Bilstein 5100 Upgrade

You
After 17k miles and almost getting stuck at camp due to rain and stock tires. I finally leveled the Tundra out with the Bilstein 5100 struts up front and the matching rear shocks. Set on the middle sitting at approximately 1.5 inches. It gave me a slight rack only being 3/4 of an inch lower in the front, which I love
Also added a set of 275 75r18 Nitto Ridge Grapplers. I'm very pleased with both lift and tires. Thanks to Toytec.com pretty sure the guys name was Dave for answering what questions i did have!!

 

Nice. I'm running the same setup

 

It was my pleasure buddy!

Feel free to call us anytime with any questions.



-David

 

Sweet! I'm running the same exact setup on a '13 crewmax and love it!

 

Looks awesome!!! My 5100 kit should be here next week I ordered from Low Range Offroad. Plan on doing the exact same setup with 5100s on middle setting and 275/70R18 Ridge Grapplers. Did you have any rubbing going to the higher tire?

 

I decided on the exact same setup. 5100s with the front on middle.
I'm going to go with 20s though. Any idea how big I can go with tires?

 

Hi fellas and welcome! 556, the tires you're looking at should fit fine without any rubbing and they're a great tire, at my shop we sell a ton of them. Eyoung, the largest tire you can fit depends on whether or not you're willing to do a little trimming. Thanks to @csuviper there's a thread on here that he created listing tire sizes by generation and amount of lift. I think it's Official Tundra Wheel and Tire Setups...very informative.

 

Looking good Ben!

 

No rubbing at all. Very pleased with both tires and lift..tires have a slight hmm at 80 mph you have to turn the radio off to even hear it.

 

Not sure how big you can go, like stated there's tons of threads on here to tell you that. I could have probably went one tire size up from what I have with no issues, but I really didn't want that.

 

Hi Ben! Have you noticed a decrease, large or small, in gas mileage with the bigger rubber?

 

I've only put about 300 miles on them this weekend, but I was towing a 20ft trailer with two side by aides on it. When that tow and haul button is pushed it suck gas. But once I get some miles on them I'll let ya know. They actually make my speedo read correct thought instead of 2mph slower.

 

Thanks Ben! I put a lot of Ridge Grapplers on at my shop but never get any feed back. I'm just curious to see what adding an inch and 20+ pounds per corner does. I'm guessing that it's gonna be pretty minimal at highway speeds.

 

I have the 5100's at the middle setting and I went from the stock 275 55 20 tires to the 295 55 20 ridge grapplers. I lost about 1.5 mpg. getting about 15.0 mpg now.

 

Thanks Netmonkey! 1 to 2 mpg is a loss I can live with.

 

My stock tires weigh 52 and the Nittos weigh 60. That is from website specs. I didn't actually weigh them.

 

this goes without saying.
adding bigger, heavier tires is going to hurt gas mileage. running a higher sitting, less aerodynamic suspension set-up is going to negatively affect mileage.

 

I knew it would have a negative affect, I was more interested in seeing if anyone had actually done a before and after comparison. The Bilsteins put me just under 1.75" higher in the front and any affect that had was negligible (I'm still averaging 18 - 18.5 highway). My interest is if anyone had specifically calculated their mileage loss after the increased tire weight. My P's weigh in at 43 lbs and the LT's I'm considering weigh in at 58 to 60 lbs. Either way, the loss isn't going to sway my decision, the skinny little P's need to go

 

Is this the setup he used, except for a 2nd Gen?
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com...-Front-and-Rear-Shocks-for-07Tundra_p_32.html

 

Yes that is the set up I used on the second setting.

 

Thanks, I think I'm going to do just the fronts, I just dont know yet if I'm going to the top setting, or the middle. Are there any disadvantages to putting them on the highest setting? Is it in a "danger" zone or is it not a problem for a pavement queen?

 

I didn't want to go to highest setting due to the amount I tow with it. It would make the front sit way higher than the rear with a load on it. And I personally am not a fan of the rack to the rear look. I did consider putting it on the highest setting and adding air bags to the rear. I may do that in the future with a bigger tire, just not sure yet.

 

I recently added the 5100's on the top setting, and went from 285/70/17 (33") to 315/70/17 (34.5")BFG KO2 tires. Gas mileage went from 13.7 range to about 13.25 range. Not enough miles to really prove that out. About 3 tanks worth. Also, I was surprised by the negative impact it has on acceleration and braking distance. Hard to believe a vehicle making 400lbs of torque would have a noticeable difference with something like that, but I feel like it does. Am I crazy?

 

Any rubbing issue with the 315? Are they on stock rims?

 

Toby, not really in the danger zone but you're going over the 'magic' 2 inches so if you go to the top setting do yourself a favor and spend the extra $30 bucks and get some diff drop spacers. It'll keep the CV boots from tearing and the joints from prematurely wearing out. Other than that, it can be a little harder to align and even though it's level the truck has the appearance of sitting slightly nose high.

 

My '13 on the middle setting.

 

I have the Rock Warrior rims, and they removed the plastic mud flappy jobbers and banged the skid plate a few times. They had me prepped that a body mount chop might be needed...but it wasn't.

 

Thanks for the pic, it looks and sounds like the middle setting is the best bet for me. My mechanic quoted me $715 for shocks, parts, labor , tax and alignment. It is a little more than I wanted to spend just to "level it out", but I think I'm going to start putting some aside to get this done.

 

I love mine on the middle setting. IMO it looks better and definitely handles better. When you do it I'm sure you'll be very happy and $715 sounds like a really good deal. I started a thread, Bilstein 5100's and Alignment on here, there are a couple more pics, one of which is my alignment printout. The specs on there will keep you within Toyota specs. Keep us posted.

 

Bilstein 5100 front and rear. Front at top setting.