Ride Comfort? (i've read SO much!) - 5100 or 6112 (ahhhh)

Noticeably, I personally enjoy running the smallest wheel size I can on my trucks.

 

From a cost perspective, I really am hoping that is the best route!

 

I really do prefer the look of smaller wheels and more rubber on trucks. For cars, the opposite. That's just me. Glad to hear that will help ride quality, not hurt.

 

Tire choice is imperative as well for comfort. Aim for C load range on our trucks if possible. I switched from the OE tires on my last Pro to 35" Mickey Thompson ATZs, D load range. They were more comfortable than stock. They were also noticeably heavier.

 

I put the Toytec on. As far as a smoother road ride ...nope.. if I wanted a smooth ride I would have just left the stock shocks and springs on. I just wanted to level the truck. The toytec Is great on the rough stuff though.

 

Good input in here for us other guys that are in a similar situation.

Thanks all!

 

I have been curious with this exact layout. I always wonder if the 6112/5160 was to large of an upgrade where my truck won’t see dirt trails. My truck is strictly a pavement queen. So smooth ride is preferred. So many on the forums speak of night and day difference in replacing stock with that setup.

I hate the 20” wheels the platinum comes with and will change to 18” in the future. More rubber more absorption. The only difference with many on here is that I will probably go with Mitchell defender tires for a more smoother quieter ride.

though I still love those SCS Ray 10’s but still uncertain if they will look right when said and done.

 

Following along, as I am in a similar situation as @Bluesttape . Looks like a 5100 package is about half the price for parts as the 6120/5160...

 

another option is to go with just the 6112 for now. They do seem more expensive but it rumor has it may save a bit in labor.

oh, the big decisions in life sire are tough

 

Main factor in cost difference there is that the 5100s dont include their own coils. Of course you dont need them, but if you were to add some, like some OME coils like a lot of the Taco guys do, then the cost creeps up.

Some people like the coil to do the lifting, to avoid a significant amount of preloading.

 

I'm leaning towards Falcon...except for the butt ugly bump stops.

 

Keep us informed if you go that route, there is not enough first hand info on the Falcon's.

 

All around really, there's simply not enough shock to control a large truck. These are mostly on road shocks.

 

Can you just do the front now and rears later or would it be to high in the front?

 

I haven’t made a decision yet, so I can’t speak from personal experience but my understanding is if you set the 6112 at 1.9 it’s basically level (tiny rake). You could also set the 5100 to 1.79 to get same effect.

 

I have the Falcons on my truck and have been very happy with them. Great option.

Here's the Falcon shock thread.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/falcon-shocks-are-coming.34355/

 

Same. I got some funny looks when shopping for my truck when I wouldn't buy a 1794 off the lot because they all had 20"wheels.

 

I wouldnt powdercoat wheels. The stock tires are junk, and you will be wanting to replace those anyhow with a nice AT tire. So then you will have $450 in powdercoat, $50 in mount / balance, and then $1000 in tires for $1500 total on 20's that you ultimately wont want. If you are already wanting 33's then the best thing you can do is sell you current tire/wheel package for roughly $1000, then get a set of whatever 17's or 18's you like with whatever tire you like for about $2500, for a total cost of $1500 and have a better riding rig that looks better as well. I PROMISE YOU THAT YOU WILL BE DOING THIS ANYHOW, BEST TO "BUY ONCE, CRY ONCE" AS IT WILL SAVE YOU MONEY!!!...... dont ask me how i know.

 

If you mean wait on the 5160s, it won’t save that much in labor if you were doing it yourself. Rear shocks are easy and can be done in about 10 min per side in your driveway.

Another way to save labor is to compare your shop’s price to preassembled 6112s. Some places sell them already assembled. A shop will probably charge and hour per side or so for assembly.

 

I've ran both 5100's and 6112's on the front and have to disagree with you. 5100's have no plushness to them at all (probably because they retain the factory spring and crank the spring rate with preload) and while it may just be my experience they needed replacement inside 18 months whereas i've been on 6112's for over 3 years now.

 

I supposed pretty much the same was an over generalization. To quote myself though I did say essentially what you are saying..

 

Loving al the feedback y’all !!

