (calculated as P/A - F/A = J/A)

Toyota literature indicates J/A ranges of either 1.38 - 3.38 or 1.41 - 3.41 are acceptable for standard (unlifted, non-OR package) trucks, depending upon the type of suspension installed.

Based on the published J/A numbers, I decided I would try to shim my rear axles, starting with a 1-degree shim since that would (theoretically) lower my J/A to something in one of the published ranges.

Today, I installed a set of Belltech p/n 4973 1-degree shims on top of the spacer block installed with the TRD Lift. The 1-degree shims are about 1/8" thick where the leaf spring center pin passes through them, and there appears to be plenty of center pin height remaining to seat in the riser block pocket when the shim is in place. This was good because it helped keep the fix simple.

After shimming, the angle measurements were as follows:

Propeller shaft angle (P/A) = 8.10 degrees
Pinion flange angle (F/A) = 4.75 degrees
Joint angle (J/A) = 3.35 degrees (calculated as P/A - F/A = J/A)

I took the truck for several test drives reaching speeds up to 85 mph. I felt no vibrations at any speed while accelerating, steadily cruising (25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85), coasting (all the way down from 85), or braking (all the way down from 85).

The shims resulted in a very slight increase in rear lift (~1/8 inch, I guess?) but did not interfere with operation of the TSS system or have a noticeable impact on headlamp projection.

I double checked u-bolt torque after the test ride - all good.

A side observation: Why is it that auto mechanics seem to like to ignore torque specifications?? When I broke the lugs loose from the rear wheels (though I ended up not needing to remove the wheels to install the shims as originally thought), I found them torqued between 98 - 105 ft/lbs. They should be torqued to 83 ft/lbs. When I broke the nuts loose on the u-bolts, 6 of 8 were at 71 - 77 ft/lbs; the remaining two were at ~43 ft/lbs. The u-bolts nuts should be torqued to 52 ft/lbs. I use a calibrated torque wrench, and I would highly recommend anyone who does work on their vehicles do the same. Fasteners have torque specs for a reason.

I hope the above helps others who end up chasing vibrations while Toyota remains asleep at the wheel.

 

Did u find factory shims in there also during install? My 2019 had that same shake/vibration at stock height and it still remained after installing 1" lift blocks.

 

No, there were no factory shims installed.

Does it still shake? If yes, have you taken any of the angle measurements?

 

Yes. It shakes when i hit the brakes with moderate or hard pressure. The only angle finder i currently have is an analog version so i havent gotten a true reading.

 

My angle cube comes in tomorrow and I'll take my measurements. Where are the two locations I take them from so I can post up my numbers and try to figure this out? Thanks!

EDIT: What's different about the rhymical vibes I get vs other I read about is mine happen between speeds of 30-50 mph. Over or under those speeds I cant feel anything. I'm sure it still comes down to these angles... interested to see what mine are tomorrow.

 

Mine used to do this under braking and it was the rear drums being out of round. Once I addressed those drum shoes it has braked perfect ever since with no vibes. Worth a thought.