Billstein 5100 help

I have a 2005 Tacoma TRD 2WD DBL Cab Off road pkg with 93k miles. I need to replace my shocks and tires. I have read a lot about the Billstein 5100's. Everything is all original on my truck including the coils and springs. If i get the 5100's and set the fronts on .85 will my ride be level? Not really looking for a lot of lift, mainly just a nice smooth ride with a small lift. Also, any suggestions on tires for highway driving?

 

Hi Art. If you get the proper version of the Bilstein 5100s they should go right in without issue. As far as the right height, measure ground to top of wheel well opening in front and back. That'll tell you the difference so you can then set the shock to your desired ride height. I've got the Bridgestone Duelers that came from the factory. They work nicely on the freeway, but aren't much off pavement.

 

I recently went with another set of 5100s on my 08 RC like I had on the 05 AC. The 05 was set at 2.5 up front with 1.5" AAL. Had to have UCAs to get alignment right. This time on the 08, I just set the fronts on .85 and have the Toytec taco lean 1/4" top plate spacers on each side which = approx 1.35" of lift up front. I did nothing to the rear except 5100s for 0-1.5" of lift (there are 2 versions for rear). I have 1 1/4" of rake higher in rear. So if you do nothing except shocks out back and set 5100s at .85 up front you should end up with 1 3/4" higher rake in rear. IIRC, there is about 2 1/2 - 2 3/4" rake higher in back from factory. No UCAs necessary for good alignment this time. Here 's pic of what I ended up with............



OK, with DC you may end up with slightly different measurements but with just .85 up front you should still be higher in back and should be good.

 

Depends with that mileage and your rear leaf springs, mine looked flat. I replaced mine when I was roughly at 120k miles, about a month ago. I just put 5100's on my 05 TRD Dbl cab and at .85 it was nose high at first by about 1" in front. Then I added the wheelers 3 leaf progressive HD pack with the overload and the rake came back about 1.5-2" higher back than front. Adding that 3 leaf gave the biggest improvement. Now its butter smooth going over bumps. As for tires, Michelin LTX M/S2. Very smooth tire and they are rated for atleast 70k miles. A helluva lot better than the Hankook Dynapro RF10's I had.

 

I just did mine this past December and they come with 3 adjustments for hights, I set mine to Original stock hight which is the lowest mark since I don't do any off roading or pull anything heavy anyhow. Not a very difficult job just take the whole strut off and have an automotive shop with access to hydrolic press to replace the shock, then put back in the truck, half day for both sides. There is a diy thread with pictures & step by steps around here just do a search. Good luck to ya....

 

0, 8.5, 1.75 & 2.5 = 4 settings...........comes with 4 slots for the spring perch to sit on. 4 slots, 4 settings.

 

Thanks for the replies. Also as far as the rear leaf TSB is this something that the dealer is still replacing or do you have to buy it on your own now? What kind of price am i looking at for the TSB for my 2005 and where can I get it?

 

It would all depend on the height you going to go on the front, dont want to go nose dive down when you add a leaf. For a sample on mine i have the 5100's set at 1.75 on stock coil springs and i added a leaf spring pack of 3 they give me 1.5 inches on the back (with a non-TSB). It sits like the stock level from the factory. Im happy with it

 

TSB is only gonna be done if less than 36k on the clock and not sure if it has to be within 3 yrs or 5 yrs or some timeframe like that too.

 

well I knew it was some where's around 3 o 4 levels I just didn't care cause i set mine to the lowest which was stock just to keep things the same from the factory. Also it can't be 8.5 because that's bigger than the fourth setting, perhaps you meant .85 ??? just to clear things up before we confuse the op more...LOL

 

That's got to be .85 - dang decimals.