Is this a suspension issue? 500 Miles on new suspension and it's ROUGH.

Well boys,

She’s in Toyota’s hands now. 58,650 on the ODO, paying full for the full diag

Tires rotated, inspected, 80% left on them. Alignment done, no fluids leaking. Suspension checks out (inspected by shop that installed). CV’s look good, so… here’s to crossing our fingers for some good news.

I’m looking forward to Identifying the issue, and resolving it.

I’m almost certain the transmission is the root cause. Just paying attention to the shudder, how everything seems to “lose power” (not electrical) in fourth or so gear. Then it shudders until I give it gas.

Here’s to hoping.

 

Completely unrelated to your suspension change. Crawl under your truck and try to turn your drive shaft. My guess, is that it slips. Not much, but you can turn it some. Maybe even and 1/8 th of an inch.







Bad U joint, you can't visually inspect this, unless it's like literally falling off of the truck

 

Fingers crossed for you. Good luck.

 

Hey y’all,

A few of you were talking about spring compression.

I’m on the third notch with Eibach Pro Springs, not OEM (had to double check which setting the 5100s were on).

Can someone clarify for me.. what I may experience with too much spring compression? I am about to order factory springs to pair them with my new 5100’s. I’m just curious if the compression is causing the rough (bumpy) ride quality. Thanks!

 

I thought you took it to a dealer? And if your eibach 5100s were designed for factory springs then yes aftermarket springs could make it ride different.

 

Did you change coil lengths and/or weight rating between setups?

 

I did, interesting turn of events.

if you wanna read, you totally can here https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/another-3rd-gen-torque-converter-issue.784946/

TLDR: Everything is “normal”. Only thing is.. it’s vertically not. So I’m just going to correct the one thing I know I did change.. my suspension.

 

Eibach Pro springs offer a 2” lift. Also, heavier rating.

 

Literally my experience this past week.

 

So! My issue has to be these struts and springs. Everything else checks out.

5100’s set to the third perch, with the Eibach Pro springs.. apparently, not a match made in heaven for my setup.

Do y’all think I’m causing damage or potentially hurting the frame with my current suspension combo? All the compression, etc? I’ve seen horror stories so.. I figured I’d ask.

Just ordered new Eibach struts and shocks. Will just go back to the setup I had before. It was excellent, in my experience, so I’m cool with Eibach suspension. Had I used OEM springs, I think the 5100’s would’ve been fine. However, if I go back to factory springs now, I’ll have an inch of rake, even on the top setting of the 5100’s (from my calculations). So, I’m taking them off, selling them for whatever someone will give me and calling it a day.

 

I have a limited attention span to read this thread.

The Bilstein 5100 Shocks in the front are only rated for 0-2" of lift on the 3rd gen Tacoma.

The Eibach Coils Part#

$118 33-230337 5125 Series Single Monotube Shock fits Custom Vehicles - Designed for Custom Applications

33-230337 have a spring rate of 742LBS which matches well with the stock Coil of 717LBS. These will give you 2-2.25" of lift on the bottom clip setting when paired with 5100's.

By placing the Clip setting at the second clip you are essentially giving yourself 2" of lift plus roughly .65" more of lift for a total of 2.65- 2.9" of lift.

Your shocks are maxed out and don't have any downtravel left in them thus giving it a rough ride.

Also the Rear 5100's is rated for 0-1" of Lift but you can squeeze about 1.5-2" out of them. After that they are def maxed out as well.

 

Best guess I’ve heard so far in this thread; albeit I didn’t read the entire thread.

OP, have you measured your downtravel?

I will also say that if your goal is a supple ride quality, installing 742 lb/in coil springs is not likely the right solution. Those are quite stiff. For comparison, I have 600 lb/in springs.

Stop worrying about spring brands and worry about spring specs (eg rate and length). I would not be surprised to find out that a majority of coil springs regardless of brands were made in a Eibach factory.

 

Put the stock coils back in As Bilstien recommends and set them to clip setting you would like Done.

 

Also, @disel_V1 spring length matters a ton too. Stock TRD offroad coils are 13” 712# and are buttery soft. Put an Eibach 700# 14” coil on they are going to be stiff. If doing stock length stay with 13” coils. Extended travel is 14” coils.

not sure what shocks you are running but 600# in a 13” length is like the equivalent of Gen 1 Tacoma coils

 

Right. I think the pairing with the 5100’s, especially on the 3rd perch, was a mistake.

Since the Eibach system was pretty solid with their struts, I’m confident going back to them should help too. Ordered them earlier, I’ll be installing them next week.

 

I thought this was a transmission issue? How much is swapping the suspension out? And you won’t pay for a transmission fluid exchange?

 

So, I can understand why you’re confused. I had two threads as I was investigating my issue. However, at the start of the latest thread I’ve tied everything together. I’ve also broken it down and explained step by step how I’ve come to each phase of the investigation of the issue.

Firstly, won’t pay? Son, have you paid attention? I mean shit, I don’t blame you if you haven’t.. I’ve wrote novels and updated in detail far greater than I should’ve in a random Internet forum, but when I have a mystery.. I dig into it. But yes, I did the trans fluid yesterday. Didn’t resolve the issue.

I’ve since cycled back to suspension after ruling everything else out. Basic logic says I made a change, I got a problem, what changed.

The TSB that updated my surge issues seems to have helped with one half of the issues I’ve experienced. That were only amplified by the unexpected bumpy ride. Thus, I believed transmission issues were evident. Since the transmission has been “proven known good” by Toyota, and the drain and fill made no difference, I’m simply just concluding that the mistake I made with this coil and strut has to be responsible to some extent.

 

A full fluid exchange with the addition of a tube of lubeguard was what I suggested you do, a drain/fill only gets about 20% of the fluid.

Anyway, hope you figure it out. It doesn’t sound like a suspension issue but good luck.

 

If the eibach coils really are 742lbs it would explain a lot of the things I've noticed about ride quality and how it handles various bumps.