Bilstein 5100 OME 884 Headstrong Progressive AAL Installation Write-Up

This write up serves several purposes:

1. Explain how and why I chose the lift that I did.​

2. Provide before and after measurements of both the lifted height and drive train measurements. I will also be explaining how I made these measurements. I had trouble finding lift height measurements from other users for my specific model Tacoma, a 2015 Access Cab 4x4 with a long bed. No aftermarket bumpers or caps that would add weight.​

3. Combine all the information I learned installing this lift kit. I will be posting the links to all the helpful posts I found on this forum. Hopefully somebody will benefit from having all this info in one place.​

This is a general guideline. I’m not liable for any mistakes you make. Do your research, be methodical, and hopefully it all turns out well.

1. How and why I chose this lift:​

a. I’m moving up to Michigan in the fall. Where I’m going, they receive twice as much snow as my current location in Ohio. I wanted to upgrade my tire to a good winter A/T in C-load that is bigger than my current tire of 245/70r16.​

I chose the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac in 265/70r17. Toyota recommends the largest stock tires on stock suspension is 265/65r17. While many TacomaWorld members posted that a 265/70r17 setup clears with no rubbing, some mentioned rubbing issues at full lock and compressing the suspension such as going up an incline. To avoid any problems, I opted to install a minor lift.​

b. I like the way Tacomas look lifted with bigger tires and a lift. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money to get there though. I also wanted to maintain rake from front to back. Doing research on TacomaWorld, I found that many members suggested a Bilstein 5100 setup for a mild lift that wasn’t going to break the bank. I contacted Marie @ HeadStrong just like the members suggested. She was a great help. Here are some quotes from our correspondence that helped me make my decision.​

“First, since your truck is a 2.7L it is lighter than the v6 model so most of the coilovers and lift coils will provide more lift due to your truck being lighter. On average it is around 1/4"+/- more lift.“​

“Much of spring selection comes down to how much lift you are looking at. These numbers are based on customer feedback and should only be used as a guide and not gospel.”​

In the front, I chose Bilstein 5100s set at 0, and 884 OME coils. This typical lift usually provides 1.75” of lift. With my truck, I was expecting .25” more, so I was speculating 2” lift in the front.​

I had HeadStrong install the coil on the strut. This way I knew it was done correctly. This is what Headstrong says about the warranty on Bistein/OME coils:​

“We realize there may be some concern over warranty coverage when pairing brands, in order to mitigate this concern HeadStrong Off-Road agrees to handle all warranty related claims pertaining to the OME coils when installed on the Bilstein 5100 struts*. All warranty claims will be handled in accordance with the original warranty set forth by the manufacturer, ARB (Air Locker Inc.). For detailed information on coverage visit http://www.arbusa.com/Contact/Warranty.aspx.​

* HeadStrong Off-Road must have completed the strut/coil assembly to ensure proper installation. Coils are not covered if they are assembled by an outside source or assembled on the 5100 beyond our recommended setting.”​

The extra $90 dollars for strut/coil assembly was worth it to me for the warranty coverage.​

In the rear, I chose Bilstein 5100s and the Headstrong 3 – leaf progressive add-a-leaf. I was looking for an increase in height, softer road performance, but good performance while towing/hauling. With the overload retained, I was looking at 2” lift in the rear.​

With 2” lift in the front and rear, I should maintain rake. I also opted to install the .25” spacer on the driver side to help account for taco lean.​

With the how and why covered, lets move on to my pre and post lift measurements.​

2. Pre and Post lift measurements:​

To make these measurements, first I measured the height of the tire using a level to bring the top point of the tire out to where I was measuring.
​

​

Then I made a mark on the hub at the halfway point. Doing this takes the height of the tire out of the equation. Using a silver sharpie made the mark more visible.



