Budget Suspension Upgrade

I can relate to a lot of what your speaking to. My 2020 SR came with the 245 size tires and of course stock suspension. Since buying it new, I've added steel skids, sliders, bumper and winch. I was running Bilstein 5100 adjustable in the 4th notch on stock coils before any of the added weight and it leveled the front. After adding the armor and winch, the front was about 3/4" lower than the rear and I was clipping the inside edge of the plastic fender liner on a hard left turn. Just yesterday, I replaced those with OME 886 coils and nitrocharger shocks. Right after installing, the front was about 1/2" higher than the rear. Drove it a bit and it's settled to perfectly level front to back with no rubbing. I'm on 265/75-16 MT tires.

My intent was to keep the truck level and still maintain drivability for a daily driver. Overall, very pleased with the results.

EDIT: The front and rear shocks with coil springs were under $1k. I did the install myself.

Hope this helps.

 

I have a hybrid steel/aluminum bumper with winch and rock sliders, and I didn't change anything from stock. Spring rates on the SR and Pro are probably similar, so I wouldn't worry about changing springs unless you go full steel bumper with winch and 2nd battery.

5100's are a great budget choice, I've had them on 2 Tacomas and a 4Runner. Just don't preload the crap out of them like many people do. Go beyond that first 0.85 and the ride will suffer, and that's probably about the right amount to help compensate for a little extra weight.

You can easily go 265/75 R16 with the right wheels, not sure about the specs on your SR. Or the pizza cutter route.

 

That’s probably some solid advice, I should just see how it handles with the added winch and mount. Much appreciated!

 

Sounds like we’re in a very similar boat. I’ll try it out with the winch and mount and go from there. Good to hear that the 886 springs weren’t too harsh of a ride, that’s what I was concerned with. Appreciate the advice!

 

Glad you received some goods recs based on similar situations. Someone out there at some point always has or had a similar rig setup. They all start the same.