01 tundra coilovers

Hey all. First time posting here. I have an extended cab 01 tundra I have had for about 13 years now with 260,000 miles on it with 1 transmission replacement about 40,000 miles ago and a fuel pump along the way. It has taken me this long to realize it may be the best truck ever manufactured. Still runs like an absolute monster in the desert and mountains. It pretty much sits in the garage until hardware store runs and hunting trips. I convinced my wife to cough up some extra money on her 4Runner this fall and got her to get a fox coilover conversion instead of a spacer for her leveling kit. Jokes on me. I am addicted to them. The difference in the ride is astronomical in my opinion. I also decided I will never get rid of this truck and want to build it up for a forever project since it will never be a daily driver. I am going to get some fiberglass and FINALLY get coil overs after talking about it for a decade. Any good or bad experiences with you all would be great with fox or any other manufacturer. This could be a long term project to a pre runner build so many is a consideration, but not a deal breaker. Thanks all!

 

i believe there has been fitment issues with fox shocks @Darkness knows more about that. I run icons on my tacoma and love them.. really cant go wrong with ADS, ICON, King, fox... theyre all good

 

Welcome aboard! It sounds like you've already crossed spacers off the list for obvious reasons, don't let anyone try to persuade you to get them. I have ran Toytecs for two years now because of my initial budget and I wouldn't recommend them for any serious off-road use, only street use. In fact, my lack of confidence in them on the trail caused me to go out and buy a pair of Kings recently. You will probably want to look into upper control arms as well (SPC, Total Chaos, Camburg). I have SPCs and I have no complains of them.

The Icon/ King/ Fox level of shocks can be rebuilt and tuned which is nice if you're considering making it a long-term project.

There's also long travel kits (Total Chaos, Camburg, and a few others) but those tend to break many peoples' wallets.

 

Yeah that was my selling point to my wife. They can be rebuilt and they are WAY better than spacers (I currently have them and never will again). Long travel would be a ways down the road but but not out of the question since I don’t plan on getting rid of it without wrecking it. How about the rear end. They are just so damn light it seems like they will do nothing but bounce around no matter what is back there. Thanks for the replies all!

 

I can't recommend fox on these trucks. I have them, they were poorly designed and honestly dangerous.

Go with King or Icon or even Sway A Way. Look into shock style, Icon are digressive so little bumps can be harsh but hitting big bumps at speed are pretty soft. King and SAW are linear I believe. There is also ADS or Radflo, I don't know much about those but a few guys run them happily. They do look a lot like the Fox design, if you're interested find out if they run a 16" coil. If so they may have the same problem Fox has, if they run 14" or 13" ther should be good.

 

This is a good thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/shock-upgrades-1st-gen-tundra.54505/

 

I like my King shocks and Total Chaos UCA’s my 2002, but mine is long travel.

New options to check out, that are getting really good reviews, are Dobinson’s and Ironman4x4, both Australian but recently making inroads here in the US. A few threads on this forum, you can check out. From what I gather so far, they’ll likely be competitors for top performance suspension options for our trucks (King; ADS, Icon*... but learn the progressive vs. digressive stuff, as mentioned by @Darkness, before choosing Icon).

I just got Ironman4x4 for our 2002 4Runner but haven’t installed ‘em yet so I can’t recommend; I can say the customer service has been stellar.

* I left Fox off this list, because I’ve read they’re not good on 1st gens. But some guys running later gens love them.

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/let’s-talk-suspension-icon-vs-fox.72357/

I’m still gathering parts for my truck just need the leaf springs and rear shocks. but this thread has a lot of discussion and options for the 1st gens.