2.5 Gen...Can I make it ride like a stock Raptor

You won't match it in travel numbers without going long travel. It sounds like you just want the ride quality of a raptor more than the travel. Any quality mid travel kit and good leaf pack can achieve this. Are you planning on adding any weight etc to the rear? That will dictate what deaver leaf pack or leaf pack to run.

Upper control arm
Camburg, total chaos, dirtking

Shocks
King, Fox, ADS, Bilstein- I recommend having them valve and tuned to your off-road plans and weight etc (Accutune can do that)

Rear leaf/ Shock
Shock same as above
Leaf pack- Deaver (U748), Alcan- Based on load/weight

 

Hey OP, don't listen to Rey, he's like the devil of convincing you spending money.........

Anyways, I shall report back in a few weeks if I'm close, gonna run Deaver U748 leaf, Raptor spec KO2 37s, Bilstein 8100/8112.

Currently have Fox 2.5 DSC and Icon billet UCA running skinny 35s, the ride is still way too stiff compare to gen 3 Raptor, I've spent some time in them and really liked how it ride, hence all the change over now.

That is until the truck goes long travel.

 

I tried to get ahold of him last year to rebuild some shocks and never got a response via email, instagram, FB. Ended up getting Down South to do it.

 

that's not even the same truck.... that one's tan

 

I think you've answered your own question here... One of the hardest things to do is to purchase an apple with an orange's benchmark in mind and then spend a shit ton of money on upgrades/modifications hoping to turn your apple into an orange... 30k is a lot to spend and then be disappointed that your Toyota doesn't feel like the Ford (regardless if you can outperform it or not). It's like getting a new girlfriend who's a bit different than the last but hoping w/a little help she'll end up being more like the last one; that normally doesn't work out so well and usually results in disappointment

 

Clearly an AI pic lol

 

You can tell by the extra thumb.

 

This feels like one of those before and after wrinkle face photos were they are obviously making a different expression and are wearing make-up in the second. He comes loping through the first time with the stock suspension bouncing all over the place, then comes tearing ass through with the new suspension. Now, I understand the stock suspension can't do the faster run without being dangerous and destructive to the truck, but at least show how the 8100's handle the same speed as the stock run to highlight the difference. Then the high speed run video shows you can rip because of that difference. And to OP, yes, you can mod your tundra to do what the raptor can do, but you sound like you don't want to do what the Raptor has done to it. They re-worked the suspension and body (like a mini long travel build) to make the clearance for the suspension travel and larger tires work. Just upgrade to the best coilovers and rear spring and shock setup you can and the ride will improve immensely. Otherwise, bust out your wallet and start chopping that body.

 

Any report back?

I am in a similar boat as OP. I've had 3 2.5 tundras with various different suspension setups.

Currently I have 6112/5160 with stock leafs and everything else and the truck drives so stiff. I want a soft comfortable ride like a 2nd or 3rd gen raptor.

I have some friends trying to convince me to go Dobinson's IMS but I'm not sure that's the answer.

 

Good king, fox or ads setup and good deaver pack

 

Would love to hear an update as well.

In my obviously biased but also data-based opinion , a built Tundra will last longer and give you less grief than a Raptor. Those Raptors ride so nice when new, but IMO it’s kind of a budget long-travel truck meant to impress on the test drive. Start with the best no-fuss platform and built it from there. That’s the way I would go. And that would definitely be with a Tundra.

 

Been living with this set up for a while.

Right now it rides very nice, I'd say 80%-85% to a stock 3rd gen Raptor? it literately has same tires.

Bilstein is smoother vs Fox 2.5 DSC, the Fox is firm on rough roads so it kinda rocks, also when going over rough gravel roads it can be jarring with the Fox. I've yet to go through winter yet with the Bilstein, but Fox was disappointing with the corrosion.

Deaver rides BEAUTIFUL, my only gripe is how little it settle, I've towed a lot, and carry loads, it settle may be 0.5", it's definitely way higher than the 2" lift it advertised, I would take the risk and go with K37 next time.

