Bilstein 6112

Recent post by @Pilsner may have answered my question for me. Any additional thoughts my friend?

 

For sure. I am at 1.1 and 1.2 camber and .6 and .8 caster on the text he just sent (at the shop right now). That is pretty shy of what I wanted in caster and the camber is already higher than I wanted. UCAs look pretty easy to add later, but I will need another alignment and I may rub until then. I am on 255s, so I will take it out tonight and see. It rubbed just a little sometimes under flex before. I am also way over the 2 inches that they spec'd. Like 3.5 inches. Hopefully that settles a bit. I bounced it before I measured, but had not driven it any distance yet.

edit: I have the snap rings on 6/5. If it doesn't settle an inch or so, I will go down one notch.

 

They rode GREAT though. There is a really washboarded section of blacktop by me that would bounce me enough that the rear would kick around. I barely felt it in comparison. Really happy with the shocks so far.

 

I will measure when I get it back this afternoon. It will have 20 miles on it, so maybe it will settle a touch.

 

It may not be 100% necessary, but definitely recommended.

 

Excellent. I appreciate your insight. I plan on running the same size tire size so this was extra helpful. I'll likely go with SPC UCAs, the 6112/5160 combo and Headstrong's 3 AAL package.

 

If I went back, I would have ordered the UCAs, I wouldn't have ordered the extended brake lines, and I may have gone with a different leaf pack. I trimmed the 2nd leaf on the Dakars, then still got one hooked below the hanger on one side while installing and had to pull both back off and trim both more. I may have also set the fronts at 4/5 (may rig up some sort of death trap to be able to adjust the clips without taking them off). I am also glad I put on 2.5* shims while I had it apart. There is an OEM shim the stock spring that looks like maybe 1*. My IFS skid is still off, but I was well above 2" even with sliders and hidden winch mount with smitty x20. I think you will love the suspension though.

 

So if i use a 650lb spring and put it on the 4th notch how much lift can i expect?Also i have an ARB bumper.

 

Do you have a wench in the arb? If not you should expect about 2-2.25 inches on the 4th notch ina sec gen.

 

Got it back. Like I said alignment isn't there. Drives OK but it a little sensitive and wants to track a bit. Will be getting UCAs. Right now I've got 60 miles on it and I'm on 5/6 on the 6112 with medium Dakars and 5160s. I was at 35 ½ ground to fender and 20 wheel center to fender. After I'm at 38½ and 23. Drivers side is the same but about ¼ lower on both ends. Rears were at 37 and 21½ and now are 39½ and 24. Tires are 255/85r16 ST Maxx. So unless it settles more, I got right at 3" front and 2½ rear.

 

i dont have a winch Thanks man

 

Hey man sounds like you’re in the same setting as me for the 6112s and also got more lift than advertised. Not 3.5” tho! I’m at about 2.25” passenger and 2” driver currently with a full tank. Originally was 2.5 and 2.35 and they settled after 2 years.

edit: you said 23” hub center to bottom of fender on drivers? That’s where I am at. That should be close to 2” of lift on a stock OR. Not sure where you’re getting the 3”

 

I was at 20" before lift. I do have a winch in a hidden mount, armor, and sliders though so maybe I only got 2 above stock and I was an inch low with all the weight.

 

That’s probably it then. I am all stock other than the lift. But for anyone that cares it’s settled .25” in 2 years.

 

I like where it sits now but I wonder if I should have gone heavy springs all the way around.

 

Do you have spacers or is that your wheel offset. Those look good.

 

That’s the normal taco pro offset at +13. I’m gonna sell them as I just ordered F5s and 285s. Only about 25-30k on mine currently. 265/75r16.

 

I am sure this will get lost in here quickly and there are countless threads on the subject so I won't start another. I thought I would give a detailed review of my experience with the 6112/5160 combo with stock height on a TRD OR without changing the leaf springs. I am doing this because I did not find any reviews that went into detail prior to my purchase. I am sure they are out there and will be just as hard to find as mine will in the near future.

SUMMARY: For those that don't care to read I have found two words for the combo: stability and control. I am glad I made the purchase.

To start off I will say I have many years of training/experience in various driving conditions and surfaces, with different vehicle and drive-train types. I am far from a subject matter expert and think you should come to your own conclusion. Below I will list various different conditions I put my vehicle through. I put the vehicle through these conditions both in stock and upgraded form just before and after install. (2 week process with many hours driven to write this review.) I have found it is best to do it this way to make more of an accurate comparison. To summarize my daily driving style I would categorize it as spirited. I am not a boy racer nor a casual driver.

