Is this a suspension issue? 500 Miles on new suspension and it's ROUGH.

Which is it? You said both trucks ride exactly the same no matter the settings, then say one of them rides a little bit better. I'm not following on the thought process of different perches NOT compressing coils. Sure, the spring rate doesn't change, but shortening the length of the coil by going up perches is most definitely compressing the coil. Either way, in the end, I agree that OP likely has some new driveline angle issues by changing the front coilover setup.

 

Shot in the dark….


I DID get a full tank of gas just before I noticed all this… ANY chance I got bad gas? It was at a sketchy little gas station in the country. I have gotten gas there prior without issue.

Digging deep here.


Also, not disregarding the fact that my angles are now wonky. I guess I’m still holding on to the fact for 500 miles.. it was smooth lol. You’d think they would’ve been bad from mile 1… IM NOT A AUTO TECH, I’m sorry lol

 

Its gonna be impossible for us to truly diagnose your truck from afar with limited info. If your engine were not running optimally, you'd likely see some ECU codes popping up, or at least see some fluctuations in RPM I'd think. I wouldn't dig too far into much else until you can have the shop check into your driveline angles and address if needed. The most likely possibility at this point is: things need retorqued, driveline angles are causing vibes, or your coilover setup (heavy eibach springs on 2nd perch of 5100's) is riding way more stiff than your previous setup. When you had the eibach coils on eibach shocks, what perch were you running them on?

 

Yeah I know, I just want the mystery solved lol.

Okay, don’t drop kick me for what I’m about to tell you.

On the stage one Eibach’s, I had a heavy front steel bumper. I had them set to the highest setting (3) to accommodate.

When I took the bumper off, went back to factory, the front end shot up. They only recommend the 2,3rd notch to accommodate for weight.

So, I had it adjusted, brought it down to the first notch, front end came down. The ride was perfect when it had the steel front bumper, after the bumper, after the adjustment.

Then, when I saw they were leaking, I said forget it, let’s just “upgrade” and got the 5100’s. Kept the spring because others used the same setup. Now I’m contemplating swapping that spring for a stock spring, doing the driveshaft spacer, and if it continues… buying a ridgeline (jk..)

 

Okay cool, so you have a baseline of how it felt on perch 1 AND perch 3 with no added weight, and liked the ride/handling of both. I think that eliminates any of our suspicions about you having an ultra sensitive butt dyno that isn't used to feeling every single bump or rock in the road. If you ran those setups, you're no stranger to a "stiff" suspension. So that leads me to believe the "shudders" you feel are actual vibrations coming from somewhere, not just bumps in the road. It sounds like your suspension shop are good people, and interested in checking it back out, so I wouldn't go around messing with too much of it until you can get it back to them. Only other suggestion I can think of is invite a tacoma friend over, swap wheels/tires, make a short drive, and rule out the possibility of something wheel/tire related. Sounds like your tire guys have ruled out any chance of unbalanced tires, but maybe look into a bent rim. Hit any huge potholes, or run over any curbs lately?

 

South Carolina roads can be brutal, but I can’t think of any major bumps I’ve hit lately. Also, thank you for such detail in your responses. You have no idea how much it means to me to have a community that is willing to help.

Is it possible that a tire can be bad without showing obvious signs? I also thought of swapping wheels and tires just to see if they would eliminate anything.

As far as stiffness goes, I definitely have experience with all those settings, and the ride was awesome in my opinion. No super sensitive butt here lol.

so, that’s why I think coincidentally, something else may be at play. As soon as I get it back from the suspension shop today, I can at least say for certain everything is good there, then go from there.

 

Most definitely, you can have an "out of round" tire, or factory defect, whatever you wanna call it. And a tire shop can even balance one out. The best thing is to have them road force balanced, and a tech can then see if they're "within spec", meaning no tires are perfectly 'round' but have to be within a certain tolerance at least. BUT, if tires were the issue, you would've known from day 1 that you got tires (unless you slung a weight off, but you've had them rebalanced, so no concern there). If tires were fine before, I'd be looking elsewhere. Bent rim also doesn't seem likely, bc it would be consistent and very easily replicable (you'd feel it at certain speeds and would increasingly get worse at higher speeds). All that to say, I wouldn't spend any more money chasing wheel/tire possibilities. Swapping sets with a friend for a quick test drive is easy and free to rule that out.