Next, using a level to ensure a vertical measurement, measure from the half way mark you just made to the bottom of the fender.

a. Measurement before lift, ¼ tank of gas, truck parked in level garage:​

i. Front Driver: 19.75”
ii. Front Passenger: 20.0”
iii. Rear Driver: 22.25”
iv. Rear Passenger: 20.75”​

b. Measurement before lift, ½ tank of gas, truck parked in level garage:​

i. Front Driver: 20.0”
ii. Front Passenger: 19.75”
iii. Rear Driver: 21.25”
iv. Rear Passenger: 21.25"​

Note: The first time I measured was a semi-level part of the driveway but the measurements were slightly wonky. The garage was the most level surface I could find. These numbers measured consistently and made sense to me. I was maintaining .75” to 1.5” of rake.

c. Measurement after lift, ½ tank of gas, truck parked in level garage:​

i. Front Driver: 22.5”
ii. Front Passenger: 22.75”
iii. Rear Driver: 23.5”
iv. Rear Passenger 23.5”​

Note: This measurement was taken after driving around the block. The lift kit will settle over the next 200 miles. I will take another measurement after 200 miles and an alignment. Rake was .75 – 1” at this point.

d. The other important measurements are the driveline angles. These are the posts I used to help guide me in making my measurements:​

i. Drive Shaft Vibrations Solved Step-by-Step
ii. Just fixed driveline vibration!!!For free!​

These posts had all the information I needed. I won’t bother repeating what they said. Using badger’s posts I knew that I needed to measure 3 things:

· Transmission output angle to pinion angle relationship (zero on TC > measure the pinion).
· 2nd joint operating angle (zero on second drive shaft > measure the first drive shaft).
· 1st joint operating angle (zero on TC case > measure the first shaft).​

I used a piece of square stock vice-grip clamped to the pinion flange and a Wixley digital angle gauge to get the best measurements possible.

Measurement before lift:

· 0° (Picture #1 and #2)
· 2.1° (Picture #3 and #4)
· 4.5° (Piclture #5 and #6)






​

Measurement after lift: Coming Soon
Before I get into the meat of the install, here are the before and after pictures:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

3. These two forum posts along with the instruction sheets from HeadStrong (rear only) proved extremely useful during my installation. The third link is for a pdf of all torque specs for 2nd gen Tacos, highly recommend.​

a. bjmoose installs full OME kit & rear brake lines with pics
b. Install instructions for Toytec Lift Kit
c. The Torque Spec. Guide​

Tools used:


Pictured:

· ½” drive torque wrench
Note: You’ll need a torque wrench good for 9 to 118 ft*lb. My bigger torque wrench only started at 20 ft*lb, that’s where the smaller one comes in. The smaller one was also good for tight spaces.
· ½” drive wrench

o 22mm, 21mm 19mm, 17mm, 14mm, 12mm socket
o 3” adapter
o 19mm deep socket
o 14mm deep socket​

· 3/8” drive torque wrench
· 3/8” drive wrench

o 19mm, 17mm, 14mm, 12mm socket
o 3” adapter​

· Ratchet boxed end wrenches

o 17mm, 14mm​

· Small and large vise grips
· Metric allen wrenches
· Fluid film for coating new Bilstein components
· PB Blaster, sprayed every nut and bolt and let soak before attempting to break nut/bolt loose. This method worked well, only needed a breaker bar once.
· Grease for coating AAL
· Anti seize, coat all threads before reinstalling. Saving myself future work hopefully.
· Paint brush for grease and anti sieze
· Sharpie paint marker for making visible marks
· Brass brush for brushing crud off of threads
· Hammer
· Rubber mallet
· Pin, tapered punch, screwdriver for removing bolts and aligning holes before reinstalling them
· Extension cord
· Grinder for cutting center pins that were too long
· Light, garage was dark
· 3 Ton jack from HF, honestly best purchase I’ve ever made from there
· Wrench for lug nuts
· 6” clamps for clamping AAL
· Crowbar for manhandling lower control arm and leaf springs
· Glasses and gloves, protect your assets
· Good shop towels for cleaning up
​

Not pictured:

· Jack stands. Mine are on the short side so I use 4x4s underneath the feet
​

Now on to the good stuff!

