Mid travel setup question.

I've got a 2015 double cab TRD that I just recently swapped my OME/LR UCA's out for Fox 2.5 remote res extended travel coilovers (#

$1,604 880-02-418 Coilover and Upper Control Arm Kit

880-02-418) and total chaos UCA's.

I assume my new front setup is to be considered a mid travel setup based on some other builds I've followed.

My issue is when I put all the new stuff on and adjusted the coilovers to match my old ride height it leaves me with 2" of down travel before the TC uca limits the droop. The truck already looks pretty raked out and if I lower the front to get a decent range of motion it will look goofy. I have Dakar leaf packs on the rear with the add a leaf. I'm thinking about pulling the add a leaf out at this point.

Am I wrong for trying to get lift out this stuff or is it supposed to be set so that the truck still looks low but you have full articulation. Am I making sense?

Also, when I got my alignment I asked for 2.5 caster, 0 toe and 0 camber like I had on my old setup. It rides pretty bad now and has bump steer like crazy. Should I set my caster differently?

 

No one, no input from anyone? I basically just need to know where to set ride height for the midtravel to function properly. And I need to know what specs to alighn it to.

 

Stop chasing lift height, you should be pursuing performance. I would shoot for 3in of down travel. 2in is really the minimum to preserve ride quality.

 

I was chasing lift height at first with my OME, now I want performance. And are you supposed to just basically set the front ride height so that you have around 3" of down travel? Do you happen to know what to set caster, camber and toe at? 2.5 caster rides like crap

 

No idea for alignment. On most coilovers for tacomas, if you have 2-2.5in lift you are sitting at about 2in of down travel. When you go extended length with UCA can maintain the same amount of lift but get 3-3.5in of down travel or crank it up to 3in of lift and be back at 2in of down travel. its better to have more down travel than more lift unless you are prioritizing ground clearance at the expense of ride and handling.

 

Rather than cranking up your fox coils for lift just throw in some king coils, they are 1" taller so you save about the same in preload if you get the same weight rating. That's why I did. I am running TC UCAs with limit straps and Icon extended travel COs with 14" 600lbs King coils and no preload. Access cab 4x4 and sits level with my Dakar pack and camper shell. Rides awesome too

 

Swapping springs for ones that are 1" taller without changing the spring rate will not alter anything. It will still require the same amount of spring preload to achieve ride height. Measuring exposed threads from the top cap is not a direct measurement of preload as it does not take into account the free length of the spring. The correct way to measure spring preload is to measure the free length of the spring and then measure the installed length of the spring on your shock. Free Length - Installed length = preload.

You cannot change the laws of physics by going from a 13" spring to a 14" spring...

Also King, Fox, and Icon coils are all Eibach springs. If you are insistent on buying new springs pick whatever is cheapest and what color you like.

 

Waaaat? Ru crazy?!? False!

 

another sensitive flower that likes to provide wrong information.

 

You are correct about how to calculate preload but you're wrong about the 13" vs 14" springs

 

except im not. Springs are simple. f=kx doesnt lie. Total force provided by a spring (f) = spring rate (k) *x (change in length). If you have two springs, 13" and 14" with the same spring rate and you have 1" of preload on each (x). Then they produce the same exact force. Same exact force = same ride height.

See how spring length didnt come up at all in that equation?

 

If you have a spring rate of 600 in both the 13" and 14" springs and you apply a load of 600 lbs on each one, the 13" will compress from 13" to 12" and the 14" from 14" to 13". It will take 1200 lbs of force to compress the 14" coil to 12" which is the length of the 13" coil with 600 lbs applied. The spring rate is not changing, but at the point of where the coil is compressed, it will take a greater force to compress the 14" coil further. To me, this seems like it would affect the ride height of the vehicle. Just my 2 cents. Feel free to prove me wrong.

 

If that's the case, why do 883s, 884s, 886s, 887s, and 888s all provide different static ride heights? They're all the same spring rate of 590 lbs just with varying lengths.

 

I believe they are all different lengths.

 

Oh whoops, that was a key part of my argument that I forgot to include. I'm in agreement that different length coils provide different ride height.

 

I'm probably not smart enough to explain this properly, but wth

Ok let's say your OME coils are all various lengths and you're sticking them in a 5100 at the "stock" setting. Yes, they provide different amounts of lift, but you're also compressing(preloading)each of them to the same length(length from top hat to lower spring perch). So in reality you're compressing the longer spring more which=moar lift.

It makes sense in MY head.

When I switched from 650# 13" coils to 600# 14" coils I had much fewer threads exposed to achieve the same lift, BUT the coil is 1" longer so therefor the prognosis of the synopsis theoretically bypasses the physics of newtons law and paraphrases the emphasis on myself using big words to sound smart after I've ran out of logical things to say.

This post brought to you by Absolut and redbull.

 

13" 650#



14" 600#


Same lift


EDIT: My truck was so clean when I got those Icons

 

Glad we got the whole spring rate/length/lift argument under control. I don't plan to replace the coil springs anytime soon since I just got them.

I'm over the fact that the truck won't sit as high as it used to with the OME setup I replaced. I'd rather have suspension travel than ride down the road in a brick. I was just wondering what I should set my ride height at.

I plan to remove my add a leaf from my Dakar pack to lower the rear a bit, then lower the front down so that there is 3" of droop. Hopefully with that setup the truck doesn't look like a 70's Nova with the back end jacked up. If it does I guess I'll grow a mullet and straight pipe the truck lol

 

Set your ride height to whatever height you want the truck to sit. Just remember that the more you preload those coils, the less down travel you will have.

 

Didn't come up in your equation because you're suspension retarded. Go read a book or something