When to increase spring rate

Hey all. Planning to do 8112/8100s in the near future and keep the lift mild (seems like ~1" is what Bilstein recommends with this setup?)

Has anyone run this but preserved factory rake (I don't want to level)?

Wheel Every Weekend offers the 8112s with the standard 600 lb spring rate, or revalved with 650 or 700. I have some basic armor, sliders, diamondback, but nothing crazy. When should I move up in spring rate? Is it even worth bothering with only ~200lbs of additional static load?

 

Generally speaking, you increase the spring rate when you have maxed out preload and still can’t reach your desired ride height.

However, if you are going to carry a large temporary payload on a regular basis, you might want to bump up the spring rate above the minimum so that you don’t lose too much up travel when hauling. You don’t want to be sitting on the bump stops.

In a vague sense:

Soft spring = good ride quality, bad payload capacity
Stiff spring = bad ride quality, good payload capacity

It’s about trade offs.

 

I run an ARB bumper, winch, steel skid, larger than stock battery, dynomat in cab and supercharger. Found the #700 lb springs up front just right for my application. Combine that with custom deaver’s leaf springs and the ride is very nice on gravel roads. That’s on a second gen. Third gens are a little heavier up front and come with stiffer springs stock. Find a local to you dealer selling one or friend with a lifted taco and see how it rides with a lift kit.

edit: I’m the guy carrying +600 lb over stock. In case it didn’t come across on the post..

 

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/spring-preload-matters/

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

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/how-to-choose-spring-rates/

 

Thanks all. I am definitely no expert on suspension but am familiar with some of the concepts. I have seen that Bilstein claims their 650 lb spring is for weights of something like 0-130lbs over stock; since you would typically want to have the suspension revalved for the spring if using a non-standard weight, I was hoping to avoid too much trial and error with shipping suspension back if it doesn't suit my needs.

Accutune gives the impression I should err on the side of soft, and given I'm just doing full skids + sliders + diamondback, I'll probably still be under about 300 lbs added (for now) and will probably stick with stock spring weights. I still need to decide whether to do full Deaver or AAL on the rear.

 

I’ve had both AAL and now custom. The AAL were affordable (all I could afford at the time) but it rode worse than stock in every way. Once I went custom leaf packs it improved the ride over stock. High speed gravel road driving (on private land of course) also felt more secure/had better traction with the custom leafs.

 

I'm running 8112/8100 combo with 600# spring up front and ICON RXT leaf on stage 2 with 80 lb(when filled) ICECO Prov45L fridge and soft topper and about 25 lbs of mechanical tools in the back. In the front I've got a dual group 31 odyssey battery agm setup(about 35lbs over stock) in the front with OEM TRD Pro skid and RCI transmission skid.. Im really considering going up to 650# springs.. I've got a little more rake in the truck after 8 months on 600s than id like to have bc I'd like my truck level.

 

Older thread bump.

I’ll be installing some new to me coilovers in the coming weeks. They currently have 14” 650# springs installed, but have 13” 600# springs that could be swapped on.

My rig isn’t super overweight, but not stock weight either. I’m running steel sliders, steel front and mid skids, an aluminum front bumper with Warn Evo winch/synthetic rope and a fiberglass camper wheel with 50-75# of tools full time.

Any thoughts on which spring weight to run?

@AccuTune Offroad
@memario1214
I’d be grateful for feedback from the professionals as well

 

Keep the 650s on the coil overs definitely

 

That’s what I’d planned to do. I started second guessing that plan after reading those articles linked above from @AccuTune Offroad. My takeaway from reading was to go as light as possible on spring rate.

 

I’ve got 8112s on front with max amount of threads showing and 650# springs. I’m having to go up to 700# eibach springs just to keep my ride height before C4 Lo Pro bumper and a 62lb winch install which added roughly 140lbs to the front end.. I’m getting some rub under brake and left hand turn simultaneously with the 650# springs… I’d say you’ll be very happy with 650s if youve got over 100lbs of weight up front. That said it doesn’t seem you have a lot on the front just skids so you’re actually right around the sweet spot either way. I ran the 600s until about 2 weeks ago when bumper was installed then changed it to 650s from bilstein and they can’t hold the nose up enough for me however I do want my truck leveled. I can’t tell a difference in ride comfort with the 650s with bumper added vs 600s without. I bought 650s initially and planned to swap them bc I knew I was buying a bumper in future.
gotta say the
8112s are by far the best shocks I’ve ever had on this truck. (Had 5100s 6112s and Fox 2.5 resis) and the 8112s are just better imo.
I’m ordering 8100 bypasses soon and gettting rid of my 8100 stock travel smooth bodies in the rear

 

Thanks a ton for the feedback. Sounds like some of your experience is relatable to my own.

My current setup is the 2nd gen pro Bilstein suspension, which is basically TRD branded non-adjustable 6112/5160s. I’ve been very happy with the setup as it’s met my needs just fine for the last ~50k miles.

With the addition of the bumper/winch I am anticipating some sag so I’ve been expecting to have to make some kind of change. The 8112 were definitely on my radar as I’ve been pleased with the 6112. Seemed like sound logic to stick with the brand if my budget allowed.

A lightly used Fox 2.5 resi popped up locally and the deal was too good to pass on so I decided to go that route. I’m sure the 8112s are an upgrade from the Fox 2.5, but even those will exceed my needs.

I still have to source some aftermarket UCAs before I can install anything. Which means there’s still plenty of time for me to change my mind and sell the Fox kit