Here’s the Bilstein 5100s out of the box. In the middle is new hardware for the rear shocks and a ¼” spacer for the front driver’s side:


I chocked the back wheels and jacked the truck up from the “pumpkin” welded to the front crossmember. It sticks out just behind engine water shield. I placed the jack behind the front wheel well on the frame rails where it is boxed in. I decided to only do one side at a time with limited room in the garage. Here is a picture with the jack stand just peeking out and the tire removed.


As bjmoose suggests, removing the front engine water shield via four bolts makes it easier to move the sway bar around. I waited until the passenger side to do this, but I suggest doing it now. Next remove the four bolts (14mm) for the two sway bar mounts. Notice the L and R with arrows stamped pointed towards the front of the truck. Be sure to remount the brackets in the same orientation.



Remove the sway bar end link using a 6mm allen and 17mm socket. Be extra careful not to strip the allen socket out.



I recommend having another person help you to remove the sway bar now. It makes it easier down the road. Be careful not to pinch the ABS wire.

I removed the two lower ball joint mount bolts (19mm). Next was the lower shock bolt (19mm) and the three upper shock nuts (14mm).








Time to remove the coilover! I had someone help me by extending the hub outward to allow the coil to squeeze between the CV axle and tie-rod. Just move the hub out far enough to squeeze the coilover through. Too far, and you could pull the inner CV axle joint apart. Yikes!

Before I mounted the coilover, I sprayed the zinc coated boy liberally with fluid film. This will help protect it from the harsh winters and salted roads we have up here. I did not spray the coils. This gave me something not slippery to hold on to. I decided to spray the coilover preinstallation to avoid spraying rubber components. Fluid film instructions say spraying rubber components can cause them to expand.

The coilover goes on the same way it came off being careful of extending the CV axle again. Before putting any nuts on, I applied anti-sieze. I did this throughout the whole installation process. I loosely threaded on the nuts for the shock tower studs. Then came the grunting, sweating and swearing of prying the lower control arm down far enough to get the bottom end of the coilover into place and replace the lower shock bolt. I used some wood to protect the LCA and slid my crow bar in below the bump stop. I was careful to keep the sharp edges away from everything. I pried down while my helper lined up the bolt. Here’s what it looked like.


At this time, I replaced the lower control arm bushing bolts and torqued them to 118 ft*lb.

Torque the lower shock bolt to the LCA to 61 ft*lb.

Torque the upper three shock nuts to 47 ft*lb. I could only get my torque wrench in to position to torque one bolt. I tried to match the other two bolts to the first one by feel. Not perfect, but the best I could do.

Repeat the same procedure on the other side.

Remount the sway bar. Torque the sway bar bracket to 30 ft*lb. Torque the end link to 52 ft*lb.

The last step I followed according to bjmoose:

“You're changing the truck's ride height by installing the OME kit. The upper-control-arm bushing nut is supposed to be tightened when the truck is sitting on it's weight at it's ride height. So loosen the upper control arm mounting nut now while the truck's up on blocks. When it's resting on it's weight, torque the nut back to 60 ft-lbs.”

Referring to the torque specs, I noticed the manual required this nut to be torqued to 85 ft*lbs, so I followed the manual. They correct this to 85 ft*lbs later in their post. To make it easier, I removed the clip for the dust shield.


Reinstall tires and torque to 83 ft*lbs.

On to the rear! It took me an entire day to do the front. What can I say, I move slow.

Chock the front tires. Jack the rear end up by the rear differential. Jack stands go in front of the rear wheel well, as far back as possible. Here’s what my setup looked like:



Jack stays underneath the rear axle at all times to help maneuver it up and down. Be careful of the rear brake lines and that you don’t drop the axle down too far. I only did one side at a time so that the rear axle is stabilized.

Remove the lower shock bolts (17mm). I had to use a cheater bar here.


