Suspension Question

New to the forum and first time posting. I recently rolled over 120k on my truck and needed tires so it seemed like a good time to upgrade the suspension. When I bought the truck in 2016 the dealer had already put a leveling kit on it with a 2.25" spacer upfront and a 2" spacer in rear on 33's.

I wanted to keep the same stance, just eliminate the spacers so I bought Bilstein 5100's with Old Man Emu springs for about 2.5" of lift up front. ShocksSurplus set these on the lowest setting so the lift should have been 2.5". For the rear I got Bilstein 5100's (2-3" lift) and the Icon RXT leafs. For the leafs we swapped out the 3rd leaf to give it 3" over stock in the rear.

In theory I should have gone up slightly front and rear but in reality the rear stayed the same and the front went up 2". The front sway bar links are short by 1/2 a hole also. I can add the 3rd leaf in with the add-a-leaf to get my stance back. One concern would be that the rear 5100's may end up being too short. I'm also concerned that the front lift may be over 3" from stock and could lead to issues with the UCA's.

Any ideas on why swapping out a 2.25" spacer for a 2.5" front coilover would raise the front end 2"?

Pre-suspension running 35's I had 41.375" ground to fender in front and 42.75" ground to fender in the rear. Post-suspension I have 43.5" front and 42.75" rear (squatted - not cool).

Thanks

 

No need to touch the rear just for leveling. The front depending on 2wd vs 4wd does fine with spacers and the Bilsteins WILL change the ride feel.

 

I put a set of Bilstein 6112 coilovers on the front of my truck set to 2.5 inches. On the back I put a set of Bilstein 5100’s. Since I have the front shocks all the way up I put a set of Dirt King UCA’s. It rides great on the road and works well offroad. Next I’m getting a set of Deaver leaf springs although I like the ride from the stock leafs. More research needed.

 

Still don't understand the leveling issue when it only requires lifting the front. That is unless one wants to change out everything.

 

May just wand to give it a couple miles to see if the new springs settle in, I added a spring to the rear of mine to help with the payload, which even if kept to Toyota limits caused the rear to sag a bit, so you may go with the add a leaf and see if it bumps the rear up a bit without making the ride too harsh

 

I did some searching and saw that the springs may settle 1/4-1/2". Since the coil is hitting the inside of the uca just sitting in the driveway and there isn't enough adjustment in the camber bolt I chose to pull the shocks. Sitting side by side on the ground the shocks are the exact same length so it has to be the springs that are the issue. I'm going to have the factory springs put on the Bilsteins and call it a day. The truck rode fine before I was just starting to notice some sag in rear with light loads and noticed the leafs had a negative arch. That led me down the rabbit hole on the rest of the suspension. Sorry of regretting it now.

 

Did you retain the spacers in the front? If so, ditch them. Anything over 3” of lift in the front can cause a host of issues, especially with the alignment. Typically, going 2.5”+ in the front requires new upper control arms to correct the camber/castor issues you run into.

Also, 5100’s behave strangely when using a coil other than factory. It is generally advised to use the factory coils with him unless they are sold as a kit from a manufacturer who has worked out the kinks of lift height.

Would you mind posting some pics of your setup?

 

The whole idea was to eliminate any spacers and just have the same lift height done with suspension. I did buy the shocks with springs assembled from Shocks Surplus.

 

Bilstein does a whole series of podcasts and YouTube videos. They are pretty clear that the 5100 are designed to work with the stock springs and should only be used with them.

I would purchase a new set of OEM springs or see if Eibach (they may manufacture the OEM spring) has a stock set. Or, send the 5100's back and upgrade to the 6112. They come with the springs.