 

Understood

Side question… back to the fuel pump.. some people say they are an all or nothing fail point. So, if mine was on the way out.. could it cause these issues? Or does it really just stop all together?

Toyota did the recall for mine already. Just curious.

 

I'm not really familiar with this topic to be honest, so couldn't tell ya.

 

Manufacturers match shock valving to vehicle (and coil) specific applications. The Eibach struts you removed are compression/rebound adjusted for the Eibach springs. Bilstein 5100's are set up for stock springs. Those who run OME springs with other shocks (like myself OME 887's and Bilstein 5100's) are mix and matching products are most are fine with it. I would suggest stock springs on whatever notch you prefer on the 5100's, or replace the 5100's with the same Eibach struts you had before.

 

Is it all the time or is it more pronounced when you are pressing the gas/feathering the throttle on the highway? These trucks are infamous for having shitty rear differentials. Also if the alignment is slightly off at the toe one tire could be skipping across the road making that high speed vibration.

 

I raised it to the 5th perch and went up to 285/70s Toyo at3s and the short bed is on 265/70 Toyo at3s. I think it may ride a tad better because of the wider tire and it has 20k miles on it as our other 2018 has 60K on it. Same suspension, set up, wheels etc.

 

Compressing coils affects preload which most certainly affects ride. Not sure why you’d think otherwise tbh

 

I think you need to do some more research, not debating it as it's been discussed many times. But your intitled to your opinion.

 

Can you shoot a link to a video or a thread that discusses this?

 

There's a vendor on here that advises against top perch. I install suspensions professionally and advise against it as well. On any of the bilstiens.

Extended length or not you're no getting height for free. You pay with ride quality.

Thats why 5100's with anything but OEM needs to be on zero, and anything above 4 is garbage for ride.

 

That is what a vendor advises, ok. The shop I have been using is extremely well know in off road suspensions and advises otherwise. Bilstein advises not to use the top perch on certain trim levels on the Tacomas, however mine doesn't fall under that category so the 5th is ok. So per Bilstein and my trusted shop the 5th works for my trim level and I see no ride quality difference between the 4th and 5th settings as the spring rate doesn't change just the perch setting. Not debating this any further as its been discussed several times so it is what it is. People can make their own opinion on this either based on what they read, vendors advise or someone who has has first hand experience.

 

5100 have 4 settings and any above the 3rd at 1.75 inches require new UCA to get aligned and many posts on all this with a search.
Here is the Bilstein link:
E4-WM5-Y686A00_0 (bilsteinus.com)

So set the front at 1.75 as highest. All installed per pic correctly and bolts/nuts tight.
Get alignment. Verify all cams tightened
Check that CVs and wheel bearings good and they put the ECGS bushing in correctly (see their site) and not pushed in too far.
Front diff correctly filled and not damaged by bushing install.
Rebalance (Road Force) and rotate the tires. Are you running SL (C) or E rated tires as big diff in ride.
Front brakes as a caliper hanging up and/or bad rotors. Brake lines are stock and too short and damaged.
Steering rack and tie rods all OK.
Basically any part that the shop touched need to be checked plus the rest.

Doubtful but verify no issues with any front of engine accessories failing and bearings bad so shaking. Includes idlers and tensioner.

After all done and the vibration is still there now time to determine if in the drivetrain or rear.
U-joints or center.
Springs, bushings, or an altered pinion angle.
Rear brakes or drums thrown a weight.
Rear diff or bearings.

That's a start so hunt on.

 

Just so you know you sent a link of a pdf that’s on your computer, not a hyperlink to something on the internet.

 

Thanks Merling link is fixed I needed more coffee.