Wheels and front suspension work done but need advice

I installed new struts (Bilstein 5100’s with OME 2883 springs), leveled sway bar links, LBJs and tie rods. I am sitting around 1/2” to 3/4” lower in the front compared to the rear. 22 1/4” and 22 1/2” in the front and around 23” in the rear with half a tank of gas. I also put on new wheels and tires. 285-70-17 Wildpeaks on 17x9x-12 wheels. I removed the front mud flaps and no rubbing. I may try trimming them to see if they’ll work, but it’s fine without them for now.

So here is my dilemma…I am thinking of installing new rear 5100 shocks, but am not sure if and how much they’ll raise the rear? This truck is a 2001 and the original owner did tow a small camper at times, but the rear shocks still seem fine. If the new rear shocks raise the back a decent amount, then what’s the best option for the front?

1. Swap out the 2883 springs with 2884s? Will that over lift the front then?
2. Move the circling to the second setting and keep the 2883s?
3. Add a 1/4” spacer to the existing setup to gain a 1/2” of front lift?
4. Do nothing and keep the OEM rear shocks and hope they last for X amount of more years and stay with the slight sport rake I have now?

 

Those shocks will not lift the rear

that would only be done with a block (not preferable), add a leaf spring, or get completely new leaf springs

Edit to add that when I tried to move my 2883's up to the second clip I found it to be too stiff for my taste

 

Shocks will not change the ride height.

1. I'm running the 2884 and have significantly more space in the front wheel well than your truck. THIS STICKY has all the info you need. 2884 should get you perfectly level according to the forums previous experiences.
2. Everyone I see that moves from the first setting upwards regrets it. Again the sticky covers this.
3.No spacers allowed here sir.
4.Truck looks great as is, but would also look great level.

 

good looking tires and wheels by the way. I assume you've already had it aligned. if so, is your caster around 2.8?

once they got mine properly set it moved the tires and wheels forward and gave me a lot more room for the mudflaps. I think there's a good chance mine can be reinstalled

 

Personally I wouldn’t mess with it. The tiny bit higher in the rear is perfect when you have a load in the truck. Leveling it will make it squat when it’s doing truck things.

 

I have a 2003 AC with 5100s all around and 2884s. Once the struts settled in, the truck sits pretty much level front to back. I added Firestone Ride Rite airbags because I have a bed topper and carry around some weight in the bed, and occasionally tow. I run around daily with 12 pounds in the bags. Everything is nice and level and the ride is good.

 

I think everyone else probably covered it but ...

The truck may settle a bit as you drive more
That's the sporty rake we'd expect with 2883 (thought it looks nearly level)
Shocks don't lift, springs/AAL and blocks/spacers do, and blocks/spacers are bad news

If I were you, I'd hang tight and enjoy what you have for a month or two before taking next steps. See how you like the ride.

Let's see some alignment numbers.

 

Thanks for the compliments and the advice! So I did quite a bit of research talking to guys here and reading the sticky many times. My truck has the same weight as the 2WD AC since I have a V6 MT AC, so the advice was to go with 2883s. 2884s would be more than level, so I didn't go that route.

 

Yeah, sorry I didn't catch that v6 bit.

Like @shifty` said above, enjoy it for a bit and re assess.

 

I knew I would get abuse mentioning spacers and obviously I went the better way with the struts, but would a 1/4" plate even be noticable? Honest question for anyone who installed them either one both sides or just one to compensate for the unevenness. How much disassembly would I have to do to get that top cap lowered enough to slip that spacer on and back in? If I have to pull the whole strut out then it's not worth it to try but any chance of keeping the wheel on and just unthreading the top three nuts and gravity pulling it down 1 inch? The installation of the strut was easy because I had everything apart and there was plenty of flex in the A-arm.

 

No it's all good and most overlook it because this truck is pretty rare but part of me wishes I went with the 2884s and then had to figure out the rear lift but it's done now and I'd hate to mess with it unless I can do it with little effort. Thanks again!

