New to Tundra - Suspension Question

This weekend I bought a 2025 Tundra Limited 4WD TRD Off Road and love it already but want to accomplish a couple things out of the gate.

1) Level the stance
- based on what I see the most economical way that doesn’t diminish ride quality or tear other shit up is the Bilstein 5100 adjustable shock.

- I welcome any similar solutions where it is felt the quality of the shock or ride would be an improvement for a similar price +|-

2) If strongly recommended I would also consider upgrading the UCA when doing the leveling.

-I would really appreciate honest feedback (pros/cons) on this one and recommendations on a specific UCA.

I will be driving mountain trails, sand, desert, and some light crawling. I’m sure I will go pretty hard in spots but would call it more controlled aggression at times.

3) I’m thinking of going with a 275/65/20 which would be a 34” tall by 11” Tread width. The shop manager at Toyota near me said I shouldn’t have any issues with the 34”, especially after the leveling.

I got a little crazy and ordered some stuff I already know I don’t want so this is the start of me resetting and trying to be more methodical in the planning.

The last Toyota I had was a ‘94 standard cab 4x4 that I loved so I’m happy to be back on a solid platform. I sure appreciate any thoughtful comments anyone may be able to share.

Thanks in advance!

 

Congrats on the new tundra! I run 35s on +0 offset 17” rims, spacer level lift of about 1-2” (came with the truck, I’m going to eventually do 5100s or kings). It does rub a little at full lock with stock upper control arms. In the words of my alignment guy “this is the best I can get without aftermarket uppers” - it’s not an awful alignment but it does have odd turning geometry for sure. Also, from what I’ve read, it seems that more positive offset helps with the rubbing - you should just have to pull the fender liner in a bit and get rid of the crash protectors on the frame (behind the liner). TLDR: stock uppers with a level and 34s likely will work for light off-roading but the geometry kinda sucks.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I’m curious to understand more about the geometry comment. It sounds like raising the front by both the larger diameter tire and lift with the adjustable shocks changes it enough to where it maybe creates more stress on the components in that area and more susceptible to damage and less than ideal driving characteristics.

Is there a way to reduce some of this without doing a full suspension lift/upgrade or are you pretty much stuck with those challenges by doing only tires and adjustable shocks to level it out?

This is my first time at this and the more I understand the better choices I make. I really want it to be level and drive well off highway. Not looking to win a trophy on appearance or enter it on a race

Maintaining decent highway comfort and handling is key as well. I appreciate all of the feedback and welcome any other nuanced details to educate me on my best options

 

Any time! I’m by no means an expert on suspension so hopefully someone else with a little more experience can provide some more clarity. That first paragraph makes sense to me. Here’s a pic of my upper control arm at full droop for reference. It’s a tough angle for that joint and I’m assuming that’ll wear out much quicker than the OEM alignment:

my understanding is that the stock UCAs prevent high caster angles when you lift the front end. Here’s a pic of my alignment specs (side story - the first shop did such a bad job that my steering wheel was clocked to the right):

since the caster is closer to being negative, the steering wheel is relatively sensitive. The truck drives straight but is influenced by how the road is shaped. More + caster = higher stability at higher speeds. If I’m taking a 270 degree on-ramp, it feels fine but coming out of the turn it feels like it wants to continue turning, if that makes sense. It still drives great off road, but I will be eventually upgrading to 5100s or kings and UCAs at the same time because the spacer lift rides a little rough as many can attest to. If I had the cash, I’d definitely do the buy-once-cry-once approach, but I’ll tell myself that I’m just upgrading things as I “need” them lol.

 

That’s really helpful. I actually read right past your comment on the UCA the first time I read it. Without fully understanding how caster works in relation to the geometry I assume you are best served to compensate for the change with a UCA that has a longer or shorter length associated with the radius. I really have no idea shorter or longer but if pressed would say less so that the there is less up and down movement but have no idea really.

That said, it sounds like I need to find out which UCA would best align with the 2” of additional height or some degree of the two inches. I was under the assumption this may not be required but that’s why I’m posing these questions. It sounds like it works and has full functionality but in doing so also diminishes driving characteristics from a handling perspective.
Looking forward to getting more insight on this.

Thanks again!

 

I found a really great video on the upper control arms that was helpful and that is a must. I saw on a separate thread something about longer lowering links as well. I’m going to visit a couple of shops and also keep researching. Thanks again Chris for the assistance.