Best On-road riding Suspension set up.. trd offroad stock is terrible.

Ain’t bashing you, big guy. Just acclimated to the ever popular diva mindset.

Honestly, my ride is night and day compared to the stock suspension with my BOSS kit, but I did get the 650 coils as opposed to the 700’s. That may be the clincher, it may not.

In either case, I’d say the best bet in getting the ride OP wants is fully adjustable coil overs.

 

Ted pro suspension is terrific. To me the ride is comparable to car except I can hit railroad tracks at 40 mph and it still is impressive.

 

@Etb874 i think your main problem are those yellow TRD shocks. You will get a smoother ride w the regular black stocks. So saying that almost anything would be an upgrade for you.

If you don’t want to spend lots of money, the 6112/5160 combo is a great bargain. Just don’t Max the height.

I myself have a set of Toytec/Radflo. I agree and disagree with what others have said in here. They are not the smoothest shocks I have ridden in but at the same time they aren’t bad. I think they just lack on slow speed dampening but it honestly isn’t that bad. I’ve also ridden/driven a pro and that I can tell you is by far the smoothest. So if money isn’t an object I think you should go with Pro suspension. On the freeway the radflos are great and I can’t ask for anything else.

Good luck and let us know what you end up with. Also if you can you should try other people’s trucks. Post up where you are at so maybe someone might volunteer.

 

Is there that much difference in ride from the top setting and the next one down?

 

I don’t have first hand experience with 6112’s but rule of thumb is the more preload preload you put on a spring the harsher the ride.

 

My Pro rode like an absolute dream while running the stock P-rated Michelins. I "upgraded" to a LT Ridge Grappler and am kind of disappointed with the ride. The RG is a stiff, heavy tire and there is a noticeable difference in on-road comfort. To be honest, I am thinking of ditching the RGs in favor of the Toyo Open Country AT2 Extreme or even go back to a Duratrac. The Duratracs rode pretty soft on my 2007 SR5.

 

i have a 285 70 17 LT duratrac on my PRO and the ride is great. i have been considering going up to a 285 75 17 tire to get just a little more height. the ridge grapplers are on the top of my list but i definitely dont want to ruin my ride though.

tundrazy: do you think its the ridge grappler as a whole or that particular size and weight?
what size ridge grappler are you running?

 

I've got the LT275/70R18 so its (supposedly) exactly one inch taller (no wider) than the stock Michelins. When I swapped them over I immediately noticed the weight difference, but paid little attention to it since I was going from a P-rated highway tire to a rugged 10-ply LT. The other thing I noticed with the RGs is they did not really "appear" much larger than the Michelins. I remember when I got the Duratracs on my 2007 they dwarfed the stock BFGs. I'm not quite sure the physics behind my rougher ride, but it rode MUCH better with the Michelins.

 

im not on ride either. i do know the plys and weight are what causes a rougher ride. one thing that confused me in my research on a 285 75 RG is they offer that tire in both a C and E rating. the E has the higher load rating but weighs about .5lbs less. the nitto rep said they are both 10 ply but the plys are layed different inside the tire. so i guess that means all 10 ply tires are not created equal. also rubber compound should a role in ride comfort

 

Tires are one thing people don't think much about in terms of ride quality. But it is a HUGEEEEE factor. I use to work for Toyo, and I remember when we released the passenger tire called the Versado, put them on a few friends cars and it was night and day difference. Tires are like shoes.....what are more comfortable a pair of vans or nike running shoes?

I put 6112/5160's on the second day after buying my truck, the stock suspension sucked. The 6112's were a lot smooother (even on top setting). Esp after the broke in.

I currently have toytec/radflo...and have about 1,500 miles on them (although with one coilover on backwards currently, don't ask). I find them much smoother then the 6112's and feel they are improving the more miles I put on them. They are a little stiff over slow stuff, but not any more than the 6112's are and they are much smoother on the highway. Frankly, all around they ride like my 7 series did on the hwy minus the little bit of bed bounce that's left.

 

Very subjective, I have kings front and rear and they ride comfortable on road, its a plush ride where even on bumps it feels smooth when the truck hits anything and settles but to be honest its very subjective someone might ride in my truck and says its stiff but I love it with out of the box settings from king no changes were made. High speed desert offroad(no sway bar) they performed great for me, did some hard hits and good sized all 4 tires off the ground whoops and they held up good no leaks since fathers day last year. Rebuilding all high end shocks all depends on how you drive, a mall crawler can go longer without having to be rebuilt but that's the beauty of these shocks (king,icon,fox,ads) you don't have to buy new ones just rebuild them so they actually last the life of the truck. 6112/5160 is a good budget suspension kit better than stock, if you absolutely don't need shocks right now just save for high end ones mentioned. If you cant decide between the major brands then just pick your favorite color (yawn...I know)...ok back to regularly scheduled programming.