 

Few other thoughts to share here. Take it or leave it, just my 2¢ which I'm sure some may disagree with.

As you may come to learn, or may already know, everything in life is a dance. That dance is how we get to "balance", and "balance" is what's right/good/healthy for us, specifically, because everyone is different. Sometimes things go too far one way, and you suffer. Other times you go the other way, and you suffer. The downside to heeding advice is, "are the ones giving me advice and/or the advice I'm choosing to heed what's right for me?" Sad truth is, you often never know until you get in there and do it. Experience is the best teacher.

That underlying truth is going to apply individually to each little paragraph I type after the following periods...

Caster - i.e. how far forward the wheel is tilted toward the front of the truck - is a little on the low/stock side. This isn't indicative of a "problem", but go jump on a stretch of highway or interstate where you can run in a straight line for a few minutes at 55-85mph. If you find, for example, the truck seems to drift a bit at highway speeds, won't stay on-center very well, or it's really f'n fast or slow to respond to course corrections at higher speeds, you may want to bump up the caster. I know it sucks to pay for another alignment, but you should know, some shops will touch-up for free within a few days after if you have a damn good reason. I'd say being drifty at higher speeds is a good reason. Knowing you've done nothing in the way of upper control arms, I wouldn't recommend jumping straight to the upper 2 range (2.6-2.8), I'd look for +1 caster (i.e. ask them to hit in the 1.6-1,8 range) initially, and see it gives you a more solid tracking and handling experience at higher speeds. Some other symptoms of needing caster are bump steer (where the truck walks going over rapid succession of bumps, or it feels like it's "skipping" across the ground or jumping side to side hitting a bump while braking) and touchy or darty over-correction to minor motions of the steering wheel, it can also cause driveline vibrations for vehicles with CV Axles/IFS.

Rear lift - Start with replacing the shocks. It's ok to go with something basic like the 5100s, solid choice, I have them on my truck. I'd get the model# that's good for 0-1" lift just in case you lift the rear later. But understand something, lifting the rear isn't just "add blocks", "add AAL", "add new leaf pack" and you're done. Again, everything is a dance/balance. If you have LSPV you need to relocate its bracket, or adjust out the LSPV for the new stance (relocate is easier). You may still need to readjust rear brakes after, but it'll get you in the ballpark. Others have found that extra degree or three of drivshaft angle leaves them rubbing the rubber donut on the carrier bearing, so a carrier drop or leaf pack wedge/shim would be worthwhile to pitch the pinion on the rear diff upward. As with caster, it may introduct driveline vibrations.

Measurements - it would appear based on my measurements and a few others I've chatted with, the rear fenders are naturally cut a bit higher than the front. I'd be curious to know what your ground-to-fender edge measurements are. Your truck looks damn near level, but to be real, 1/2 - 3/4" is almost indistinguishable on many vehicles with a wheelbase as long as our trucks, adding in the height of the fender opening is just one more variable to make it confusing as hell. I'm actually sitting (IIRC) around 1" (maybe higher) in front than in back. I can see it, but most people looking at my truck from any angle other than kneeling from the front corner think it looks level. Angles matter, it's all subjective, yadda yadda. Personally, I think it looks f'n great, but I also see how you could want another little bump in the front. To put into perspective, the shim you're talking about using, 1/4" to get around 1/2" lift, will give you less lift than the thickness of your fender flares. You're less than the thickness of that flare edge from being dead-level measuring center-hub to fender. That said, you may be more like 1/4" from level measuring ground to fender. With each step up of the OME springs 2883>2884>2885, the general consensus is you get about 5/8" of lift average, i.e. 1/2" - 3/4" depending on cab, weight, and other variables. For your V6/4WD, that may be closer to 3/4" but for a guy who is V6/2WD, they may be over that with 7/8" steps between each.

