Struts & Shocks HELP / Maybe bumper advice

First off thank you guys all very much, your how-to’s havehelped me so much over the past few years. You guys are a great bunch of guys and I as well as all the other Tacomaowners who read here and who maybe do no post here really appreciate all yourguys’ post and knowledge.

Ok I do have a quick question if anyone has any input onthis. I looked up a few topics on hereand got a lot of good information on how to do the work but I have a fewspecific questions on which products. Ihave a 06 TRD Sport Tacoma and I want to smooth out my ride on highway/streets. I am under the impression the only way tosmoothen my ride is the struts and shocks, is that correct? Also it seems like the bilstien 5100 allaround with no lift and with the original coil is pretty cheap and still beable to improve my ride quality. Arethere any setups that would be better, with the stock height and tires?

Also I have a good size bent in my back bumper that I wantedto try and smooth it out did anyone have any advice on this one or know whereto point me in the right direction.

 

5100's are a good product but im not sure if they will make things any smoother unless:

your shocks may be blown, making the truck pogo-stick down the road. a simple test is to bounce on your truck. it should go down with pressure and gently rise once you let off of it. if it does any bouncing you need new shocks. also, any dirty oil residue on your shocks is a good indication that they are worn.

on the other end, you may have perfectly fine shocks and are looking for something with less dampening. your factory "sport" shocks are a tad "stiffer" than the base and sr5's, but I doubt that to be the source of your bother. if your factory shocks turn out to be in good shape, you may want to try and source something with less dampning ability like the factory tokico's.

just remember, too little dampening can make for a boat-like ride. the pogo-stick, old Cadillac feeling. you will also hit the bump-stops more often. too much dampening and your suspension wont be able to "follow" irregularities as well so more shock will be transferred to the driver's seat

I believe the factory springs to be the softest available so no help there.

 

Thank you very much sir. Your input was most helpful. I do have the sport model so like you said I might get some improvement with the 5100. Has anyone else had experience with this upgrade??

 

I have 5100's all the way around with the fronts set at 0.85" and I re-used the stock coil springs. The ride is just slightly stiffer in the front, but I actually like that better. The rear's the same. The big difference is the rebound & dampening. It's much better. You hit a bump/pothole and the truck recovers instantly as if nothing happened which makes for a much more controlled ride. Obviously there's a limit though... You can choose how high to set yours in the front but the higher the stiffer.

Bottom line, I would recommend the 5100s.

My final measurements from wheel centre to fender are 21-5/8" in the front and 22-3/4" in the rear. I also have the Canadian 4-leaf pack. I believe it's the same as the rear leaf TSB available in the US but I can't confirm.

 

Also, running P-rated tires will give you a smoother ride and better fuel mileage compared to LT tires. P-rated tires will be more susceptible to punctures though.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will post back if I do the mod. I am worried because I do not a stiffer ride.