 

I'm in the middle of a suspension upgrade and like you, I drove a buddy's '17 Ram Longhorn and was thoroughly impressed with the ride quality, handling and composure over rough roads, steering feedback, and high-speed freeway driving. Ram's rear coil-sprung 5-link rear suspension is tough to beat out of the box especially since Toyota equipped the Tundra with a thick overload leaf that yields about 1.5" of travel before engaging. Swapping to a 10-ply E rated tire compounds the problem since the effective spring rate increases and makes that bucking bronco even worse. The TRD package yellow/blue Bilstein shock is digressive in design for what I would assume is to add some sportiness to the handling although the mostly numb steering wheel even with caster in the green doesn't impress me.

Early on I swapped (note:I certainly didn't upgrade) to Fox 2.0 shocks all the way around and for about the first 5K I was OK with the progressive valving but after they broke-in I've realized the small 2" shock is entirely overwhelmed by the trucks' mass. Coupled with the E rated tires and TRD rear sway bar the truck uncomfortably "pogos" or rotates on the rear axle while the front of the truck feels as if all rebound damping has been lost when driving high speed over rough pavement. My research led me to believe that some sort of rear spring upgrade such as new leafs and/or shackles is mandatory along with a new 2.5" or greater shock package. In addition I'm adding new upper control arms to boost the caster to positive 4.5 degrees or greater to increase the amount of steering feedback.

I ultimately came up with two plans that I hope would help your situation since we both have the same experience driving a competitors truck.

First plan was supposed to be a "plush" bargain - ha! CoachBuilder 1 or 2"shackles, stock leafs, and King OEM non-adjustable shocks. Have some cash left over? Pick your favorite upper control arm and get find a savvy alignment tech. I also considered Wheeler's add-a-leaf and OME Dakars - you'll have to decide whats best for you.

Second plan and the one I'm going with. I should add that I also drove another friend's 2017 GMC D-Max 2500HD and I REALLY like the stiffer HD feel.

This package is from Matt at MCMFab:Fronts are adjustable ADS 2.5", 700lb springs (supercharger/shell weight) and the rear is ADS triple bypass with MCMFab designed U748k Deaver leafs with Matt's shackles. UCAs are MCMFab even though I was hesitant to go to a uniball.

Matt was kind enough to put me in touch with a local Tundra owner to let me try out the above MCM package before committing to a purchase - how cool is that?! Needless to say the test drive went very well. (thank you kind sir) The truck is composed over rough asphalt and I could imagine hitting those trails at an elevated pace would be of no concern. The steering feedback is greatly increased even though the caster wasn't as high as I'd like it to be. The front and rear suspension are now balanced and work together - what a concept! Are you listening Toyota?

I received tracking numbers yesterday so this weekend is shot for anything other than working on the Tundra.

My advice? The OEM non-adjustable King shocks and CB shackles can be had for less than the cost of the TRD Pro shocks. I went the more expensive route after having a one on one discussion with Matt about my need for carrying a load and towing routinely. Plus the cool factor weighed in.

I've been in a TRD Pro Tundra and it's too soft of a ride for me but other's love it. Zero experience with Radflo or the 6112/5160 combo so I hope other reviews for those shocks will suffice. By all means deal with the rear leaf overload spring issue - no shock can fix that.

 

My previous truck was a Ram and although I love my Tundra, the rear coil spring setup on the Ram is night and day better riding than the Tundra.

 

6112's in the front (leveled)
5160's in the rear
Icon AAL pack
(TRD sway bar optional)
Pick your tire for your road performance needs.

Done.

 

Let me just say.. wow. Thanks for the responses and the opinions guys.. When there is something tundra related, you guys got it covered!
Iam leaning trd pro so far since someone has the radflos and commented the pro was a little smoother..
whats the deal with this Leaf Springs? To stiff?

 

Stock leaf has very little arch with a thick (think twice as thick as the main leafs) overload spring. Add weight or go over a bump and the overload contacts the leaf above it and abruptly slows/stops travel. You can replace the overload with a progressive overload pack (Deaver F85) or add a leaf pack that adds more arch allowing for more travel before contacting the overload (ICON AAL). IMO it was best to start over with an engineered pack, ie: Deaver U748 or OME Dakar.

The other option is to replace the shackles with longer ones which add a slight amount of travel to the leaf. Search for Coachbuilder reviews to learn more.

 

Do we lose any load capacity or tow capacity w the icon aal? Thinking of doing this route and removing my shackle.

 

Heard these ride nice on road, but never heard of anyone running them on a Tundra.
https://ironman4x4america.com/truck/toyota/tundra/

 

I did edit my post above because apparently I was asleep this am recovering from a cold. Had to swap the parts respective to their design.

