Bilstein Upgrade

Thanks to the information on this forum and some YouTube videos I've seen the light! The stock ride on the Tundra was seriously lacking in any sense of responsiveness, other than feeling like a boat.

I upgraded my suspension to the Bilstein 6112 Front shocks/coil and 5160 Rear w/reservoir. I added the TRD rear sway bar and upgraded the front sway bar to the TRD. Huge improvement over stock. Put the front ring on the second from the bottom and that just about made it perfect front and rear. I'm running all-weather tires and may get more aggressive in a couple of years, but for now this is going to be a highway cruiser and national forest stalker.

I drove it after doing the rear first to check my rear measurement and that made, what felt like a 40-50% improvement in the overall feel going down rough roads. Did the loaner tool program through AutoZone for the coil compressor tool. Only mistake I made was when transferring the top hat to the Bilstein shock I didn't check the arrow and OUT marking and had to recompress to adjust the shock. After doing the front, it handles as if it's on rails. I had the alignment checked and the front toe was only slightly out. Very happy with this modification. Ran me about $1400 for everything shopping around.

I did everything myself and only needed a second pair of hands getting the front shock reseated in the cup and a floor jack to hold the front of the TRD sway bar to get it bolted up.

 

Well done!

 

@TexnSC thanks for posting. I’m about to do shock upgrade on mine as well. 5100’s all around. Any advice? I’ve seen several different how to threads, with a few different methods of what to remove or loosen to get the the shocks off the truck. What route did you take? My biggest concern is damaging a cv boot.

 

I followed this video:

https://youtu.be/iH7FQUjmu20

Really, as long as you use some type of strap, bungee to secure the lower control arm to the top of the upper control arm the cv boot is out of the way. I was more concerned with the abs and the brake fluid lines, making sure they weren’t binding. I was going to get the alignment checked at an independent facility however I found a coupon at the dealer for $60. They often have service specials on their website. Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the tip!

 

Thanks for the Thread . If you don't mind. Could you tell us where you got your coils and shocks and price?

 

I got my 6112/5100 kit from @BOSS4x4s - good price for assembled 6112s. I did the install myself and did a ton of research since I’m a newbie working on suspension components.

a few tips:
be careful about the CV axle - some have had it slip out and caused problems in the reassemble. I unbolted the LCA from the lower ball joint assembly - and had trouble getting them back together. It’s tricky but using a ratchet strap around the UCA and LCA did the trick.

Here is my post looking for help. The folks on this forum are awesome when it comes to advice, help and guidance!
https://www.tundras.com/threads/6112-install-help.65358/

 

All done, thanks again. Pics posted on other threads.