Third gen shocks/springs on a second gen

To anyone who has done this , how did it affect the ride and how much lift did you gain?

 

Yes. You get about 1” of lift.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/review-3rd-gen-suspension-on-2nd-gen.542843/

 

Yep, go through that thread that @TnShooter posted. That’s what I used.
Huge improvement in ride quality. Truck feels much more planted now.

EDIT: @clenkeit is not wrong. I went from an SR5 suspension with 80k miles on it, to TRD Off Road shocks/struts with 3k miles on them. For me, it was a way to keep a factory ride, while still getting a slight upgrade in quality and slight lift/level. I don’t take my truck off-road, so it’s purely about on-road handling and aesthetics for me.

 

Be aware that you're going to get a lot of subjective opinions. IMO, the ride was not appreciably different when I moved from 2nd gen to 3rd gen suspension (both Off Road). Maybe slightly more comfortable shock valving but it feels like a stretch to me. I suspect the people feeling a big difference are replacing OLD shocks with NEW shocks and that is most of what they're feeling.

Everyone says "1 inch". Or "About 1 inch". But what they mean is 0.75". There may be a bit of variability here but it's 0.75" +/-, not 1"+/-. I added a 3/8" (thick) spacer and ended up with exactly 1.5" ride height change. 0.75" from the 3rd gen suspension and 3/4" from the 3/8" spacer.

IMO, if your old shocks are worn out or you're on a shoestring budget then 3rd gen suspension is a no brainer. Don't expect the world, it's still simple, stock suspension. I've personally since moved on to the Bilstein TRD Pro/Baja suspension and that WAS a pretty noticeable upgrade. I learned a lot in the process so I don't regret how I got here. But if I'm giving recommendations it would be to jump straight to Bilstein 6112 front + 5160 or 5100 rear and don't look back.

 

What's the main difference between 6112s and the 5100s I see recommended more often?
Any other parts, such as UCAs, I would need for a 2" lift with them?
I installed some HD leafs in the back awhile ago and I'm looking to level out the front now.

 

This is exactly why I did it. It was cheaper for me to got a complete low mileage 3rd Gen suspension (coils, front/rear shocks, rear leafs) than it was to replace the shocks. If it was two years ago when the prices and availability were better than I would have bought new.

 

5100 are cheap, that’s why people recommend them. I have never used them and although reviews are good I did a lot of research and with some reading between the lines I figured out they weren’t for me. To me, they didn’t provide enough improvement over stock to warrant the cost. The upgrade you get with the 5100 is the ability to change ride height.

6112 are actually a performance upgrade from stock and from the 5100. They not only allow height adjustment but have larger shock bodies (I’ll let you do some googling for more details on the specific differences and benefits of this)

I ended up finding the Pro/Baja setup (essentially an OEM version of the 6112/5160) I have, used with low miles, for less than half of what a new 6112/5160 setup would have been, so I lucked out. But I don’t have adjustability.

You shouldn’t need UCAs with only a 2” lift. I didn’t. But if you do want to get some then the first thing you should do is watch the UCA vids on Tinkerer’s Adventure YouTube. There’s a LOT of misinformation out there about UCAs and alignments and I think his info sets a lot straight.
https://youtube.com/c/TinkerersAdventure

 

I had 100K on my stock front set up, and my front end ended up about an inch 1/4 maybe inch 5/16 taller from stock height. Ride is nice, not harsh in anyway, and I did it by myself, wasnt too hard to do.

 

I just found a good deal on some used, low mile, 2018 coil-overs. As much as I'd like to wait and save up for a new kit, mine are looking real rusty, and have a bit of sag. What are some things I should check for when I go look at them?

Edit: Managed to find the answers I was looking for. Sharing this link for anyone that also had this question.

 

@SomeGuy_GRM make sure you put the left on the left and the right on the right! They are marked with colored dots

 

I have 150K miles on my 2nd gen and for 4 years the road from my house to the highway has been under construction. So my shocks are not long for this world anymore. Daily driving over torn up road and what is essentially a series of hills has not been kind to them. I’m putting on a set of 3rd gen TRD-OR shocks next weekend as soon as my jack arrives so I’ll be able to do a little comparison on how it handles the road, train tracks, and some light off-roading.

 

Picked them up today, and they still have that new car smell. $125 cad, and a half tank of gas. Now to find some new hardware, and get to blasting mine with Seafoam.

 

Sounds as though you use your truck much like I do mine. For the most part the only off roading is when there’s work to be done on the farm. Otherwise I drive it at least 75 miles a day five days a week.
Since you have done this swap I’ll ask you, others feel free to chime in, do that third gen springs compensate for the Tacoma lean? Seems like I read that somewhere but I can’t find it again. Trying to figure out if I need a lean spacer.

 

@All Visible Hues 14 did for mine..no lean.

 

Thanks

 

Sorry, just now seeing this!

I did go ahead and put a 1/4” spacer in, more for the what-the-hell factor, since I was gonna have the coilovers out. I do think it evened it out, but honestly the lean never bothered me anyways.

 

I drank the Koolaid. Bought a set of 2021 Off Road struts, coils and shocks, with 27k miles, for my 2008 Off Road. Been putting off the job for a couple of months. Then I found a set of 2022 Off Road with under 200 miles and sold the 2021 set. I decided to get this done before my truck hits 85k miles so last night I did the driver side with a 1/4" lean spacer. My lean was very apparent both sitting in the driveway and driving. I was expecting around 1-1/8" to 1-1/2" of lift. Before I start the passenger side I measured the driver side. I was pleasantly surprised that it added 1-3/4" of lift.

Now I have a question. This was a bear to do with the spacer. I expected that. I had trouble with the sway bar and end link. Mounted the sway bar first and then could not align the link. Then I removed and mounted the link first. Then I had to jack up the lower control arm quite a bit to get the sway bar up to the mounting position. Did others have this same issue. It just seems like the link is very stressed now but everything is done. I expect similar issues when I do the passenger side. I did figure out pretty quick that the outer tie rod must be removed for mounting. I was trying to shortcut by just removing the sway bar link but that was not going to work. One other thing is that the paint dots on the 2021 set are completely different on the 2022 set. Not a big deal as the top hats align with the dots, and lower coil starting point, facing the rear as they should.

 

I put a set of 3rd Gen TRD Fox Pro shocks on my 2014. Turned out really well & I'm very happy with their performance

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2022-trd-pro-suspension-on-2006-sr5.772354/page-2

 

@mrproduxn Yep, i had to use a jack on my install also

 

I assume that mine was due to adding the spacer. Funny thing is the passenger side sway bar is high enough to install the bolts with no jacking. Still need to file the threads on the passenger tie rod end for the nut to seat. That's it. Then done.