2015 Tacoma Sport riding really stiff with small lift

Hey guys I bought this truck with a small lift with Bilstein 5100s. It rides real stiff and you feel every Crack and bump in the road. Here's a pick of the lift done on it. Please let me know what I can do to make it ride smoother as I mainly drive on highways. If There's a better shock that I could put on please let me know.

 

How much lift the bilsteins are at could make some difference. Side view of the truck would be beneficial.

A picture of your rear suspension is also needed. Unless you are hauling heavy loads CONSTANTLY, I'm not sure why you'd want an add-a-leaf and the Timbren bumpstops. Depending on how much space is between the timbren's and the frame/leaf springs, that could be your issue as well. Some Timbren's never have a gap, and are constantly in contact which means you have a relatively constant stiffer spring rate in the rear. But if you have a gap when unloaded, if you hit a bump you'll go from soft suspension to WHACK, harder suspension, every time you hit a decent sized bump.

 

Thanks for the reply here's some pics. Yea I don't haul heavy loads but the guy before me may have hauled a camper or something not sure

 

I don't think the timbres are hitting frame its the Cracks in the road that just cause a rough ride. They just transfer right to the body with no dampening. Small cracks.

 

Does most of the rough ride seem to come from the rear? Like the back end almost bouncing off the road if you hit a speed bump? The leaf springs might be pretty stiff. You have a good gap between the timbren and the frame (i've seen MUCH closer which can lead to a really rough ride on small bumps). The fact you have that gap, and the way the rear is sitting even with the topper on, they look like stiff springs.

The Bilsteins themselves are usually a very popular upgrade over stock suspension, so I doubt that's your issue.

I'm also curious looking at your tires. What size and load rating are you running? If they're E load tires, that could be a very big part of your issue as well. That's another mod that you'd only want if you were carrying heavy loads.

 

I feel it in the front and the rear. Tires are 265.70.17. Rocky mountain all terrain m+s tires from discount tire. Not sure on load rating.

 

The should be stock leafs minus the spacer they added

 

Looks like that size only comes in SL, so it's not that, lol.

 

OEM leaf pack is 3 leaf + 1 overload spring. It looks like you have 4 or 5 + an overload.

 

It looks like the stock coils were used and to get lift, they preloaded them via adjustable lower spring perches. Higher the perch is set, more the preload and higher the lift. The problem is that the ride quality diminishes with spring preloading. A photo of the lower part of the front shock would be helpful right at the lower spring perch. If they installed the shocks in a higher notch (preloaded), there should be observable notched rings in the shock body.

 

What is the front top spacer plate

 

I know theprevious owner said the did something to correct the tacoma lean so one side has a extra spacer on the leafspring I think

 

The top spacer is for the lean and doesn’t affect ride quality. If your stock coils are preloaded then that’s where the stiff ride is coming from for the front.

 

I'm pretty sure they are preloaded because thats all that's up front is blistien shocks so how do you make the ride softer. Lower it? Or wait till the springs wear out? Thanks for your reply btw

 

Lower it or change out the springs for lift coils which are essentially longer for the lift.

 

@memario1214 - some enlightenment please

 

Rocket engineer did you see the spec sheet I posted. What do you think is going on in the rear. Just a leaf spacer? The rear seems higher than front for sure.

 

Post a photo of the front lower spring perches to make sure they were installed right side up. Upside down would give a bit of lift and a rock hard ride. The rear add a leaf shouldn’t overly stiffen the ride that much. I have one and it’s fine. Cadillac ride? No but not harsh.

 

Ok I'll post a pic tomorrow but I did look and don't think it's upside down. Thanks. I'll post some more pics tomorrow tho.

 

Here's lower spring perch and looks like 1 line showing on shock.