Need Help with Coilovers + Tire Size

Hi All! I've loved my stock 2019 Tacoma Long Bed with TRD Off Road package. It is not my daily driver and I use it mostly for camping here in Arizona. But, this means that I do find myself on some pretty nasty long dirt roads with big rocks and very rough conditions along with your more run of the mill dirt roads for 20/30 miles at a time to reach remote destinations. I would say 95% of the driving I do is on the highway getting to my off road destination (the 9mm left on my original brake pads after logging 45k miles is a testament to that. I share all of this because I want more clearance, and to upgrade the wheels, tires, and suspension so that when I am on these rock crawly and washboard afflicted roads, my rig is optimized to give me the clearance, and toughness I need. I am really leaning toward a Bilstein 6112/5160 setup, but wondering if I can get the 2.5/3 inches of lift I want. I am also wondering if I will just end up moving to one of the big boy setups (Kings, Fox, Bilstein 8100's, etc) and should just cut right to the chase and go for broke lol? I would like to go with the TRD Pro 4Runner 17' wheels, but am torn between 285's, 275's, or 265's. I am hoping those with experience can help me push through this paralysis by analysis and decide on the best path forward for the way I use my rig. Any help/opinions appreciated!

 

Hey FourPeaks, that's a nice looking truck!! Beautiful setting too I'm dying to get back to AZ soon for some wheeling.

I haven't personally lifted my truck yet, but I'm in a similar situation to you and debating whether to go big right out the gates or work my way up. My .02 cents...go big with one of the Kings, Fox, Bilstein 8100's, etc if your budget can accommodate it. I personally would go with the Kings but that's just my preference as they are a local company and proven in competition. Again, depends on your budget. If you don't have the cash yet I'd suggest saving and going for the Kings that way you don't have to do it twice. I think that's the route I will be taking.

You also mentioned you're torn between 285's, 275's, or 265's, all this depends on the height of the tires you want to run too. I'd suggest looking at this thread to see how others running Kings have their tires set up. You will need to decide whether you want to cut bumpers/fenders, replace UCA's, offset your wheels, etc. in order to make a decision on tire size.

 

I just went through this with my truck
I don't have the quotes in front of me but IIRC the quoted difference between the 6112/5160 combo and Fox FRS 2.5 dsc was not big enough for me to really consider going the 6112/5160 route was that the cheaper option sure, but after watching friends go through multiple versions of suspension and ultimately ending up with Fox dsc King 2.5 with adj etc it seemed pretty clear that jumping right up to the top end was the wise choice especially for how much dirt my truck sees

To be honest while the dsc are great you could save a little if your truck is at a weight it's going to stay at and get 2 5s without clickers and just have them valved for your truck/use would save you a little esp if you don't think you'd be adjusting them frequently or changing weight

I settled on 275/70-17 as my tire size choice. Nice happy medium IMO definitely get the bigger tire look but also came as a weight savings over 285s with minimal height loss and no CMC was needed


Here it is post lift with Icon RXT rear leaf pack option 1 initial lift was right at 3 but has settled around 2.5


Before vs after

 

Thanks for sharing that Wiky! The struggle is real lol! I made some decisions; I’m going with the Bilstein 6112/5160 combo + a new complete leaf pack and new UCA’s. She’ll get a 3” + 17” TRD Pro rims and some Falken 275/70/r17’s. I think for the type of stuff I do, a 2.5 shock with a lifetime warranty makes more sense than shocks designed to handle more extreme conditions and that need rebuilds every 45/50k miles. We’ll see how it comes out!

 

Your truck looks great!!! How would you describe the difference with the Fox setup?

 

Well besides the obvious that is the additional clearance the new set up is noticeably stiffer than the stock bilsteins. No more heavy front dive under braking. The rear now feels much more planted with the icon especially on the highway. The back end doesn't want to jump/skip hitting bumps in a corner anymore.