Remove the upper shock bolt. There are flats on top of the bolt. Use vice grips to hold onto this as you remove the nut. This is where the ratchet wrench comes into handy. If you get to the point where the wrench is too high and rubbing on the vice grips but the nut is still not loose, move the vice grips between the frame mount and plastic shock collar. There is a metal ring there. Hold on to it while you finishing loosening the nut.


Loosen and remove the U-bolts (19mm deep socket).


This photo compares new to old hardware.


I removed the bolt that mounts the bracket for the rear brake lines to the rear axle to help get things into position.


Unbolt the parking brake cable mount from the overload leaf.


C-clamp the factory springs together. Lower the rear axle away from the springs. Remove the factory centering pin and the factory over-load spring. If you put wood blocks underneath the axle, you can pry the leafs up to give you extra room to remover the centering pin. I started out with wood clamps, but graduated to 6” c-clamps. Much easier!


Prepare 3 leaf AAL for installation by removing the center pin bolt (discard sleeve) and pack retainer bolts and sleeves. HeadStrong recommends applying heavy duty automotive grease between each leaf as well as the top leaf before proceeding. A paint brush is handy to apply the grease.





I found it easiest to slide the top AAL in and clamp it to the factory pack. Next, maneuver in the rest of the AAL and overload leaf. The overload leaf should always be the bottom leaf. Be sure to install the 3 leaf AAL so that the longer side (distance from center hole out) goes towards the rear.


I didn’t think the overload leaf had a correct orientation but I was wrong! I didn’t find out until after I had retorqued the U-bolts and went to reinstall the parking brake bracket. It wouldn’t bolt in. Then I found out the threads were on the other side, the overload was rotated 180 degrees. Time to undo everything. Now here’s where the sh*t hit the fan. When cutting the center pin, I cut the threads. This messed up the threads on the pin and I was going to tap the pin and corresponding nut. I assumed (read *SS U&ME) that the pin was metric. It was in fact 3/8”-24 which I thought was weird. It was at this point that the installation stopped because I tapped the nut to 8-1.25 before I realized everything was 3/8-24. When retapping to 3/8-24 the threads were too weak and stripped. From a recommendation from another forum post, I bought a Grade 5, zinc coated, 3 ½” bolt from Home Depot. The store was already closed for the night, with my truck half way out of the garage. I slept in the garage that night to guard it. I ground the points off the bolt so it would fit into the hole on the axle perch.

Note from HeadStrong: Depending on the year of the vehicle, the longest leaf in the 3 leaf AAL may overlap or come into contact with the factory spring pack retainer. If this is the case, you will need to remove the factory spring retainer. If this is the case, you will need o remove the factory spring pack retainer. This can be done by grinding the rivet head off the from the factory packs and prying the retainer off. We recommend you measure and examine both the factory pack and 3 leaf ALL to ensure this is not an issue before installation as removing the pack retainer will add to the installation time.

I measured from the center pin to the retainer. I was in the clear and didn’t have to remove it. I just went out and checked the clearance while writing this up. There is only ¼”. I guess when the axle was farther down during installation, there was more clearance. Anyone think this will hit?


With the 3 leaf AAL in position, and all the leafs clamped together, add and tighten the provided center pin nut. No need to go overboard on tightening this nut. Used a pair of vice grips to hold the center pin.


Note from HeadStrong: You may need to cut the center pin down should the pin extend up further than ½” beyond the center pin nut. If pin extends up too far it can interfer with the reinstallation of the bump stops.

Make a mark on the center pin with a silver sharpie. Cut off with an angle grinder.


Jack up the axle and guide the spring center pin head into the hole on the axle perch. Once in position, install new U-bolts provided and tighten (torque to spec [74-80 ft*lbs] once truck is back on the ground). The torque spec manual states 37 ft*lb. I torqued the U-bolts to 37 ft*lb while the axle was up in the air. When the truck was back on the ground, I torqued them to 80 ft*lbs. These bolts are beefier than OEM so it makes sense. I found it helpful to tighten the nuts in a cross fashion like you would a wheel. When the axle plate was tight, I took the nuts off and applied anti seize before mounting the nuts again. At this point I torqued them.

