REVIEW 3rd gen suspension on 2nd gen

Yes, that is a very, very, good deal. I paid $100 more for the same package.

Almost too good if you know what I mean. Smart to do the deal in a public space. Bring a friend, or a big dog....or a friend with a big dog!

 

or a big friend.......

 

I'm considering the same. The visual difference is sure subtle. Did you make any measurements before/after? How about the ride?

One thing I never see mentioned is whether the donor is a 4 cyl or 6 cyl, I assume the weight difference is substantial. Do they use the same springs?

 

I've had mine swapped over for a month now, about 1200 miles. It's a night and day difference ( for the better ) in ride quality using the 3rd gen TRDOR suspension on my '15. I'm happy that I did it although I wish I had swapped the UCA as well. I was in a time crunch so those will wait until the spring.

One thing that I haven't seen any mention is: be aware that there is a left and right side on the rear leaf springs. I called my local parts dept and gave them one of the P/N off of the spring and they told me which side it goes to. Mine had markings in yellow on one spring and white markings on the other.

 

I have a 15 as well and I’m very happy with the ride and more importantly so is my wife. In the rear I replaced the leafs with 2017 ORs, the ones with the part number in yellow were drivers side and white numbers passenger side. But just be safe and look up the part numbers.

 

The ride is noticeably improved with less body roll in curves. Also when off road and going into a decline then incline my front doesn’t hit the front tires/bottom out because of the higher spring rate of the 3rd gen coils. I believe the 4cyl uses a steel block and the 4.0l uses an aluminum block, so I’m not sure there’s much of a weight difference between the two engines.

 

Success! Bought all of this for $175! Kid got his first big boy job and went straight to buy a 2021 TRD OR....then straight down the road to have a full King reservoir suspension, Ray 10’s, and 33’s. Everything looks like it just came out of the box!

 

^^^ Fantastic score! Very glad it all worked out.

 

On mine, the rear came up about 3/4", the fronts were around 1 1/2". My Taco is an AC, base 4cyl. As far as donors, they would all be V6 trucks, the 4 cyl rigs are usually base models and a few w/ SR5 trim, none will have the TRD OR package. On my truck, the ride became very smooth and controlled. The best example that I can give is on a RR crossing on my daily commute- the stock suspension transferred every jolt into the cab and through the steering wheel regardless of how slow or fast I went over the crossing. After the swap, the same RR crossing makes it seem like you're inside of a sedan, not a small truck.. I don't notice any nose dive under hard braking and body roll doesn't seem any worse. I have my stock sway bar still attached.



Here it is, right after finishing the swap. It took me about 8 hrs total using hand tools and my battery powered impact gun

 

Looks good. I'm torn between doing this route, or getting OME 883 springs/shocks, or Bilstein 6112 coilovers dialed to 1.5-2". I think I'd be happy just leveling up the front with the rear and 1.5-2" seems to do that. That is, unless my fronts have sagged and I have a low baseline, in which case I might be jacking it up too much. That would be a benefit of a full 3rd gen takeoff with the rear leaves included I suppose.

This link has my measurements and pics if anyone has comments:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ome-2-kit.700795/#post-24836589

I'm a little unclear on the benefit of the 3rd gen UCAs, what do they provide? I expect swapping them may be the most painful part of the swap.

 

3rd gen UCA are the same as 2nd gen, the benefit ( at least for me) would be that the pivot bushings and ball joints are practically brand new, this saves the headache of rebuilding the stock UCAs. Since I have zero plans of putting on big tires or beating on the truck off road, the silly weak stock UCA's will work for me ( no need for beefy after market pieces). Since mine were included in the package deal that I purchased, it makes sense to use them. I'll just wait for the time to arrive that the front ends needs a rebuild, that's when I'll swap them in.

On my truck, I didn't give before and after measurements because I pulled my dimensions differently than most people. 98% of the people seem to want to "eyeball" the center of the wheel and get a accurate measurement. That doesn't work because there isn't a solid point on the center cap to get a consistent place to place the tape measure against. I went to the top of the lip on the steel wheel to get a good repetitive measuring point. That's what the blue tape is on the truck, the before and after numbers.

 

At the risk of getting it bought out from under me, thoughts on this?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fs-trdor-suspension.699834/#post-24783321

I'm also torn on whether to bother with the rear springs. If I get 1.5-2" from the front, my existing ride height would be fine in the rear. Are the OR leaf springs actually better in some way? I'd do the rear shocks in any case.

 

I think that's a little expensive for stock take off parts... but they look to be in good shape. Ima swap the fronts on mine and see what that gives me. Later on I might swap the rears, people are always getting rid of stock parts. I'd probably wait on the rears if I was you.

 

Do we know for sure if there's any difference in the leaf springs across generations or packages? I don't mind swapping them in for a better ride, but don't really want any lift.

 

The rear leafs are probably going to be expensive to ship. I’d bet close to $100 for shipping those leafs alone. (I’d guess another $100 to ship the shocks, struts, and UCA’s give or take).

My decision on the rear would be largely influenced on shipping costs

 

Just count the leafs, my regular cab had only two leafs, the donor trd pro had 3.
For me the upgrade was a homerun
Inexpensive, looks much better and the ride is stiffer, more solid. Really happy with the upgrade, I wasn’t looking for a huge amount of lift, just a bit.

 

What year? My 2011 has 3 plus overload.

 

Here's a comparison between the stock springs ( top) and the OR springs. Both have 3 plies plus an overload, the plie thickness seems to be the same ( just eyeballing, I didn't measure) The interesting thing is look at the 3rd plie- on the OR spring there's a break then a super short piece close to the eye where the stock spring has a full length 3rd plie.

 

Interesting. I have no idea what that little stub of leaf could do besides take up space. Are both of these 3rd gen, or is the top 2nd gen?

 

Top is from my '15 base model 4cyl truck, bottom is from a '18 or '19, I don't recall what year the parts came from.