Another Bilstein and leaf spring upgrade build

My completely stock 2011 TRD Offroad Double Cab Short Bed with a Snugtop and running rails, 2/1 rear leaf springs.

First thing i did was get rid of the chrome rear bumper, for a flat black one, and new TYC "TRD" headlights. The ones with the truck were very faded and starting to crack.

Ordered
• Bilstein 5100 shocks all around
• a set of General Spring 3/1 90-297HD leaf springs
• Pro Comp 7032 wheels, 17X9 inch, 4.75" Backspacing
• 275/70/17 Cooper Discoverer AT3s

I decided to set the shocks in the front at 1.75" with stock coils.

Install went very smooth, no need for a spring compressor, and only took us about 4 hours with beer drinking in between.

Truck has a 1 5/8" inch forward rake, measured from the fenders.

Took off the front mudflaps.

About to order the ECGS bushing and get rid of the needle bearing.


Front shocks set at 2.5". Stock coils. 5100s in rear with 3/1 General Spring HD leafs. Truck has less of a rake, but still about 1 1/4" forward rake measured from the top of the fenders.


Finished the bushing install, everything went pretty smooth. Hardest part was popping the cv axle free. No scoring on the axle, put everything back together with a new seal as well.

Needle bearing needles do fall out EASILY, those things almost got into the diff, but we had a rag to stop them from doing so, counted them, re counted them. Had all 34 outside of the diff.

Update: 9/1/17

Ordered Old Man Emu 887s. Put the 887s on today with 1/4" driver side spacer, set at 0" with my Bilstein 5100s. Went smooth and got almost another half an inch of lift from the 5100s with stock springs set at 2.5". Also rides muuch smoother. Great upgrade.



Update: 10/12/17

I ordered a 1 piece, double cardan driveshaft from Tom Woods, to smooth out the driveline, Truck drives like new!



Update: 4/20/18

Got JBA high caster UCAs, another awesome product, another ride quality improvement!




Update: 5/4/18
New tires, getting mounted now, 285/70R17 Mastercraft Courser MXT



Done!

 

Gonna do the ECGS bushing? Just finished mine, what a pain in the ass it was.

Truck looks great by the way. I have the same wheels in a 16"

 

That ECGS bushing was the next thing i was going to look into. That bushing really does work huh? Do you know the longevity of that bushing? Would definitely consider it if it is a good replacement part, that would be tough and last a long time.

Thankyou, yea im really liking them!

 

How are the 275/70's? Any rubbing or trimming? I've been trying to find the correct rim size for this tire to fit without issues...

 

Remember to get an alignment after the suspension is corrected.

 

Looks good,I'm now starting over with my new truck since I traded my other tacoma in,another headstrong off-road visit for me lol

 

Rubbing set at the ACTUAL 1.75" on the inner rear part of the fender. Trimmed about a half inch deep, 1 inch long piece off, no more rubbing.

 

ECGS bushing is a good idea for any Tacoma mine had the vibration before my lift. But yeah it can be kinda tricky to install. Plan on draining ur front diff when doing ur bushing. I broke a chunk off my old bearing trying to get it out. Luckily it came out after draining my diff. Also if u replace ur cv seal not to push the new one in too far.

 

Thanks for the tips, yea it sounds like a must. Too bad Toyota still hasnt addressed this issue..even with the brand new Tacomas

 

Talked with one of the parts guys at a dealer and they do the ECGS bushing when they lift third gens. Guess it's worse on the new trucks.

 

Looks good! I plan on doing a similar lift in a few months with the same tires in 265.

 

Thanks, gonna lift it to 2.5" tonight, ill post an update

 

Looks good! Personally I like a truck with rake. I already have about an inch of rake on mine and will be adding a 1" block after I grind 2° on it.

 

Thanks, yea i like forward rake, just hate any rear rake. Obviously, real "trucks" are meant to have a forward rake. Im about an inch high in the rear, so if i go to 2.5" from 1.75", i know i will still have a slight forward rake, i imagine somewhere between 1/4"-1/2" higher in the rear. With the HD leaf springs, i already loaded a few hundred pounds back there, and they barely dropped at all. A half inch at the MOST. So im thinking this will be juust right.

 

Just finished adjusting shocks from 1.75" to 2.5", took my 45 minutes by myself..super easy. The truck sits peeeerfect. The slightest 1/4"-3/8" forward rake just as I was hoping for. Will post an updated pic soon

 

Truck rides great at 2.5" with stock coils. Next upgrade will be the ECGS bushing.

 

Finished the bushing install, everything went pretty smooth. Hardest part was popping the cv axle free. No scoring on the axle, put everything back together with a new seal as well.

Needle bearing needles do fall out EASILY, those things almost got into the diff, but we had a rag to stop them from doing so, counted them, re counted them. Had all 34 outside of the diff. Pheeew.

 

Your truck looks great. Thanks for all the information you've compiled here. I'm getting ready myself to do a very similar suspension setup. Only thing i'm adding to what you did is new coils up front simply due to the fact that my factory coils have 147,000 miles on them. I'm definitely going to keep the shudder issue in mind after installing everything.

 

No problem, main reason i wrote all of this. I was just led on to a rear carrier bearing drop to help with the vibration, hopefully eliminating it. 1/4" spacer to drop the rear carrier bearing, ill post an update after the install

 

Same shudder for me. The axle needs to be shimmed, that's the angle that changed when it was lifted. 1.5 - 2 degrees may do the trick.