Offroad going down washboard at 45 feels like riding on the intestate, and if I hit small/mid dips in the road it just eats it up. Still so new I haven't really had the chance to hit some technical stuff yet

I beat on the stock TRD OR suspension as hard as anyone out there this was a much needed and long overdue upgrade

 

If you got through 45K miles on your stock shocks, the 6112/5160 are still a huge jump over them and will do just fine. However I'm sure if your budget allows the 2.5 resi shocks will perform better but will also need more maintenance (require more freq. rebuilds). Just something to keep in mind.

I was just setting my 23' AC OR for being a weekend wheeler, with mostly highway miles and I decided to go with the 6112/5160 and 295/70/17 tires.

With your wheel choice I would go with the 285's as your wheels will have a positive offset allowing for good tire clearance.

 

If your budget allows, I would recommend going to a true coilover from the start. The 6112s have their place, but if you are already questioning whether you will upgrade in the future, than chances are you will end up upgrading. Pros being any true 2.5" Coilover will have better over all performance, a longer service life, and are rebuildable. We swap out 6112s quite often for performance coilovers. Shoot us a PM if you have any specific questions or need any advice.

 

ADS, 650# coils, Deaver AAL, and Sumo Springs for 1.5” lift. Add 265/75/16 for another 1/2”.

Regular trails include Table Mesa I-17 to Seven Springs, Black Canyon Overlook, and Bloody Basin Rd to Sheep’s Bridge.

Camping all over AZ, with and without an off-road tear drop trailer. Huge improvement over OEM.

 

I've got some freshly rebuilt icons in the market place



Jus throwing that out there

 

Awesome! I’m really starting to wonder if I should stay with the Bilstein 6112’s or go with a more high performance option. I feel you…I blew out my rear shocks on a desert road about a year ago lol!

 

Nice! How do you like the Bilstein? How would you describe the difference? 295’s! Dang! I’m going with 275/70/R17’s

 

I need to research ADS shocks more. Can you share why you decided to go with them? Those are some great roads…love 7 Springs and Bloody Basin. I did Schnebly Hill road and Broken Arrow in my stock Tacoma

 

What are you switching to?

 

Icons, just don't need the resis, I have some rears with resis too, they're just getting rebuilt too

 

Honestly a 6112/5160 will suffice for your needs 10x over. I run elka 2.0's and have a pile of trail miles on them and have yet to see them fade and that's on 295's.
Unless your running a very large/heavy wheel and tire set up or a ton of weight on the truck you don't need these top tier suspension set ups. As stated the higher end you go the more maintenance that comes into play rebuilds, spherical bearings. A 6112 does not have these issues however you lose the adjustability.
I'll throw the one name out again that seems incredibly over looked here. Elka suspension is worth looking into they have 2.0, 2.5, 2.5 resis, 2.5 resi adjustable what ever level you want to look into.

 

Thank you for sharing! How would you describe the difference in performance between stock and the Ella’s? What is stock for your truck? Off Road?

 

Mimes a sport so my original set up was quite stiff and jarring. The elkas softened everything up, I run a ton of washboard gravel roads and it's supple and feels bottomless when you do hit a bigger hole. Only heard my tires try to eat my fender flares on 1 higher speed g out so compression tuning out of the box has been fantastic. If I had one thing I would nit pick on them is if you fully extend them they do top out a bit harsh but iv heard the same for fox and king. This is somthing to be mindful of if you plan on running at 3" as you will have very little available down travel.
Bit of a controversial suggestion but the best thing I did to smooth the truck right out and drastically improve off road performance was to remove the swaybar. It took all the jarring action out of the front end.

 

IMO, the ADS are Kings without the bling and made in AZ. 2.5” is what you want. Reservoirs are nice, but clickers are unnecessary. Good quality shocks will control the suspension on rough terrain over long distances without fade, like the travel you describe.

Where I differ from many is in how much to lift. I don’t rock crawl. I do travel some pretty rough terrain, often loaded or pulling a trailer, over long distances to camp and explore. If that’s you, I’ve found a 1.5” lift and another 1/2” from a tire upsize has provided plenty of clearance on trails all over AZ. An AAL has been solid for 50k miles, paired with the Sumos to resist over flex and bottoming. Ride height has remained the same after all the miles.

The added bonus being no offset issues, cutting, or extreme driveline angles, and I still get 20 mpg on the commute.

Good luck with your decision.