Front lift - people have been using shims to correct the "tundra lean" and every other vehicle's lean for eons. A 1/4" shim is not going to have enough negative impact that I (personally) feel it warrants caution. I think you'll find, as I believe @Weagle did, though he has a DC which is a bit different animal, that jumping to 2nd notch with the 2883 may ride a bit harsh. That said, other food for thought: $200 will get you a pair of 2884, sometimes less, or maybe even half that if you can find a used pair (they sell on our marketplace here periodically). Now you have the 2883 installed, if you were to buy 2884 and slap them in, guess what? If you feel like it's riding too high, throw the 2883 back in, it's an instant backup plan. Then you can at least recoup some of your money reselling the springs.

Last point, outside of the above, or maybe it's directly related to above, I dunno ... I'm typing 90mph and rambling I feel like: Nothing sucks worse than the regret if you overdo it and don't have any easy way to rollback. That's the shit part about diving in face-first and the "go big or go home" mentality.

 

I will advocate for dobinsons front springs with 5100s. I love mine

 

Dudes did you no favors with caster.

 

I finally had time to work on this truck. I added the 5100's in the rear, added 1/4" front spacers and had it realigned. Probably not noticable to many, but it's pretty level now and rides nice. 22.75" up front and 23" in the rear.

How are these alignment numbers? I read them off the @shifty` sticky thread.

 

Looks waaaay better.

 

Thanks!

Can I pick your brain in this?

Now that the front wheels moved forward quite a bit, with the caster now up to 2.5, it feels definitely better while cruising. The problem is that now the front tire on the passenger side rubs on hard downhill turns. I folded the lips of the chrome bumper in a bit and cut away some of the plastic skirting, but still rubs.

Just want a sanity check that the new alignment numbers and the photo of the truck front seem correct. Would you leave it as is and deal with the occasional rub or bring it back and bring the caster numbers lower closer to 2.0 or something?

To be specific, the outside threads of the front passenger tire rubs when making left turns right on the outside edges of the bumper and plastic inside and bottom skirt.

 

Yeah, you can bring it back a bit.

You may start rubbing on the back side though.

It won't drive as nice on the freeway though.



Everything is a compromise.

 

I have very little experience in this...but I took my truck to an alignment shop after putting 2883s and 1/4" spacers in the front. The guy spent an hour working to get the truck within those numbers, and finally came out to talk to me. Said he got it to those numbers, but now the steering wheel was slightly crooked, and it had a slight tendency to drift one direction on the open road. He said it probably wouldn't wear the tires unevenly and I could take it as-is if I wanted, but he wasn't happy with it.

I let him just "do an alignment" instead, rather than try to stick to the numbers posted here, and we were both happy with the result. I searched the forum leading up to my alignment to see exactly how much lift triggers those numbers from the mega-thread, but had no luck. My experience, for what it's worth, is that with ~1" of lift, a good alignment shop can just do an alignment and not go with custom numbers. I figure most people here, just to level their trucks, are going 2884's and more than 1" lift, and that's where the custom numbers come from? I'm curious on your thoughts.

I've also got stock size tires and OEM wheels.

 

Those numbers are for stock height and up, if you can achieve them.

 

"If you can achieve them". What's that mean? But I guess I shouldn't be surprised (or worried) if the shop set those numbers aside and just used standard numbers, since the truck drives fine.

 

The more you lift, the less caster you can get, due to the geometry of the suspension. Same for negative camber.

 

Alright thanks. Well my truck seems to do good with whatever numbers the shop has for an 02 Tundra, so I'll remember that in the future.

 

In an ideal situation, I keep the alignment numbers as is and move the bumper or the parts that are rubbing forward. I haven't tried pulling the bumper yet, but was planning on painting the rusty bumper reinforcement bracket when the weather warms up. I'm not sure if I can push the bumper forward maybe 1/4" or so with plate steel or washers/spacers.