Which suspension changes with 150lbs added to front?

I have a 2008 2wd TRD Sport Tacoma. So recently I noticed I was unfortunately backed into with a trailer hitch it seems on my front bumper. I don’t know when are where. Probably my school parking lot. The dent is really a hole in the fiberglass front bumper and would cost about the price to buy a new bumper. However, I am in an engineering class at my school and my teacher has agreed to allow me to build a simple, lighter-ish, tube like bumper which I’m all for and know I can do. But with the 150lbs ish at the front I need to know what suspension changes need to be made to support this weight. My truck is stock and is the stock height. I’ve been looking at a 2” Bilstein 5100 with OME coils lift but don’t know if I would need UCAs as well. I’m really only in the budget for the front lift and possibly a Dakar or some sort in the rear. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

 

I'd do nothing until after you finish the project. I wouldn't think you'll need to do anything.

 

Ok. I’ve just seen all around TW that it would sag and beat up the suspension and ride quality. I’ll keep looking.

 

Adding 150 pounds on the front end of a stock Taco will affect ride quality, particularly steering responsiveness, significantly.

When I simply removed the stock bumper/aluminum crash beam replaced it with a full-hoop ARB Deluxe bumper on the stock suspension - without even adding a winch - it made the steering response considerably slower and more "smooshy". IDK about long-term impacts like increased wear as I only ran it for about 5K miles before going with a full FOX 2.5 (all 4 corners) + Deaver leaf pack in the rear.

Upgrading to a higher-capacity suspension with appropriately-increased spring rate at the front restored steering performance to approximately the same as stock.

 

Would you think running 2” lift with the bumper on stock UCAs would be fine for not even over 5k miles? I don’t drive much. It’s only to school or weekend outings. Or should I hold off installing until I am able to get new UCAs as well?

 

I added about 100 LBS to the front of my 2nd gen (winch and mount). I went from the stock 550 ish pound springs to 600 pound springs. Stock she wallowed in the turns. Currently it handles nicely.

 

‘You should be fine with stock UCA’s and 5100’s. Don’t go crazy. The coilover vendor will tell you if they recommend new UCA’s. Highly recommend 600 lbs springs, 650 lbs if you plan on adding even more upfront weight.

I ended up swapping out the UCA’s and LCA’s to fit larger tires and “because.”

 

Alrighty. I’m looking at OME and they do not have a recommendation for UCAs. Thanks for input.

 

Would I need anything else? Or is the bilstein 5100 and OME coilovers with it be fine for a bit to handle the weight in the front? Do plan on getting Afternarket UCAs later on after project.

 

‘You have a 16 YO vehicle. The bushings are candidates for replacement. With a 2” lift investigate sway bar relocate. Relatively easy and cheap to install.

Also with a 2” front lift the truck may end up nose high. A 1” or 1.5” block in the rear should level the truck out. Or get the Deavers but that’s pricey.

 

A tube bumper is probably going to be closer to 100lbs than 150lbs.

 

And removing the old bumper is going to further reduce the amount weight gain. The total gain is probably going to be less than your battery weighs.

That's why I said to wait and see. If you need to do something then do it. But don't go around fixin stuff that ain't broke.

 

Depends on the bumper, I believe the ARB Deluxe Bar is about 130-135 lbs, so the net gain is probably closer to 75-80 lbs. For the ARB bar(s) in particular, they tend to stick out more & putting the weight even farther forward increases the effective weight. (Due to leverage.)

But yes, it's also fine to just stick the bumper on there, see how it rides and sags, and then correct it later. It won't be dangerous or ridiculously sloppy, just noticeable.

 

When dealing with forces, yes the arm (the extent of leverage) factors into the load. However, when dealing with weight, it does not apply. If we had a lever with a fulcrum (for example the wheel bearing in a trailer) then yes it affects it. Without a fulcrum, it does not. Where the weight goes does effect weight distribution, but does not change total weight. It is true that longer arms from the weight distribution points, fr and rr springs in this case, will add weight to the nearest spring and reduce the same amount of weight from the further spring, known as cantilevering.

put a 48” stick on your scale and add two 10 lb weights in the center. It reads 21 lbs. move the two weights to the extreme ends of the stick and it still weighs 21 lb.

 

Fair enough. So you'd agree with me that it does increase the effective weight on the front springs -- while also reducing it (by the same amount) on the rear springs.

 

Yes I agree with that. We will see if anything else will be a problem once the bumper is installed. Thanks

 

Thanks for your guys’ help.

 

there are HD springs designed for use with steel bumpers

 

This

 

I agree that all of the added weight will go on the front springs, but doubt it would move any significant amount of weight currently on the rear to the front. There is likely some weight transfer, but math is needed to figure it out. It would move the center of gravity forward though.