Ride Quality

This ride thing is pretty subjective; having said that, I will add my totally subjective and probably non-quantifiable (is that a word ?) observation:

TSB with OEM Billys in back and 0.85 Billys in front the truck just seems to be more attached to the road, that is the road "feel" is much better. I think the sense of "floating" that I had prior to the work is what is gone.

 

Agreed, but didn't you kinda flip out over the size difference in the 5100's versus the Toyota factory Billie's??? Has to be a better ride as in more oil, less heat, better dampening. I only had 900 miles on the truck when I did the TSB and the Bilstein 5100's on all four corners and could tell alot of improvement, sports car like firm and no jitter on the small bumps, in my opinion.

 

Damn that was quick... ordered from Sonny at Down South Motor sports on Monday....

Arrived at my door right now...

 

Same here great service. Think I paid $270 for the install of all four shocks and the alignment.

Good luck!!

 

I have lifetime alignment at Firestone... so hopefully it will cost me $0 for installation

Just hope Firestone has a good alignment tech

 

You going to do the front struts yourself? Be careful with the spring compressor if you do.

 

Yeah,

It's dangerous for sure but should be fine if we are careful and keep our heads. No biggie. Thanks!

 

Hey 4x4x4trd . I'm getting my tsb done soon. Parts are on order. I plan on getting adjustable coilovers for the front. Looking at Icons and 5100's . Is your height = on both sides? As i have a 1/4 difference between driver side and pass side (tacoma lean), and im hoping to correct this.I'm thinking that the Icons dont have perfect presets, and i can adjust the drivers side higher to compensate. Or, is it my stock springs are sagging, and just adding 5100's will correct it alone? Your settup is what im looking at. Are you = on both sides? Thanx

 

to correct this. You add it above your 5100.

I have measured and I have the 1/4 inch difference, but without measuring I can't tell, so I never added the spacer.

 

I have that spacer. Never installed, still in box. I was hoping that with the 5100,s or the Icons i wouldnt need it.

 

Just measured and just shy of .25" higher on the passenger side in front and just over .25" in the rear. But I do have some stuff in the back right now?? I mean a .25" height difference spread over a 75" wide vehicle is not enough for me to worry about. But if you've already got the spacer the 5100's are about $800 cheaper than the Icons.

http://performancelifts.com/cgi-bin/cart/scan/fi=products/st=db/co=yes/sf=category/se=Toyota%202005%20Tacoma%204wd%20-%20PreRunner%20Lifts/op=eq/tf=sku.html

 

All my shop could get on caster with the front 5100s set at .85 and a Toytec 1/4" top plate on driver's side was Left 1.45* and Right 1.54* which was still in the green.
I was concerned about the low numbers but the truck rides well without any issues at any highway speed and around town.
No doubt going any higher on the 5100s would have caused caster to be even lower which I believe would cause wandering,bump steer etc.on my truck.
I got to believe there are many truck lifted 1.75+" with stock uca's that have wandering and bump steer issues that are overlooked because the truck looks good.

 

I'm headed for the same setup (4x5100's w/ fronts at .85' and tsb pack). I'm not worrying about UCA's.

I had a first gen and the oil filter location SUCKED! Reaching in through the wheel well and removing those flap clips every time. I broke most of them and the flap hung open.

I bought the Fumoto with the tube attachment. I am anxious to drain my oil directly into an old oil bottle. No more drain pans, no more funnels, no more mess!!! Bought one for the wife's Jeep GC as well.

I figure the additional drain time should allow for 1 cold beer.

 

Wow those numbers are pretty low, do you have any wandering or bump steer at all Joe B?

 

The numbers are in still the green and I haven't had any issues.Even went up to 80 MPH without any problems.Feels like it was before with a slightly firmer and well controlled ride.
Although,i haven't hit any big bumps yet.

 

No problems here either with the numbers set at minimum. Only noticed wandering one time and it was very windy with quite a load on the truck and grooved pavement. That got old for those few miles. That may change when the time comes and I go up one tire size to 265/75/16???

 

Mine is better after the last alignment but I'm still tempted to try different tires. May have a virtually new set of Revos for sale if anyone's interested.

 

I'm not saying it's maxed out because I don't know. The guy that did the install and alignment has a very good reputation around these parts for work on non-stock vehicles. Mostly lowered and chopped hot rods but also the 4X4 lifted crowd.

My truck may drive better set up differently? I only know it drives better and feels better now, to me, as compared to when factory stock. I didn't think the mere .85" of lift, just to level, would affect anything when I did it. When I do replace tires I will get another alignment and may set the caster up???

To tell you the truth I was and am still pretty dumb on alignment issues, until reading some of these threads.

 

Anything suspension for me.