New Guy with Bilstein Question

Hey guys…new board member here…planning to pick up a 2018 Tacoma TRD OR. So my goal is, at minimum, to level out the stock suspension, don’t really need the 3” lifts etc. That in mind, I was looking at the 5100’s. Apparently consensus on this board is to keep 5100’s at the bottom rung and include new springs, etc. So, with that said, what is the guy in the video below doing wrong or not realizing? After before and after measurements he gains 2” on the front and none on the back; he mentions nothing about adding springs or leafs. Is the outcome of his work a substandard ride or road handling? Thanks for any help.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbujNF8VI4g&feature=youtu.be

 

FYI....I'll spend very minimum time off road and even that will be super vanilla terrain....dirt, no hills, no rocks, etc.

 

Video shows the installer chose to place the circlip on the very top setting.

 

5100s are an adjustable shock (in the front) so what he did was completely fine. There are board members here that will say it will reduce the lift of the shock as you're taking away full range of motion of the shock, but others run these this way with no adverse effects. You can start swapping on 885 coils and the like to let the coil do the lift and change the spring rate in the front to account for armor. As for the rear, the rear is not adjustable so it not gaining lift is standard. The owner, in my mind, went a bit high in the front and is going to be rolling that bro lean. But he effectively installed a shock-based leveling kit vs. a puck lift.

And as for the discrepancy for the drivers rear and passenger rear, gas tank is on the drivers side. You can expect the drivers rear to settle a bit more with usage as the tank is allowed to pull that side down

 

Thanks IronPeak...which will result in what outcome later? Poor ride or handling?

 

He's re-using the stock springs, hence the higher circlip setting. That's what I meant to say.

 

Thanks kluge9....I see, so setting to clip to highest setting limits the shock's full potential....so, instead, add new coils to gain the 2".

 

Are you asking about the ride of the guy in the video on 5he top ring or just using 5100s set to zero and using springs to level as a whole?

If you're driving a Sport the ride will feel a little softer, if you're driving an Offroad the ride will feel about the same depending on which spring you choose. OME 885 springs would be close to feel of the stock setup while giving just under 2 inches of lift.

 

Add coils to match the sort of driving you expect to do and what you expect out of the truck. You can put the setting on the 3rd notch for it to be level and expect miles and miles of comfort and quality

 

Hi jsinnard....I was just curious about the ride quality with the 5100's set at top rung.... as kluge9 mentioned, sounds like the shocks would be restricted too much when set to high rung.

 

I did this with my OR to maintain qualities of the stock ride but add a little extra height.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/dclb-with-885-springs-5100s-at-0-and-3-leaf-aal.502144/

 

Basically. If you want ride quality, your best bet would be to get a set of coilovers from a reputable suspension shop for the front and a set of nice shocks for the rear. something like this: http://accutuneoffroad.com/product/...over-2-0-performance-series-ifp-4-9-0-2-lift/ and http://accutuneoffroad.com/product/...left-2-0-performance-series-ifp-6-6-0-1-lift/ that. Its a minimal difference in cost to get adjustability of a coilover, plus the proprietary accutune valving giving you a pretty solid ride quality and great capability in case you ever needed it, like if you have to either hit or avoid a large pot hole or dodge an accident.

 

Thanks kluge9....I'm not off road much at all...just want a bit taller stance and don't care for water collecting in the bed due to too much angle (or rake, I think you guys call it?) I'll be putting BF KO 17's on.

 

Looks great jsinnnard.....that's pretty much the height I'm wanting ......thanks stevotivo12....so basically coilovers give me the full range the shock is capable of while the new coils gives me around 2"?

 

Coil overs give you the ability to dial in the exact height you want, keep in mind the higher you go the stiffer the ride. Coils have an approximate level of height, each truck is different and the height may decrease over time as the spring settles.

 

correct. In addition, those specific coilovers from accutune will have their proprietary shock tuning done so you should be getting the best ride possible without going to a dual shock, or really big shocks, or bypasses, or something like that

 

Sounds like this is the least expensive but effective way to go to give me 2" plus a quality ride? No need to change out sway bars or any other bushings, etc?

 

Yep! You got it. Changing out sway bars would decrease bodyroll and might be a good upgrade to consider down the road in combination with these shocks, but not necessary. They tend to have a slight negative effect on ride though, since they are making the car stiffer and less able to absorb shocks to one side of the suspension or the other.

 

Keep it under 2 inches and all you need is the coilovers, should be a direct bolt in.

Consider a potential issue with the needle bearing, an inferior design that may go bad faster if you lift the truck. Many including myself have replaced the needle bearing with the ECGS bushing as a preventive measure when installing the lift. It's much easier to do while the truck is apart and get it over with than to have your truck lifted, find out the needle bearing is going bad later then have to rip everything apart again to do the bushing replacement.

 

He's EXACTLY right. This is $5-600 advice right there^^