bilstein 5100 @ 2.5 vs ome ride quality

After 2 weeks of constant research and going over all threads 3 or 4 times, I have decided to either go with the ome 885 setup or billy's with stock coils on my '07 dclb trd sport. I am torn between the 2, I would like around 2.5" of lift which I can get from both. I will be doing very minimal offroading, never anything too intense. With that in mind, the bilstein setup seems like it would be the perfect fit for me. The only reason I am hesitant to pull the trigger on this is because I have read that setting the billy's at 2.5 stiffens the ride significantly. My question is has anybody experienced both ride qualities, bilstein at 2.5 vs. Ome 885 with the recommended ome shocks. What is the difference, if any? Is it a significant difference? Enough to justify spending the extra cash on the ome setup? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

subbed for answer... I honestly have both in my shopping cart on toytec now trying to decide... also, you can buy eibach springs later and replace your stock springs so you can lower the setting on the billy's which will improve ride quality, heard it improves way better than stock... also heard 885's are a rougher ride than stock on a prerunner. thats why im leaning to the billy's... plus you can buy it piece by piece and save money...

 

if your not going to intense why spend the extra money? I went with the billies all around and set the front to 2.5" in jan. and it isn't much stiffer then stock. It feels perfect. get the wheelers 1.5" AAL and you'll be level. Truly feels like I'm on a cloud on the highway.

 

The ride will be stiffer at 2.5 but FWIW it's not as bad with the sport coils as it is with the off road coils. Another thing you can do with the stock coils is set the 5100s at 1.75 and add a .5 spacer to the top. That gives you about 2.5" of lift with a slightly softer ride.

 

my deciding factor.. now to order rear shocks and aal

 

i have had both on a truck. and while the billies do ride a bit better than stock the ome is night and day difference. somewhat like what my buddy describes when he talks about my ome and his icons. def spend a bit extra and dont preload a coil. you will enjoy your truck far better esp on long road trips. there is a reason why the ome is on my truck and not billies.

 

I have OME as well and love the setup

 

When I had my 2nd gen. I ran 885 coils on 5100s set on 0 and thought the ride was an improvement over stock. I also had a 1.5 aal with 5100s on the rear. When you pre load your coils to achieve lift i.e. spacers and 5100s set at 2.5, you will lose ride quality. You can always purchase coils later.

 

I was considering setting it at 1.75 for the softer ride. Seems quite a few are running that way and like the ride. But after looking at a lot of before and after pics, I decided I want a little more lift. The .5 spacer may not be a terrible idea. If adding the .5 on the passenger side, what would be the best option for the driver side to get rid of the taco lean?

 

I agree with this. IMO.....OME is the way to go. I run a full OME kit on my 1st gen and think it is awesome.

 

Purchasing the coils later is definitely an option, and seems to be what many people do. I would like to have the ome shocks with their coils if possible though, which is why I was hoping to get it right the first time.

 

if you want the lifted truck with a truly comfortable ride without just absolutely throwing budget out the door i would say ome 885x on the nitro 90000 shocks and then a wheelers 3 leaf progressive aal with some ome 60092 (i think that is the number) sport rear shocks. when i had that setup my truck rode better than anything else i have ever had on it. then i pulled the rear leafs out and put in dakars.

 

If I get eibach coils, I wouldnt need to preload them any to get 2.5'' correct? also with a 2'' aal I heard that you do not have to replace your rear shocks... I have been told since 85% of my driving is on road at this time to go with billy's and eibach's because they are smoother than ome and still just as capable.. well for pre runners.

 

someone lied to you. im sorry but i had the billy/eibach setup as mentioned earlier and there is no way they were smoother. they only stayed on the truck for about 3 weeks before i had already ordered the ome setup with overnight delivery and sold the billy/eibach setup. i know many swear by that setup but i did not like them at all.

 

Do you have any experience with the billy's on stock coils? I have no doubt the ome ride is great, there are plenty of people on here that can attest to that. I am curious on how big of a difference in ride quality. Is it night and day difference?

 

imo billies with stock coils preloaded ride similar to a spacer lift. i have had a spacer lift on my old truck and a coworker had the preloaded stock springs and billies on his 07. they rode very similar imho. the billy/eibach rode a bit better than stock and then the full ome rode better than them. after that i think you have to go icon or some sort of coilover to get better.

 

I personally would buy OME coils and struts but this is something you have to decide on your own.

 

If I go the ome route I definitely want their struts with it. I thought this was the route I was going for sure, but there seems to be a lot of people that say if the truck is not going to be used for hard off roading the ome is overkill and I would be just as happy with the bilsteins on stock coils. I have not experienced the ride with either of these. I know it is something I have to decide on my own, but I want to make as educated of a purchase as possible. I appreciate all of the feedback.

 

This is an interesting thread as I have been debating the same thing. I'm leaning towards the OME setup as I haven't heard hardly any negative comments regarding the setup.

However, I'm hesitant to put a lift on because of all the possible implications. Alignment issues (requires new UCA's), drive line vibrations (requires cb drop and/or axle shims), VSC calibration issues, the ghostly OME "clunk" noise, sway bar relocation or removal, etc. The link in my signature contains about 20 responses to an OME survey. About half reported drive line vibrations and the need for new UCA's. The funny thing, about the same ratio was reported with the 5100 & Eibach setup. It just seems like no matter what you do, be ready to face some of these issues.

 

I am possibly going to drive/ride in a billstein set up today with stock coils, will give feedback once i do this.