Note: There is a correct way to mount the washers. The “sharp” edge goes toward the mounting surface to spread the force out on as great of an area as possible.


Re-install the 3 leaf AAL retainer bolts and sleeves and tighten. Again, don’t go overboard on these nuts.

Reinstall shock bolts into lower factory mounts and tighten. Shock may need to be compressed in order to line up holes and slide bolt through. I jacked the axle up and down to get the holes lined up.

A tapered punch helped for minute adjustments. A rubber mallet and block of wood helped to gently persuade it into place. Torque the bottom bolt to 74 ft*lb.

I couldn’t get a torque wrench in to torque the top. I tightened the top until the rubber washers filled the “cupped” space provided by the washers. Either remember the order of the washers, take a picture to help, or compare with the other side. Make sure washers are oriented correctly to “cup” the rubber washers. I had one flipped and had to uninstall the entire shock to fix it.


I applied the fluid film at this point. Covered up sensitive components (i.e. rubber) with plastic.

Reinstall tires and torque to 83 ft*lbs.

Torque U-bolt nuts to 80 ft*lbs.

Toytec recommends torque all bolts and nuts after 10-15 miles and periodically thereafter.

HeadStrong recommends torque all bolts and nuts after 100 miles and periodically there after.

The rear installation took another day, plus a morning getting the new center pin and finishing installation. I just had fun and made a weekend of it. Hope you enjoyed and maybe this writeup helped you. Any constructive feedback is welcome!

 

Nice job! Thanks for your time and sharing your experience. I will be doing this in the future.

 

Welcome @aahowk423
Nice detailed write up.
Rig is sitting pretty now.

 

Thanks @Jacoma77 !! Please feel free to send me any questions you might have!

I appreciate the feedback @BINK05TRD . Truck looks even better now with new tires! Hopefully be posting some new pictures soon.

 

Wow very nice write up truck looks great

 

Nice write up. Pretty much the same setup I'm considering.

 

@aahowk423 - Have you had a chance to take pictures with the new tires? Any issues with the 265/70r17's?

 

I will work on posting the new pictures. At full turn, reversing, the tires contacted the front mud flaps, not the mud flaps behind the tire but the tiny mudflap in front of the tire. So i removed the front-front mud flaps.

However, there was no contact with the mud flaps behind either tires. No issues with anything else inside the wheel well.

 

Sharing these pics as a reference...

currently have 5100s all around, OME 885 (front 5100s set to bottom notch), icon progressive 3-leaf aal (overload leaf removed).


This is with 5100s set to the top notch


This is with 5100s set to top notch WITHOUT icon 3-leaf.

 

Installed HeadStrong Progressive AAL and am very impressed. My 2014 TX Baja was riding level at 36.5 before I added a Raider Cap which caused the back to drop about 1.25 inches. Now the back sits at 38. I left the overload in. Went smooth thanks to these threads:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/aal-install-second-gen.54186/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...progressive-aal-installation-write-up.615145/

and some tips from this thread:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/trd-pro-tx-baja-official-thread.360056/unread

Thanks all!

Before:


After:

 

setting it on the top notch is not recommended.

 

He is no longer running them at the top notch, he is using 885's now. This is per his original post.

 

right, uhhh...oops. for whatever reason my brain blocked out the "currently"

 

Great write up! Thank you! I'm preparing to do the same set up in my truck now.

 

So I did this front install on my 3rd Gen yesterday and I'd like to add a couple of things. Rather than mess with the lower control arm bolts (which will possibly throw your caster and camber way out of whack, you can leave them and the lower ball joint alone. Just pop the upper ball joint loose, take the brake hose bracket off the knuckle and ABS wire bracket off the upper arm so they don't get so stretched and you can slide the strut out the top with a little wiggling.