Tophat Spacer vs. Preload

Just curious in regards to ride quality if a tophat spacer on top of the coilover provides a better ride than a preload spacer or preload adjustment on adjustable coilover.

People always talk about spacers being bad, but it seems to me adjusting preload would be worse because a spacer just makes the entire coilover unit longer and doesn't compress spring.
This is all mostly in reference to aftermarket coilovers.

 

Ah my favorite topic!

-Spacer on top will not change the spring rate or valving, so technically nothing is changing except height. *Yes there are some other major issues with that setup that can cause unpleasant driving, but sticking to ride quality for the moment.

-OEM Preload spacer, this can certainly change ride quality depending on the shock. Example, IBP shocks, this would change the ride zone location. Non-IBP, you are not riding with less droop travel from ride height and can top out the shock more frequently. Or maybe you are just adding the spacer to make up for added weight, which is similar to adding preload on a coilover. These spacers are not adjustable and are still being used on a stock length shock, not much of a performance gain.

-Most aftermarket coilovers are adjustable, so you can make small to big changes by adjusting the preload collar, swap spring rates etc. Those usually are purchased with a longer travel shock which provides more damping. A lot more can be done with these, but obviously comes with a price tag.

In general, if you are after a better riding truck, spacers are not the answer.

 

Ok so here's another question: I'm upgrading from a Pro Comp 3" inch system I got about 7 years ago. I believe the springs on it are 720lb. So it's a extremely harsh ride. If I'm trying to keep that 3" lift, and most coilovers only offer ~2.5", would a tophat spacer be an option?

Another thing on adjustable coilovers: instead of adjusting preload for lift, could you run a longer spring and set the shock at a lower preload setting and get the same result with better ride?

 

Just say no to top hat spacers! Unless you do not care about performance or going offroad and its purely aesthetics.
https://accutuneoffroad.com/why-are-tacoma-spacer-lifts-so-bad/

Yes & no. You simply need to have the correct spring rate for your vehicle, and this wont be a concern. A longer spring, although with the same weight (ex: 13" x 600lb vs 14" x 700lb) has more spring space and can handle more weight. Complicated to explain. More lift should be done by adding preload (with correct rate spring) not replacing to a longer spring.

These aftermarket coilovers are designed to be at a specific lift height for a reason. There are limitations within the suspension that all of these manufactures are working with. Adding spacer lifts etc compromise that.

 

Forgive me, but the specifics of coilovers get a little complicated. In your example the different length springs have different spring rates. Why would a longer spring of the same rate not perform the similarly to the shorter spring? For example on your website you have the Eibach 3" springs in 14"x600lb and 16"x600lb. Would that not provide a 2" lift with similar ride?

 

Also, when a coilover states that it's a 2.5" lift, does that means that the coilover is 2.5" longer than the stock assembly or is that saying that it will lift your vehicle 2.5". I know in the geometry of suspension that small changes can make a big difference.

 

It's hard to tell exactly what your going for in the post. Preload doesn't affect ride quality in quality shocks unless you are to loaded you get spring bind. So going to a 16" shock would have you spring collor higher but the same preload would be needed on the spring.

 

You think the wescott preload collar and the eibach lift springs take the pro fox IBS out of the ride zone?

 

I've definitely read on here multiple people going down to lower clip settings because the ride was too harsh on higher clips. That's why I'm seeing if there are alternatives. So your saying you would still have to preload a longer spring to get the same lift?

Keep in mind this comes from 0 experience. But in my slow-ass mind, if you have a shock set at 0" clip and have a 16" spring, it would end up being the same length as a shock set at 2" clip and 14" springs.

 

Yeah. Spring rate is pretty confusing to explain but simple concept. 600lb 14" spring takes 600lbs to compress the spring 1" . 600lb 16" spring will compress the same amount with 600lbs. So while the 16" spring would be longer and sit 2 inches higher on the shock body, you would still get the amount of compress in inches on the same weight truck. Thus you would need to preload them the same amount.

Atleast that how I understand it.

 

So unless your running into spring binding issues then the stock length springs are fine. I upped from the stock fox 13" 600lbs spring to a 14" 600lbs spring. Mainly cuz I am heavy in the front and didn't want a ton of shock body sticking out the top of the spring or to worry about binding issues.

 

Yea, thats why I said it's complicated...

-For starters you cannot fit a spring longer than 14" on these Tacoma coilovers. If you tried, it would require an insane amount of preload just to get it on the shock. Comparing spring lengths on a coilover setup like this is not like a solid axle vehicle with a coil, although I can totally understand that thinking.
-A longer spring with the same rate can accept more preload since its longer and has more spring space/travel. (again getting complicated here). For Tacomas with added weight up front we often times go with a 14x600lb spring instead of the Fox 13x600lb. King comes with a 14x600lb so not swapped as often. You can add more preload to the 14" spring, where the 13 would likely go into coil bind. We have min and max preload and spring lengths for our setups.
-No 2.5" lift capable shocks are not 2.5" longer. They are longer than stock (each company has their own lengths) and offer that 2.5" lift.

@dfanonymous Depends on your ride height after adding them.

 

and if you want to know more about what I am talking about, we have several great articles that go more in depth:

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/tacoma-4runner-coilover-preload-faq/
https://accutuneoffroad.com/preload-adjustments-on-oem-fit-coilovers/
https://accutuneoffroad.com/oem-front-coilover-shock-setup/

 

well I can only speak for the eibach springs but it’s about .75 of an inch more shaft showing. I have no idea what the inside of the shock looks like or how that translates.

 

Send over a message so we don't hijack this thread. Happy to explain

 

Ok so what are my options for getting to 3" while keeping a decent ride? Obviously anything is an improvement over my current setup (720lb springs). What spring rate should I be looking for?

For reference I live in Memphis so the roads feel like I'm in the Baja 1000. I run bad rutted and washboarded roads all winter and spend some time on trails in Colorado in the summer.

 

Thats a pretty broad question. If you were shopping for new suspension, we would need to go through your entire current setup front and rear, tire size/rating, budget etc. If thats what you are interested in doing, send over a message and we can look into some options.

 

Could you by chance provide some examples of "unpleasant driving"?

 

I guess what I meant by unpleasant is the potential issues it can cause. Spring hitting upper control arm at full droop, shock bottoming out before bump stop which can cause the shock to collapse and break.

 

so would a bump stop relocation along with an aftermarket UCA prevent the said issues?