New guy/ bilstein lift

Hey guys my name is Ryan and I'm new here. I'm looking at getting a new lift for my taco and wanted to hear some opinions about what you guys think about the bilstien 5100 ajustable lift kit.

 

Personally I like them. I have them set at 1.75" on my trd sports springs and they ride nice. Offroad springs ride way firmer when compressed for lift.

 

When you say kit, do you mean just the shocks, or the shocks and new aftermarket coils?

IMO the 5100s with stock coils are ok if you're only leveling the front out and not touching the rear. If you do the rear, you might as well do it right and get new coils

 

Comes with new coils, front and rear shocks, as well as a couple leaf springs

 

Then yes, that's a good kit and popular too. Check out headstrong off-road for good prices

 

Headstrong Off Road, Marie will answer your questions, and give you a fair deal.

 

That "kit" or package deal is what I'm running on my truck. Bilstein 5100's front and rear. Front's set @ 0". OME 885X coils. 1/4" lean spacer on left side. (I've also installed 1/2" poly spacers on BOTH sides to get full 3" lift) Deavers 2" AAL in rear. (left overload in place to get true 2" lift there) Also installed Headstrong U-Bolt flip kit while I was at it. I also had Headstrong assemble the struts. That gives you new top hats. U-bolt flip included, right at $800 to my door!

Ride is excellent. Firm at low speeds, much improved at highway speeds. (over stock TRD OR Bilstein 4600's with 70K miles on them) Rear AAL gives enough lift and is just enough to firm up the rear to give a good balance (front to rear) I got lucky from what I know....I did NOT need new upper control arms. Most lifts 2-1/2" or higher have a tough time getting alignment numbers that work without aftermarket UCA's. I got 2.9 left and 2.8 degrees positive caster on the right side. (3 degrees pos. is the goal with that much lift) From what I hear, a 3" lift that aligns well without the UCA's is rare. Just lucky I guess.

5100's are the same INTERNALLY as the stock TRD Bilstein 4600's so the shock's characteristics are much like NEW stock suspension, albeit the differences with new coils and AAL.


The truck rides good. It performs great on and off the road. Handles better than it did stock....And, has a bit more load capacity. (Not much, but I don't do any heavy hauling anyway) I tow a vintage Airstream travel trailer from time to time. The truck's towing manners is greatly improved.

At first, right after install, I had what measured to be a 3" lift, then it settled a little after a couple thousand miles. So I went back and installed a pair of 1/2" (home made) poly spacers to bring it back to 3".

I'm getting close to 25,000 miles with the lift in place now, and have nothing but positive remarks to offer.

As was mentioned, Marie @ Headstrong Off Road is the best source of info AND great prices.