Concern over 5100/Eibach setup...

I have an 04 Tacoma and 5100 adjustables and Eibach springs put on this past week. I told the guy installing everything that its recommended to put the bilsteins at the lowest setting when using eibach. Anyways, he calls and says with break line extenders he sees no issue with my truck on the 2nd/middle setting. We went ahead and tried it. I don't do off road stuff. I just did this to fit bigger tires and look more like a 4x4. Anyways I got about 4 inches of lift.

Has anyone ran this setup with success? Is this destined to have major issues?

 

You should probably lower it. I have a strong feeling, that it is extremely bad for you control arms, tie rods, ect. 4" of preload is alot of angle changing.

 

Just in case this helps.

 

Ball joints are going to be crying. CV angles will be insane. I don't recommend it.

That UBJ looks bad.

I don't even see how that's aligned properly with that control arm that low.

 

Your break line length won't be an issue because the shock at full droop is still the same length no matter how you have them set but as everybody else says the angles could become an issue. If you want to keep it at that height I would switch to aftermarket uca's with Uniballs.

 

It looks like he's a pre-runner, so cv angles shouldn't be a concern. That being said the shocks aren't designed to have that much preload from the 620lb eibachs. You're going to put a lot of stress on the upper and lower ball joints. And i bet your alignment sucks. I'd also imagine that thing rides like crap with pre-loaded eibachs.

I'd recommend putting it on the lowest setting, you'll still get around 3.25-3.5" lift

 

Driver side


Passenger side


I am going down tomorrow and asking him to put it back down where I originally asked for it.

 

It does ride like hell! I am going back to have it put where its supposed to be. I should have never listened to them in the first place.

 

I just had to replace my upper/lower ball joints due to an oh shit. I was reading that that with elbach coils and bilstien 5100 that u should set it to the lowest setting. Toytec just told me that i could set it to the upper setting. I have an ARB bumper up front ant i bought the light racing upper control arms. So when said and done two new CV shafts new upper/lower ball joints new upper control arms new front shocks with new coils. So please help before i go thru all the work to put this back together and have to take it back apart. Thanks guys for all the help.

 

I'm purely guessing, but I'd say you can use the middle setting with the spring because they'll be compressed by your bumper?

 

No. With aftermarket coils on 5100's you should not pre-load them. Those additional settings are for stock springs, not aftermarket. Aftermarket coils are typically longer and higher spring rate than stock, which is what provides the lift. Stock springs need to be preloaded to provide lift, which is what the other settings are for.

To sum up: Don't preload aftermarket coils on 5100 shocks.

 

those Eibach's are longer than stock and the spring rate is about twice that of a stock tacoma spring. this means the forces on your coils even before you put them on the truck are huge. Please set them at the lowest setting for your own safety.

 

thank you for your input. that help a bunch and make sense. great now i get to take my coils apart again. i can't wait to get my tacoma again. damn i get luck hit a pot hole coming off of a stop light a broke both upper/lower ball joints. 5 mph instead of 80 mph going home.

 

again thank you i will tomorrow. that makes a world of sense. i have to take care of my tacoma i want to see if it will reach a half million. i have over 300,000 on her now.

 

Yeah, I am going down tomorrow. I knew ALL of this but let him tell me, that in his professional opinion, it would be okay as is. I never should have listened. It just looked so good I drove off with it. But I can't sleep good knowing its like this. Plus its dangerous. Thanks for all the input guys!!!

 

I am still going to take my truck down to get it lowered to the lowest level because I think it will ride better and look better, plus be safer. But on Bilsteinlifts.com the following statement is made concerned the kit i bought:

1.5 to 3″ lift kit with Eibach front coils (3″ average lift is achieved with coils and setting the shock adjustment on the second C clip setting from the bottom) DO NOT EXCEED THIS SETTING OR DAMAGE CAN OCCUR


That says the 2nd c clip setting? Isn't that where I currently have it? My shocks have 3 rings for adjustment. Is that what you all have?

Here is the site:
http://bilsteinlifts.com/shop/95-04-toyota-tacoma/bilstein-adjustable-lift-kit-with-5100-shocks-95-04-tacoma/

 

That site is wrong. Go to toytecs site. States specifically to use the lowest setting with aftermarket coils.

 

Seriously even with a ton of weight up front you would never need 5100s on the 2nd setting with eibachs. Check out blackdawgs build thread. His truck is a pig, and 5100s with eibachs on the lowest setting are what he's using. He still has about 3" of lift. That site had some bad and potentially dangerous info

 

Thanks guys! That's what I was thinking. That site is wrong. My truck will be corrected tomorrow.

 

Its lowered and it rides GREAT!!! Its amazing how much a difference that one notch makes in how it rides. Thanks for the advice!