DAILY DRIVING: Prior to the install I found my truck to be a truck. It had noticeable but manageable nose dive, leaned in corners, and had moderate to severe understeer. It was basically everything I signed up for when buying a truck and not a sports car. One thing I did notice was how easily it shook over uneven roads, small potholes, and my front passenger seat would constantly shake at highway speeds. It felt like the suspension wasn't really up to the task. After the install I noticed the nose dive became less pronounced. Yes, it is still there and isn't going magically away with this setup. It leans noticeably less in corners and it is more manageable as speeds increase. I haven't noticed a change in the understeer but that is expected. The only difference is I am able to get to higher speeds before it kicks in. Also, my passenger seat no longer bounces all over the place as if someone is sitting in the backseat repeatedly kicking it. As far as a night and day difference between the two, don't expect to be wowed during your normal drive. If you are researching this purchase you will most likely be the type of driver who will appreciate the subtle changes as I have.

OFF ROAD DRIVING: For this condition I mostly drove logging roads and very few obstacles. The logging roads I tested on have large washboards in places, some large potholes, and side roads with some obstacles. They are what I have come to expect logging roads to look like and have driven across throughout the continental USA. Prior to the install my truck would get thrown from side to side around corners during washboard sections. This is best described as a boat rocking in the open ocean as it gets tossed from side to side rather than front to back. At speeds as low as 20-25 mph the swaying that would be created from this would cause the tires to bounce and quickly the truck would lose traction. Once traction was lost the truck would start to slide away from the apex of the turn creating a loss of control. After the install this was all gone. My truck no longer swayed back and forth around corners caused by large washboards. I was quickly able to ditch going the same speed to keep things similar for this comparison. Instead of going 20-25 I was easily able to go 35+. I would have tried to go much faster but all of these corners were blind and it is not a closed course. Either way, the change was noticeable and appreciated.

While driving over potholes I found the truck before the install would crash over them to include small ones. I found it would rattle my teeth or give me the feeling of being punched in the kidney. This included larger graveled areas with small ruts. After the install things were much smoother. I found the potholes that I used to feel seemed as if they were not even there. The potholes that used to rattle my teeth or make it feel like they would break my truck were no longer a death sentence waiting to happen. I could still feel them but instead of a punch in the kidney it felt more like being pushed in the back. While driving through a sea of extremely large potholes prior to the install at 10 mph, my head/body would rock back and forth and side to side. When I went through this area post upgrade, I almost forgot I was doing a comparison because I never felt my head even sway let alone my body. As far as going over obstacles such as smaller diameter trees that have fallen, bigger rocks, etc, I noticed a slight change. I go over these things so slowly anyways that it really doesn't matter. I am not trying to break things.

One area I did not notice a change in was over very large gravel which would almost make the road into cobble stone. This is an area where speed stayed the same and would still shake the heck out of the truck.

ROAD COURSE DRIVING: I won't go into detail here as it is a truck and not a sports car. This part is just for fun and to make a comparison most people won't need. After the install I noticed higher speed corners (80+) were far more controlled. I found areas where corners felt unsafe due to the truck leaning heavily it was now flatter and I could go 10 - 15 mph faster and safer. After the install, against a less experienced driver, I was able to outpace a TRD Camry. Yes, the driver was actually trying. Like I said, they were less experienced and had no idea what a cornering line was or when to brake.

CONCLUSION: I cannot for the life of me understand how this is not the stock setup from the factory. I don't know how the truck is allowed to have TRD badges on it with such weak suspension. The stock suspension feels like it belongs in a lower trim vehicle and not one that is supposed to be a step below the TRD Pro but yet still have TRD badges affixed. I wish I would have purchased this setup sooner and not waited 50k miles to do so. The only benefit I can see about waiting so long is I can appreciate it more now that I lived with the OEM setup as long as I did. I would suggest anyone who buys a Tacoma first try the stock setup. If they are unhappy, consider the 6112/5160 combo if they are looking for a cheap upgrade and want to have a similar experience to mine. If you are a desert racer, high speed runner, or have higher needs than I, this combo is not for you. Good luck and hopefully I helped a few people before my review gets lost in the mega-thread.

 

Need an assembled 6112 setup to match the 5160s I just picked up. Headstrong is OOS. Any other recommended vendors with similar/better pricing, who also offer assembly?

 

@18Taco I really appreciate your review! I was 99% sold on the 6112/5160 and now I’m 100%. Thanks for taking the time to write a thoughtful and well written review.