Bilstein 5100 and OME 2612 Debacle

Hello guys, I’m new here and have been using this site for years. I’m in a predicament that has made me sign up and ask a question so I’m hoping your experience and knowledge can help me out. Thanks in advance.

I have a 2010 tundra DC and am in the middle of upgrading my oem suspension. I purchases a prebuilt coil over of the bilstein 5100 with the OME 2612 set at the lowest clip advertised to give you 2.5 inch of lift. I wanted to use stock UCA and thought this was a good fit and affordable for what I use my truck for. I installed the coil overs and am sitting at about 4 inch of height. The UCA is extended tires are pointing inwards, truck does not feel
Safe to drive.

i did purchase new UCA, but I think more has to be done in order to have this kind of lift work. Any thought on keeping this suspension with new UCA?

I am also thinking of having my OE springs put on the 5100 at the highest setting and call it a day and keep stock UCA.

Any advise is appreciated. Thank you guys and happy holidays!

 

Welcome from LA (Lower Alabama)!

 

No insight/ previous experience with this topic?

 

No, I don't, but you can find a ton of folks who could share their experiences over in the Suspension forum:
https://www.tundras.com/forums/suspension.19/

Sorry I didn't mention this before!

Merry Christmas!

 

Welcome from TX!

Confused. Did you mean to say you installed Bilstein 6112s? You shouldn't get 4" of lift from them. I believe they can only provide 2.5" of lift/level.

Is there a spacer installed at the top of the coilover? Anything over 3" requires an aftermarket UCA so if you plan on staying that high, you'll need one. You'll also probably need to drop your diff to keep your CV angles copasetic.

 

Welcome, from SoCal!

 

No I got the 5100 shock with a ARB/OME coil. I believe the number is 2612 or 612. I installed this coil-over and am at like 4” of lift, it was advertised at 2.5. I did get new UCA from Ironman but I think, like you said, I would need to drop the diff. Also I don’t think the 5100 would be a good fit for that type of lift. I’m taking them off tomorrow morning and having the original coils put on the 5100 at the highest setting. Still not sure if I’m putting the UCA’s on, I was having a hard time taking them off, had a shop look at them and they couldn’t either, said they used beer and couldn’t get the bolt to budge.

 

*Heat

 

Grease the crap out of your zerks on the UCA. There's NO reason why that bolt won't budge unless it got bent somehow.

 

I went through a similar debacle many years ago with a Tacoma. The OME coils lifted the front end much higher that they were supposed to but it eventually settled in to the advertised height.

Generally speaking I feel it’s a terrible idea to mix those two brands. A very stiff coil (OME) with a very stiffly valved shock (5100)…not my cup of tea. The 5100’s are much better with factory coils so your going in the right direction IMHO.

In regards to your lift numbers, were the previous installed coils the factory ones that came on the truck when new in 2010ish? If so 12 years of use is going to cause significant sag from factory height…

And if they were the original coils I would DEFINITELY purchase new one to use with the 5100’s.

 

Yea the coils I had in there were original, I believe. The coils don’t look too bad though. The thing is I did not measure before I swapped out the coilovers, so I’m going on general tundra number of 37” for front height and I’m like at 41. I’m thinking swap out the bilstein with original coils and buy some OME shocks to pair with the 612 for future use. What is your experience with the 5100 on the Highest setting

 

I really hope it’s not bent. When I did the coil overs I loosened them up a bit and tighten them up when done ( not planning on using new UCA on 2.5 in leveling lift). After the numbers I got i purchased new UCA and I’ll try to break them lose again tomorrow… I dont think they will tho.. so a sawzall with a carbine blade is available, but not feeling too balzy about that

 

In all honesty despite them looking to be in decent shape, they are most likely nearing the end of their life. Coils and leaf springs wear out over that many years.

Sorry but I have no experience with the 5100 on the top setting. I never went higher than the middle setting. This is a contested debate BUT I found the higher the setting the stiffer the ride. Not drastically stiffer but noticeable IMHO.

A OME shock would probably be better suited with an OME coil…

 

That makes sense, I’ll see if Toyota has a pair.. I need to get this truck in the road