Bilstein 4600 Too High!?

IF the installer torqued all the locations with bushings with the suspension in full droop, the suspension is bound up and will destroy the bushings sooner than later. It can also make a vehicle sit higher.

The torquing needs to be done with the suspension under load.

 

This is good to hear, I really hope they settle

 

so I torques the top 3 bolts in the air
I only snugged the bottom bolt in the bushing and then lowered the truck onto the ground, rolled in back a little bit and then forward, pushed on it a few times and then I went underneath and fully torqued the bottom bolts so they shouldn’t be bound up UNLESS I tightened them too much before setting truck on the ground but from what I remember the nuts were not very snug when I went to fully torque them down.

 

Were the Moog springs that came with your order supposed to be stock height replacements? I ask because I have searched high and low, and have found next to nothing in the way of replacement coils for stock height, only lift coils. Maybe you got lift coils...?

 

Sounds right. It's sometimes a missed step. BTDT.

I'd see about confirming that the correct springs were provided.

An alignment is absolutely called for, but it won't make it sit any lower.

 

it soecificatly said Oem replacement for standard stock height no lift
I made sure on that one when picking on the site
I’ll get a pic up soon

I just loosened them again to make sure and drive a little forward rocket the heck out of it and re torqued them lol
I really don’t know if I can confirm as I just picked the optios online for standard replacement for stock height
And I’ll get it aligned in a couple more hundred miles
Won’t do no harm
My tires are already old
I won’t go much past a few hundred miles

 

Do you plan on keeping them after the alignment? If so, you need to get the alignment asap. The tires will be destroyed after a few hundred miles like that.

You're way over thinking all this. Your truck will settle, but it's not going to settle as low as it was with the 20 year coils. It's also not going to settle in 200-500 miles, it's going to take time of weight bearing on the spring.

 

Right, this is what I meant when I said he either missed what people said..or maybe he's flat out just not listening.

 

I’ve driven cambered cars on soft compound tires, the tires will be just fine a few hundred lol that’s not a concern
It was actually slightly out of spec already so I could clear the rear pinch weld as my truck was sagging so much. Now there’s a giant clearance lol

I’ll see how it goes though settling wise
Just looking for others to chime in on their experience with noticing settling and or how high it sits with the set up I put on
Or if anyone knows if 24” from hub to fender on a stock setup sounds pretty high or not

 

Even if you go over to that thread with the trucks with the lowest mileage, and ask the guy who keeps his sub 30k Tacoma in a garage and under a cover to measure center of hub to fender on his original suspension, it is a meaningless non-compariable number for you. Those springs are STILL 20 years old, and they have sagged regardless of use cause they still support the weight of the vehicle. Just to drive this home- You would have to go back in time to get that measurement. Not to mention all the various factors which make that measurement invalid from truck to truck.

You are over thinking this- go get an alignment and call it a day.

 

Calling it a day still gonna look for other to chime in on their 4600 experience
And I’ll get a few picture to show what I’m seing and if it looks oddly high

 

Some pics of how it sits “leafs are still stock”
Tires are 265/75/r16
They looked big at rear hight but now look tiny in the front with the extra height

 

I have a hard time believing those are stock height springs.

 

So this is what I’m wandering, I feel it looks pretty darn high
Does it matter if I say when I put the old coil overs and new ones side by side they were exactly the same length?

attached is the options I chose showing OE equipment

 

This is most likely the information you are looking for, for what it's worth - my 2003 Tacoma TRD extended cab prerunner is pretty much exactly like yours, same size tires, newish Bilstein 4600 shocks, but with 20-year old oem front coils and rear leaf springs. My front measurements from center of the hub to the fender edge are 21.5" on both sides. This is a recent photo of how mine sits:

 

That’s pretty much where I was sitting with my old ones with 270k on them
Right now I’m sitting at roughly 24” high ‍♂️
What I don’t get is if the strut is the same exact size as originals when I pulled them out
Will just a stiffer spring cause it to sit higher or would the entire assembly need to be longer than the original?? I mean I assume it only makes sense that a stiffer spring will give lift as the weight of the truck doesn’t let it sink


Your truck basically sits exactly how mine did originally
Maybe ours literally did lose almost 3” and my springs are infact stock.
This is only an issue cause if I do the ORIGINAL leaf’s and find out I’m still higher in the front I don’t want to have to figure out now what kind of upgraded leafs I need to get back to level or higher in back but not sky hi. Really don’t want to have to pull the leafs twice when I change them eventually

 

A stiffer spring isn't going to compress as much, so yes it will sit higher if the spring is stiffer even if same assembled length. 2.5" less compression seems to be a lot though considering the length of the assembly.

I've been looking for stock height springs too and at this point I may just put the new shocks in and be done with it. Don't need the truck looking like a boot-scooting dog. The other option would be to run two drivers side OEM springs since they discontinued the passenger side (that really makes sense). I can't imagine there is too much difference in spring rate L to R? From what I've seen, they original front springs are physically dimension-ed the same and use same top hats, or can you not swap them?

 

FYI recent experience with General Springs:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/brand-new-generalspring-leaf-springs-sagging-bad.780440/

 

I’ve seen so many mixed reviews with GS
This write up tells me if I do go with them that for SURE do the heavy duty ones
Not sure if heavy duty ones are too much lift for stock 4600 shocks and if exhaust will need to be moved??? Like with the dakars…but those give like over 2”lift

thank you for that post, tells me I shouldn’t go with the standard general springs! May not get me high enough

I did notice general springs doesn’t show their HD leafs for both sides for my truck as well so I dunno if I can even get them

 

I would just add a leaf to the rear and buy new shackles and Ubolts and call it a day. Should level it out nicely and it will look solid