3rd Gen TRD Sport and Off-road Spring Differences?

Hey all, have a quick question for you guys.

Here’s some background:
I recently just put on a set of OME Nitrocharger Soft Valved struts and a pair of the nitrocharger rear shocks. The ride is still feeling a little too stiff for my liking, and I’m assuming it’s due to the fact that I have the factory 700-720ish pound springs on there.

Anyway, I’m obviously trying to find a set of coil springs and maybe leaf springs which will give me the softer and more comfortable ride I am looking for compared to the stock Trd sport ride, but not so soft to the point where there is horrendous body roll (I understand there will be some). I wasn’t planning on lifting, but haven’t completely ruled it out. Just didn’t want to lift if I didn’t have a reason to, plus I didn’t want to change suspension geometry and have it be unreliable, as the truck is my daily driver after all. I am also at stock weight, I have no winch and no metal front bumper.

Does anyone have any idea if the coil springs between the TRD Sport and the TRD Off-road are any different? I’m assuming the off road one has a lower spring rate to make the suspension more plush. If this is the case, I was thinking about finding a pair of springs, maybe used, or maybe I’ll just buy a pair new from my Toyota dealer. Would this be a decent solution?

Also are the leaf springs any different between the sport and off-road? I’m not sure since I feel like they need to be stiff enough to carry a decent amount of weight in the bed, and swapping them for softer ones would probably compromise my payload and towing capacity as well. Any thoughts about this as well?

I’m more concerned about the coil springs in the front for the time being.

thanks in advance guys,
Brooks

 

Coils and springs between the two are identical. Stock coils from my goofy fuzzy memory are only 600-ish pounds. When you say "factory springs," did you reuse the original springs, or dude you buy equivalent OME springs?

There are two differences between Sport and OR's stock suspension:

The Sport uses stiffer Hitachi shocks whereas the OR uses "softer" low end bilsteins.

The OR has a thinner sway bar than the Sport.





If you want more pliant handling, trade the shocks for 5100s. (Admittedly I have no experience with OME, but a number of reviews on here say that they're almost as stiff as the Hitachis.)

 

Thanks for the info. I’ve heard mixed things about the spring-rate, some have said 600 something and there is a post on TW from toytec themselves saying they tested it and it came back at 720ish, which even sounds a bit high to me for a stock truck with stock weight. When I say I used factory springs, I mean I actually re used the factory springs, but I would love to find some OME equivalent ones with a lower spring rate, that would bring my front end no higher than an inch from what it is now. I’m just confused by which height and rate I would need to get to achieve this. I hear 5100s are great handling, but I heard they’re pretty stiff due to their digressive valving. That’s why I didn’t really consider them in the first place, because I’ve heard that they are valved stiffer since most people buy them to lift their trucks.

 

Yeah, that's where it gets screwy. Bilsteins have digressive valving (good for on-road, not as good off) but that doesn't tell the whole story. I have not seen a side by side comparison showing the dampening curves of each. And that's what would tell you which shock feels "stiffer." If only.



I dunno. I'm in the same boat but for different reasons. I want a towing-friendly suspension so I settled on the 6112/5160 combo. They're supposed to be quite a bit stiffer than the 5100s. And it's true, they feel like the stock Hitachis on the compression stroke, but they have a much more controlled rebound. The 5100's according to reviews have a compression and rebound behavior that's on par with the stock OR suspension, so long as you don't muck it up by putting heavy springs or put the fronts on a uptravel-killing setting.

But I feel you. It's tough to muddle through page after page of user experiences, trying to judge their base line of what "stiff" means to them, and how it compares to what they bought. It's kind of maddening.

 

Yeah, it gets really weird. It’s almost as if you have to trust people’s subjective interpretations of stiffness, to make some sort of decision. Granted your interpretation and their interpretation are pretty different, and that’s what makes it tougher.

I hear the same about bilsteins, that their stuff but supposedly handle rebound better. I hear that they suck with small bumps but start to smooth out at higher speeds, and they are affected more by larger bumps. OME is supposedly progressive, which means they respond better to small bumps.

At this point, I’m debating either lifting a couple inches, which I really didn’t want to do in the first place, but am a little bit more open to it now, but still have reservations. It also seems like they don’t really make softer springs for my application either, so I feel like lifting might be my only option to get softer springs. Or I just sell the OME’s and get the OR bilsteins, even though they’re supposedly not that great, it would at least give somewhat of a better ride. I don’t know, what the hell lol… this kinda stuff can be fun, but a pain in the ass

 

The Off Road models get front springs P/N:
48131-04A90
48131-04B00

The Non Off Road and Pro Models front springs P/N
48131-04A80
48131-04C00

 

Damn. I got schooled. I wonder what the load ratings are for the two sets.

 

Thanks for that. So they must be different, I’m just wondering what the actual differences are, since most people on TW are saying that they’re the same across all models, when they’re clearly not…

 

I mean you’re not the only one that’s thought that, most people on this forum seem to think the springs are the same throughout all models, when it cant be the case with different part numbers… IMO it didn’t make sense that the OR would be able to have such a plush ride with such stiff stock springs… I don’t think a shock could be that soft to compensate for a stiff spring to make for such a plush ride… I think there’s a lot of misconception on this forum.

 

I just got curious reading this Thread and decided to check a Toyota part source, apparently they do have differences.

 

That makes a lot more sense. Did they give spring rates, spring height, and other specs like that?

I mean at this point do you think winging it and finding a pair of takeoff coils from an OR and throwing them on to see if there’s a difference would be worth it? If there a decent bit softer I feel like it may be worth it but still might be hit or miss…

 

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

 

It will be softer, but not sure if its worth the time unless you get a brand new set. The damper makes the ride smoother moreso than the spring in this case.

Switching to the 4600 shock (slightly bigger than the offroad shock) will yield similar if not better results.

 

Sorry it didnt list any specs for them, just the different part numbers.

 

It's damping. My offer still stands. Any shock sent to me will get dyno'd and shared and any spring will get rated.

I'm about to pull off my stockers so I will rate and dyno those.

 

It would be super interesting to see dyno graphs of the various shocks on the market.

 

Get the 5100s. Bilstein recommends you keep the stock coils. No brainer.

Much bigger & better than the stock OR Bilstein's, although I had no issue with the stock issue.

 

I'm offering it.

 

I have 2020 OR coilovers in the garage i’d ship to you for dyno data. Have you nit already done this test though?

 

I have my 2016 OR coilovers to do. That would be same trim 4 years apart. It would be a start on creating a database.