According to ICON - no.

ICON Vehicle Dynamics 2007 - Current Toyota Tundra 1.5" lift Rear Leaf Spring Expansion Pack. Unlike traditional "add-a-leafs" that obtain lift height at the cost of stiffening spring rate and sacrificing ride quality. This new approach, full length Toyota Tundra leaf spring expansion pack, replaces all the factory secondary leafs while retaining the factory main and overload springs. This allows us to modify the spring rate to increase ride comfort, obtain lift height, maintain load and towing capacities, and increase wheel travel. By retaining the factory main leaf installation is a snap.

http://iconvehicledynamics.com/shop...-15-lift-rear-leaf-spring-expansion-pack.html

If you need help with the decision between shackles or an add-a-leaf I would highly recommend talking directly to David Ekstrom. He's very approachable and has tons of first hand knowledge: https://www.tundras.com/forums/ekstrom-design.65/

 

I have the same setup 6112/5160 love it

 

I chose a different suspension set up than most, I used new Alcan leaf springs and an SOS Performance flip kit to lower the rear so that it's level with the stock front suspension. I am using new Bilstein 4600 series shocks all the way around, but I may try a set of standard shocks in the rear just to see if the ride with my short wheelbase can be smoothed out even further.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/2007-resto-mod-rcsb-build.17240/#post-438557

 

I have the TRD pro suspension and I find it to be a solid plush ride. I live on a mile long dirt road with wash boards, pot holes and cattle guards. The suspension soaks up all of this. I find it to be a bit stiff on road but still a pleasant ride. I owned 4600 bilsteins on my pervious SUV and they had no where near the same plushness as this pro suspension. In the end I find pro suspension to be top notch on road and especially off. The faster I drive off road the better the suspension gets. When it's time to replace the suspension I will probably go with Fox coil overs with resivours. If I where you go with Pro Suspension, can't rebuild it but it rides nice and designed for our trucks. I hope this helps in your decision.

 

Just do it ! Everything you need and more !

 

@Etb874 what did you end up doing? What are your thoughts?

 

I have ToyTec coilovers (3") Front, rear 1" blocks with stock TRD 4600 rears. Drove it for a couple months then went from 285/55R20 to 35/12.50X17 on ICON 6 speeds. IMMENSE increase in ride quality with the abundance of sidewall. I will probably go to ICON 2.0 rears, but I don't anticipate the ride getting much better than it is now.... Yes, driveway is sloped down, so it looks nose down, but it is only 1/2 higher in rear on level ground

 

I have 275/70/18 KO2s and just switched from 4600s to 5100s. Very impressed with the ride quality and handling. As far as I can tell, 5100s are the most cost effective option for “aftermarket” suspension.

 

I started with the TRD Offroad bilsteins too. Right away, I found the rear had this quick rebound that just didn't feel the greatest. Swap them with 5100 and was pretty happy. I felt it matched the stock OR bilstien fronts better. This setup actually rode pretty smooth on road for me and did ok, enough to get through (under 20mph) some mild to moderate offroad trails.

Later on, I decided to level the front a little and since the 5100 improved the ride in the rear noticeably, I thought going 5100 in the front would make it ride even nicer. But it didn't quite do it. right away, I noticed ..man, this thing can handle turns almost like a sedan and the brake dive is barely noticeable. But..it stiffened the ride quite a bit and I noticed that small bumps at low speed on road is the 5100's weakness. It just didn't ride as smooth as the stock yellow bils. And they were not a whole lot different doing the same mild offroad trails.

Read enough good things about the 6112/5160 so I went for it and now am pretty happy. It rides smooth on road.. but, I did get back a tiny bit of body roll on turns which is a fair trade for me given how comfortable and in control they ride, but I can feel the tire to road contact through a series of small bumps on road.

I did install the 5160 first so I was able to compare with the 5100 in the rears only pretty well. I know many say they have the same valving, but for some reason, they felt different to me. They feel a touch softer and on larger bumps, the rebound was more felt and controlled. The difference is subtle but for me, since I feel the same bumps and irregularities driving to and from work everyday, it was noticeable the day I stuck on the 5160. Pretty happy with the 6112/5160 and can see now why so many good reviews.

 

@Etb874
To the OP, what size tires and rims are you running? I'm guessing 20" the size makes all the difference in the world. I had 20's on my new truck and it felt every bump and crack in the road. Went to 275 70 r 18 and it's very smooth now and rides like a Cadillac. On the 20's it felt like a forklift with solid tires.its not just the suspension that determines the ride quality, it's the tires and size 50% tires 50% suspension.

 

Get some non trd oe shocks. Those are the only soft riding shocks i think you’ll find