What I have vs what I want it to be

hey also, I personally had bad experience pre-loading coils to gain lift, the ride quality really suffered when I did that with stock springs and bilstein 5100s @ 1.75". I haven't done my research on the 6112 setup so maybe that's the right call for you, I'll just add that a 2nd (lower) cost option is what I works well after several rounds of trial and error - Dobinson C59-316 with Bilstein 5100s on the lowest notch. That would run about $400 and lift you 2", and has a great ride to it. Just some food for thought!

 

Dobinson ride quality has been amazing. Like their set up much better than the bilstein 5110 set up in terms of overall performance on and off road.

 

Yeah I have been curious about trying their twin tube struts, I'm sure they are great.

 

@Bigtrees what Dobinsons setup are you running

 

I’m running the 1” kit. C59-300 Front coils and GS59-221B shocks.

$315 GS59-940 Dobinsons Pair of Rear Shocks Compatible with Toyota Tacoma 4x4 2005-2018 - GS59-940

GS59-940 rear shocks and a 1” block. My leafs were still in great shape and wanted to retain factory rake. Will switch to Dobinson leaf pack when my oems are shot. This is on a dcsb and got exactly 1” of lift, no sagging after 8mos.
I have a single cab first gen I’ll be converting to Dobinson once the 5100s are more ragged out.

 

So many choices and options.... I know the look that I want, but can’t decide on the parts. So far as I can tell, I’ve almost settled on OME 884, with 5100’s up front. For the back, I think Dakar HD’s and 5160’s. My only concern with that setup would be whether or not I need UCA’s? And will my CV’s and driveline geometry be ok as is. I’m really trying to avoid messing with the drive shaft, or any kind of diff drop. While I’m there, I’m going to do the ECGS bushing and throw in a new drivers side CV because it’s so rusted. A couple weeks ago I did both front wheel bearings, pads, rotors, calipers, and passenger side CV (only reason I had to do CV was because I missed with the hammer, and hit the threads ) Here’s a pic of the rust. Now that I’m out of Vermont and it’s stupid salt, I can start replacing all of the OEM stuff with goodies.
And the red truck just made something move below the belt.

 

in my opinion, you need aftermarket UCAs to make the truck drive right if you're going past 1" (not 2 or 3) of lift. 884 was on my short list as well but they have a higher spring rate and free length than stock coils whereas with Dobbies I got a longer free length but slightly lower spring rate than stock, so it worked out nicely.

If you stay at 2" in the front your cv's will be OK. That's a bummer about hammer fisting your threads tho . And also your pic is making me grateful I live in WA now and don't deal with NE rust!!

I had to get a shim to stick under each leaf pack when I was running 2-3" lift in the back previously but other than keeping your zerks greased there isn't much to do with the driveshaft. It's already a single-piece unit so we don't have the same problem carrier bearings that the bigger trucks have.

 

Thanks for the info, all the way around. I think I’ll bite the bullet then, and do UCA’s as well while I have it all pulled apart. I’ll take your advice on the Dobinsons as well. And yeah man, that NE salt is brutal. Needless to say, I no longer have the shields behind my rotors.

 

That is the exact lift I am running. I did not need new UCA's or a diff drop. I have a pelfreybilt front bumper and 9000lb winch up front tho, which did drop me down about 1/2". If you want, I can take more pictures and measurements of the lift.

 

That would be awesome. At your convenience of course.

 

no problem, all just my opinion of course, gotta do what suits your style. Here's a few trucks I was looking at when I was planning mine

 

From center of hubs to bottom of fenders :
22" front
25" rear


I have a tall cap and drawer/ sleeping platform in the bed filled with camping stuff and tools, so if you don't have all this weight you might want to consider the MD dakars. When I'm fully loaded it sits almost level. Sorry I didn't get a better side profile shot. Didn't want to pull the truck out of the parking spot let me know if you need anything else

 

Holy shit was that truck parked in Atlantis or at the bonneville salt flats?

 

When I worked for Border Patrol, I had a 75 mile round trip for work. That really took its toll on the suspension components. Surprisingly, the rest of the truck is in good shape.

 

Just out of curiosity. I can’t find much, if any info about it, but has anyone used the 6112/5160 combo on a RC? I know the RC’s are lighter in the front, and was thinking of setting them at the #3 (1.59”) setting, anticipating it to being closer to being 2.5inches. My initial thought was that combo paired with the MD or HD Dakar’s. If I went that route, I would do UCA’s as well. I’m mainly on the road, with light to moderate off-road when I can, so don’t want the ride to suffer TOO terribly.

 

If you preload the coil with adjustable shocks, it will make the ride stiffer. You want something like the OME 884 springs and shocks set at 0 or Nitrocharger shocks. My truck has the 885 springs and they are stiff with about 3" of lift. I'm used to stiff vehicles so it doesn't bother me, but it sounds like you want to look for something in the 884 range to try and keep a stock type ride. If you lift 2" or more, you'll most likely be getting into a stiffer ride.

 

Fair enough. You make a good point. I can wrench on things just fine, but this in particular is all new to me. I want to do I right the first time.

 

My project next weekend... ... have to all the old stuff out. Just waiting on the 1/4” drivers side lean spacer.

 

So which springs did you end up getting? You probably won't need the spacer on the regular cab, it seems more obvious on the AC and DC trucks.

 

I ended up going with the Headstrong 2” coils and Dakar Mediums with extended 5100’s in the back. I’m still on the fence if it’s worth putting the spacer in as a “precautionary” measure. I’d hate to go through all that work and see a lean. I don’t think my OCD could handle it. I’m going to put a 3* shim in the back when I do the rear the following weekend.