One part I overlooked is 8112 (front) is lack of adjustment, I thought it was rebound and compression adjustable, but turns out its not, there's a DSA model that allows for adjustment available for Tacoma, if/when it's available for Tundra, I'd likely switch to them, also another note, adjusting 8112 to max height makes the ride VERY firm.

KO2 in C-load is light, and soft, I dig them.

One thing I'm trying to chase down is now the steering is not as precise as before, with Fox 2.5 on the hwy, it was like driving an X5, but I think that has to do with alignment, not with other parts.

also to add, @memario1214 aka Hotshot offroad has been tremendous on helping out on getting the suspension and other parts I needed.

 

Ironically, they said to not go king or fox as most customers they install them on are quite unhappy and swap out of them or sell their trucks. Haha.

 

Who is they? Also valving has a significant role to play. I'd recommend accutune for this and they include it when purchasing. Raptors use fox shocks lol

 

Might try an ICON midtravel like mine... 3.0 coilovers with 2.5 omega S2, 2.5 Omega rear with RXT leafs. not shown is the rear 2.0 hydro bumps

 

^^That'll do, too!

 

While certainly not long travel, it is impressive what a good set of shocks and springs will provide. I’ve got quite a few miles on my ADS 2.5” shocks and U748 Deavers without a single complaint.

A lot of those miles are towing and quite a few of them are rallying it through way bigger bumps than you’d think a 7,000# truck should bomb through. I’m not jumping it, but I don’t have to slow down for much on the fire roads. Just put the hammer down and let it work.

Even with all that, it still drives wonderfully on the highway. Don’t know that I can out run a Raptor, but I can’t be that far off…

 

I have a friend with a gen 3 raptor (35's) and I've rallied it pretty hard several times. That led me on a similar path of "chasing a raptor". They're pretty impressive machines and time will tell if they've got the long term reliability of the 2nd gen tundras, but man it's a nice package. I can't imagine doing more with a bone stock truck. With an entire SVT production team fine tuning that thing, the 3rd gen raptor has gotten REALLY good IMO. It's not just the suspension you're getting. The whole truck/powertrain works really well together and is so much more than the Toyota offerings. The R is insane.

With that said, I went with an MCM/ADS mid travel system, Deavers, hydro bumps, and 35's on my 2018 crewmax and I can party pretty hard. It's not as refined as the raptor, but it's dang good. C load tires make a huge difference.

If I had it do over, I would have gone full retard with the 3.0 front coil overs and skipped the 2.5's. Would have only cost like $1k more and I believe it would have allowed my front suspension to keep up better with the rear. The Deavers paired with the ADS bypass shocks and hydro bumps does really well for using stock mounting points/geometry. I believe it'll get softer/smoother when I put 37's on next tire purchase.

 

A better comparison trying to make it ride like a stock raptor is to compare it to the first gen and early second gen raptors, since they did not have 'live valve' shocks. So our suspension mods would be "analog", and late second gen and third gen raptors are "digital". Push buttons for various types of terrain. As has been mentioned by many here, you can get suspension to work really well.

 

You gonna regear? I'm thinking about it for 35s. I can't imagine going 37s without a regear.

 

Great insight from everyone here- Thanks for the input.

Plans have halted for me at least, chasing a vibration I can't seem to figure out. Have severely cupped two sets of front tires within 7,000 miles. Several alignments and wheel balances later and the only change is less money in my wallet.

 

a regear isnt out of the question. I don't feel like the truck slowed down too much with the 35's, but that's subjective. The OTT tune definitely helped to liven it up again.

 

I'm just gonna go long travel front, and convert the rear to relocation kit, my 6th grade math shows it mostly has to do with the angle of movements, specially at front, even stock 1st/2nd gen it seems their LCA is wider by about 2" compare to stock 2nd Tundra LCAs.

I've even thought what if buying 2nd gen Raptor live wire kit and change the mounts on front to fit a long travel kit, the rear would need a conversion.

A regear will change everything, for the better.

 

have you checked all the steering components (tie rods, rack n pinion etc) i was getting a shake and cupping with constant alignments to find out my rack and pinion bushings were shot. rode great after until i got new tires lol got the shakes back and always around 60mph i just deal with it now lol