Upgrading suspension on Trail Edition for better ride quality?

Great thread. I had. 2018 SR (not SR5) and it had a cushy soft ride on the stock Hitachis. It would bob up and down when hitting big stuff like railroad tracks or jitter when hitting a pothole or rough pavement so it wasn’t dampening/controlling the hits well. I sold that truck and got a 2022 SR, also with Hitachis, and the ride is no where like my old truck. It rides super firm. You can feel everything on the road. Even just minor imperfections in the road can be felt in the truck. It jitters and vibrates if the pavement has any imperfections in it. On a perfect new smooth road it’s fine. It’s a shit ride overall really. I’m sure it’s not the springs as those should be the same as my old truck and the SR5s, which are soft. It has to be the shocks. I don’t really care to lift the truck and get into needing the ECGS bushing and all that. I’d just like a medium or soft ride that is also well dampened when you hit things. What to do?

Sounds like Bilstein 5100 and 6112 are firm riding but well dampened/well controlled. 4600/TRD OR are soft riding but not well dampened. They’re cheap and easy to find used so maybe worth an experimental install? That perfect middle ground ride though, soft/medium firmness and well dampened/controlled, what is there? Would that be Fox 2.0? I don’t need a lift or coilovers though, just the shocks.

I’ve also got the 30-10 mpg vibration and either need to add a permanent 250 lbs to the bed or some 1/2 degree axles shims based on my experiments and what I’ve read…..The dealer looked at it and acknowledged the problem but didn’t have a fix at the time.

 

King 2.5s with adjusters from accutune and don’t look back!

 

Any chance you still have that rear block? I'm looking and 1/2" blocks aren't that easy to find. Do you have a picture of it? I also cannot find a part number to just order new ones. Was there a shim as well on yours?

Thanks!

 

This is exactly the info I was looking for. I am going to do this, minus the 1” rear block replacement. By chance did your replace front and/or rear bump stops?

 

On the TRD OR version, the 5100 are definitely harder on washboard and pothole roads than the OEM shocks. I have the TRD OR, stock coils, mostly stock everything except for the Bilstein 5100.

On pavement, the 5100 are fine. They ride very smooth.

I put 5100 as I did not like the extreme bouncing of the OEM shocks on bad 4x4 trails. The OEM ride smoother on washboard, but I was stunned by how if flew up and down on bad off road dips. It drove me freaking batty!

The trails I drive are mostly old deactivated FSR and ATV trails.

I did make a change in early summer by adding Firestone air bags to the rear. That, was the best ugrade I have made on any of my trucks in the past 40 years. Much better traction now uphill on washboard and on corners. Before, a lot of wheel spin uphill and on corners. Same on wet pavement. Before the air bags, do a quick throttle to make a left to fit into traffic on a wet road, and always 1 rear wheel spinning. No more, the air bags solved that. I assume the flex in the air bags contributes to both wheels having better contact.

The air bags let you tweak the rear ride to how you like it. Softer, or firm. Too firm though and you lose the rear end on washboard roads. I frequently carry 1,000 pound loads on my frequent fishing trips and off road adventures. Even with that much weight, the air bags let me (if desired) get a 1.5 inch lift on the back. With the air bags, I do not even know I am carrying any weight as it eliminates any sag or bottoming out and insanely steadies the truck under load.

As for 5100s, do not expect a softer ride than TRD OR OEM shocks. They are tuned to be more stiff. Nicely they do not nose dive as much as the OEM when braking, and they corner tighter. All good in that regard.

While it rides harder now on washboard than OEM, I greatly prefer the 5100 over OEM for bad trails, which happens to be a lot of my driving. My truck is about 65% pavement, 35% off road. Too many trips to count now in the past 5 years. Retired for several years now, so the Taco is getting used for its intended purpose.

The pics show my typical trail type for which the 5100 work well. For an overall softer ride the TRD Off Road version is better with the OEM shocks. I cannot speak to any of the high end shock packages out there.

I have not driven the Trail version so I cannot compare it to the 5100 shock.

 

To be a little more adventurous off road I may consider this set up in the future as well for my sport. I like the air bag idea. I've heard good things about them before. 5100 Would be a good replacement shock for my needs when that time comes. I see you have the TRD Skid, have you ever felt the need for rock sliders?

 

No to rock sliders. Hey, 66 years old, about 600 trips in BC in my lifetime , and I could have used them maybe on 5 of those trips.

considering most of my trips are remote solo, having sliders means I can go to more extremes, but I have no backup person and I never see anyone on my trips as is. So just more opportunity to get stuck alone. I am not on FSR, mostly deactiaved and ATV and still don’t need them.

I don’t 4 wheel per se, I just explore remote areas for the nature factor. Trucks just get me there and mine do not need any bells or whistles. They do just fine. I get a big laugh out of guys who buy a new Tacoma, and right away ask what lift, what tires do they need etc, just to go camping a few times per year.

Plus most spots where you need rock sliders, are not on paths to remote fishing lakes.

Funny, go to a cowtown like Williams Lake, and no one has a lifted truck despite spending all of their time in the bush hunting, fishing, logging, etc.

The TRD skid is only because the stock skid got smashed in on a deep washout.

 

Ah some good points for sure. Thanks, I appreciate your perspective. Lots to think about. We’re in the same camp regarding the exploring/nature/ abandoned mines. No extreme off road but would be really pissed with myself if I caved a rocker panel.