REVIEW 3rd gen suspension on 2nd gen

Just finished my suspension swap myself. I’ve got 2018 trd off-road coils 7k miles on them. Rides like an brand new truck

 

Looks bad ass! Whats your tire size and wheel spec?

 

Thankyou! I’ve got 265/75/16 cooper stt pros and 16x8 -25 stealth custom series f5’s

 

I think I read somewhere that they are coded so the Red Green corrects for the Taco lean. I followed the colors and have had no issues.

See post #3 in this thread
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/question-2017-coilover-color-code.493187/

 

I followed the coil direction instead of color and it sits level. So either it doesn't matter, or I guessed correctly. Here's my other thread begging for help (contains useful replies):

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/strut-left-vs-right.702400/#post-24899759

 

I just did this swap. Both coils had a red and green dot on them. Had my buddy not labeled the drivers coil when he pulled them off you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference unless you went by coil direction. All in all I’m not sure it would matter. I do have a 1/4” spacer on my drivers side and both front fender measurements are the exact same.

 

I followed the paint however my bottom coil did not face the back of the truck but towards the motor, it sits fine with no lean and rides great what are the negative issues with the coil not clocked the correct direction? I have done springs on multiple cars and trucks and never knew of this.

 

I don't think it's the clocking per se, just that the Toyota manual indicates to install them that way, so it's probably a good way to tell which side is which assuming the factory did that too.

 

Thank you!

Yes lift spacers not wheel spacers. I rubbed on the oem flaps but then I replaced with the husky's and had the alignment shop shove the wheels as far forward as possible keeping everything in else in spec.

 

Just finished this swap myself this weekend. Bought a full set of 2020 TRD OR Bilstein take-offs w/front springs on eBay.

I was really surprised to see only 1/4" of lift in the front on my SR5 Access Cab.

Regardless, ride quality is much improved over my stock shocks with 80k+ miles on them. Also, I did red/green on the driver side and red/blue on the passenger side, and my truck sits level in the front.

 

Just got mine back from being aligned. It now sits level at 21 inches from the center of the wheel hub to the edge of the fender flare on both sides.

The old measurements were 20 inches on the driver’s side and 20 1/2 passengers side.

I agree the ride is much improved. My old Sport suspension was definitely tired.

 

I followed what the manual shows. After installing I came across this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmxhVNabrD0

Pay attention (around 3:10) to when the PS coilover is starting to be removed. To me, the end of the coil is apparently facing the rear of the vehicle and I do not see any visible colored dots. That is until around 4:09 where the coilover is rolled over exposing the red and green dots.

Made me feel good about following what the manual shows and how the OEM coilovers were installed in the factory.

 

red/green driver but how do we know for sure that the spring rates are different? only way to verify for sure someone puts in pressure test. if theyre different why are the sport hitachi same colors/not side specific? seems like one of those thing if you didnt know about it prior to installing you would never known the difference then find out after installing and bugs the hell out of you.

 

The point of the video is that the spring was facing back and red/green came off the passenger side. Agreed though, we may be getting worked up for nothing.

 

Watch, it'll be discovered that the color dots are only tied to identifying whomever assembled the strut units.

 

I looked at the color dots and the clocking/orientation of the spring, just so happened the red and green dot ended up on the drivers side. This image helped:

 

And that's the point, the dots don't mean squat. It's how the end of the spring (coil) is orientated to the rear of the vehicle.

 

Does anyone regret installing the 1/4 inch spacer on the driver side to compensate for the taco lean? When I installed my 3rd Gen struts I didn’t use the spacer, but the driver side is sitting 1/2 an inch lower, so I ordered the HS 1/4 spacer, just wanted to see if there was any reason not to install it.

 

I installed the 1/4in spacer when I put my 3rd gen OR shocks on. Been running this setup for about year and maybe 10k miles now with zero issues or regrets. I don't necessarily off road with it, but I haul firewood and junk and run it up and down rutted out old farm roads regularly and it rides great. Not to mention that its level too!

 

Good to know, thanks for the info and I use my truck the same way you do.