887’s with Bilsteins or 887’s with Emu struts

I have had my truck for almost 3 years and ready for wheels tires and lift. Only want to go 2 inches and am not going crazy big with tires. I Offroad zero (none). My biggest concern is ride quality, I don’t want my truck to ride like a wagon. I have been told the top plate spacer will maintain factory ride. So I have tossed that idea around but if I go wit spacer lift I’m sill going to put Bilsteins all the way around. I know you guys are going say just adjust the Bilsteins and leave spacers off but that I know will make it stiffer. Next is the two coil kits. Full emu or the 887’s with Bilsteins. I don’t mind at all to spend the money for one of these kits if I knew for sure of the ride quality. I need some feedback of people that has actually used one of these kits and drove their truck enough on factory stuff to tell me how much it changed it. I know even if I don’t lift it at all and change the wheels and tires , that alone will change how it feels. Also my truck seems a little soft or squishy. Kinda rolls in the turns. So firming up some will help it but I don’t want little pot holes to jar my teeth. If you have one of the above mentioned setups please help. This has been such a hard decision. Every positive thing about a certain component there in a draw back. Add a leaf for example. I want mine raised 1.5 inches in rear. Add a leaf is better than block they say then you read people having bad squeaks with those. OMG it never ends. Please help

 

if you do ZERO off-road driving as you stated, a spacer lift will not hurt anything. There are a lot of spacer haters on here (for good reason) they’ve exceeded the (reduced) limits of the suspension and therefore, broken things.

Personally, my vote would be springs & 5100 combo and not use the spacer, but it’s your $$ and I’m only throwing in an opinion haha. If you don’t haul much in the bed, a block will be just fine too. Don’t spend your money on things you’ll never use, I already did that.

Good luck!

 

Thank you doorsidedown. If I did the spacer lift I was gonna put the 5100’s all the way around. Since I needed to change the rear shocks anyway due to length just thought I would change the front too. And honestly if I’m going through all that with fronts why not put the coils on since it’s all gonna be apart anyway. That’s where I get I to wondering about ride quality of the new coils v/s factory coils. I bought my son a2007 2wd Chevrolet last year. His first truck. Someone had changed the front coils on this thing. It sit higher in front than a factory truck would. I called the previous owner and he said he needed new struts so he went to parts house and got Monroe quick strut that was already assembled this thing rode like SHIT. Stiff as a board in front like it was on blocks. Plus he threw factory coils away. So I ordered new gm coils and had them installed. Rides like a dream now. All this is in the back of my mind when I think about changing my coils to after market coil. And I’m sure the emu coils are way better than Monroe quick strut.

 

887 springs are a 590 pound spring rate vs your stock springs at 700 pound. Just a FYI

 

I don’t think you should lift the truck. Lift the truck and end up with a driveline vibe. Lift the truck and now you gotta do an ecgs bushing. Harder on cv joints etc!! I lifted my truck because it goes off-road and hauls water, spare gas camping equipment etc so I needed a different suspension setup. If I just drove the roads then I would stay stock. Benefits vs risks vs cost

 

But then what would people say at mall or Starbucks?

 

Oh didn’t know factory coils was 700. Thought was more like 540.

 

Oh nice. The mall jokes start. I don’t shop at the mall and I guess everyone is a puss that don’t Offroad. I sit around at Starbucks and rub my vag while I look out window at my truck. Some make it so pleasant to come to this site for advice.

 

Have a little humor. Today’s culture can’t handle any humor! Please take no offense to my not lifting the truck opinion. Anytime you modify something the modifications seem to never end, spoiling the truck

 

Keep in mind 5100s have more travel than stock, adding a strut top spacer will allow them to droop even further. Can lead to issues if you off road and a tire leaves the ground.

 

No BroID I appreciate your opinion. You’re right I probably shouldn’t lift it. Don’t know why I want to other than I think they look awesome lifted. Only 2 vehicles I like lifted is Jeep and Tacoma. I guess I should just put another set of razor blade tires on it and keep rolling.

 

Thank you elduder . So you’re saying if I do a spacer then leave the 5100s off. I really am leaning toward the 5100s with 887 coils. It won’t cost much more at all. I just wonder about ride quality. Would love for few people to post that has actually put them on their trucks and compare ride quality to stock. I have seen more than a few post on here that says the 5100s and emu coils ride like crap.

 

I had 5100s and 887s for about 3 months. I now have 888s and 5100s. 887s are sitting around collecting dust. Stock was soft, to soft at times. I have never been in a Toyota highlander. But the Tacoma drove like what I imagined the highlander would drive like. Soft forgiving and nice on the road. Off road is when I though the stock TRD off-road suspension was to soft especially in the rear. Going from stock to the Bilsteins with 887 coils and the Dakar HD leafs really firmed up the ride on the road. It now drives like a truck. Off-road the suspension has been great. Did a long backcountry trip with my father. He drove his lifted Jeep. I was amazed at just how much faster and how good the Tacoma felt off road with the OME and bilstein shocks. My set up won’t be apples to apples and might not be the best comparison since I have the HD Dakar leafs in the back that really firmed the ride up. Hope this helps a bit.

 

Thank you so much. Yes it will help. The way you described your ride before is how mine feels. It’s soft. Almost to soft. As if the truck sways back and forth in turns. Like it to be more firm but not rough riding. If that’s even possible. And to be honest I know new tires and wheels will firm it up some. Im on 245/75/16 now and I know they are more squishy than the size I’m hoping to get. I’m hoping to get 265/65/18.

 

Yes spacers only. I ran 887/5100 combo before it was nice. My only complaint was the stock sport rear leafs with AAL. 887s in 5100 lifted about 2.25” so you’ll want to lift the rear a bit to keep it level. The 887s up front were like stock, I didn’t notice a difference.


*edit I should add that I’m going OME again but going with 888s this time. Only because I’m getting nitrochargers instead of 5100s and the nitros get slightly less lift than the 5100s due to the perch height. Otherwise I liked the 887s enough to buy them twice

 

If you don't offroad, don't bother with the 5100's. I had a spacer lift for about 4 months with stock shocks and springs until the sales guy realized I actually wheeled and gave me a smoking deal on my second lift. (On my third now LOL!! 888's and Nitrochargers in the front and 5125 with the Icon RXT in the rear)

 

How did the spacer lift ride compared to stock. Also how did the spacer lift ride compared to your second and third lift. When I say how did it ride I mean on the road.

 

I didn't feel a difference between the stock height and then with the added spacers (but then I don't super analyze my ride) ride. Once I got corrected, the ride was so much nicer off road. My ride now is the best though, but took some time to get it right.

 

What was your 2nd setup and then what did you settle on now that you love? Just curious. Lol

 

the 2nd was Bilstein 5100's all around, front spacer removed and the 1" remained inthe rear. And now I have OME 888 springs and OME Nitrochargers in the front, and Bilstein 5125's in the rear with the ICON RXT Leaf set at option 3. I load up with camping (what some call overlanding) gear for July and August and love the ride loaded and unloaded.