 

I am new to the Tundra so my only personal experience comes from the 2016 Expedition I traded for my Tundra. So I understand we aren’t exactly comparing apples to apples.
I started with Bilstein 5100s and they lifted the Expedition nicely but rode like crap. I switched to Fox 2.0s and BDS upper control arms. While it was better there is no way they were worth the $1500 more than just the Bilsteins. The rears were Bilstein 4600s with a ready lift spacer as that was the only way (at the time) to lift the rears and actually rode pretty nice in the back.
I traded that for the Tundra and have been reading and researching this very topic. Most of my driving are crappy 2 lane twisty, bumpy, backroads. I do Offroad but us here in Kentucky aren’t doing high speed runs like Fox, Icon, and King are known for.
We are more Jeep style trails at lower speeds and a fair amount of articulation. With the size of the Expedition and Tundra I limit the trails I go onto to moderate.
I was looking at Toytec 2.5s up front and 2.0s on the rear. I only want about 2” of lift up front and nothing in the rear. But Toytec requires and UCA and at least 1” of lift for the rear. So I kind of shelved that idea.
So Fox 2.5s up front and 2.0s on the rear and add some UCAs down the road. But it is looking like a 12-14 week wait on those and honestly the 2.5s were probably overbuilding for my use.
ICON 2.5s and Bilstein 6112s were off the table as I do not want a digressive setup as most of my wheeling is lower speed.
Then I learned of TeraFlex Falcons. I know a number of folks in the Jeep world that have TeraFlex stuff and they are great.
Again, not apples to apples as they mainly deal with live axles.
But their quality, build, and passion carries over. While they are newer to the truck game they seem to have a very solid product. My biggest hesitation is reusing the factory spring. But I really think their zone rate tuning that utilizes the progressive rate internal spring inside the shock may offset the issue I had with the 5100s off-road in the Expedition. I did not have much of an issue with upward travel as most of my wheeling is slower. It was when a front wheel would drop off a ledge and bottom out and still not hit the ground. There was pretty much no downward bumpstop and it was pretty rough.
So as I read more into TeraFlex Falcons the more I liked for my style of daily driving and off roading. Are these going to blaze at 50+ miles an hour on trails and the desert very well? I highly doubt it but guess what neither am I. My off-roading is much closer to the Jeep. So I had been eyeballing them pretty hard. I also like the idea of the adjustability in the rear for towing.
$1500 seemed a little steep to me and kept me back. Black Friday came a long and found the kit for $1275 and at that point it seemed like the right way to go so I ordered them and am looking forward to getting them. I’m the end even at $1500 it may not be a terrible price. It comes with bump stops for the rear end which yes are an awful color especially considering how good the rest of the parts look. You get 2.25” shocks front and rear with piggyback resis and roost guards for the back plus adjustability.
I am going to do new top mounts for the fronts and some take off Springs that someone else does not want for cheap as well as new bushings for the rear shocks. So everything will be fresh and new.
I have a Barcelona Red truck and the adjustability knob on the rear is a similar color so I am going to have my springs powder coated as close to Barcelona Red as I can get so the springs pop a little more than just black. So in the end I’ll likely be closer to the $1500 mark total.
I envision myself doing UCAs down the road but really don’t feel like spending another $500 right now since I don’t have to.
I ended up getting a set of Coach Builder +1 shackles which actually only raise the rear up a little over a .5”. But the shackles are really supposed to help the ride of the rear. Plus is will give me just a little bit of rake which I do like.
So here is to hoping I am happy with my decision. Which I know will certainly be better than factory. Will it be worth $1500 only time will tell.

 

I’ll definitely be exploring this option. The only problem is, I fix computers. I get overwhelmed sometimes with larger auto projects. I assume the $1500 is with you doing the install?

 

So I've had both on my Tundra. The 5100s and the 6112s with the 5160s and +2 Coachbuilder shackles. The 5100s were stiff to me and harsh over pot holes or speed bumps. The 6112s are much better in the pot hole and speed bump and minor offorad. The big difference is also tires i went from 295 70 18 Nittos Ridge Grapplers were so heavy and uncomfortable ride that I had to change. For the price I dont thjnk 6112s are bad but they are not great for soft ride. But I think thats just a truck thing.

 

My 2¢...

My 2014 SR5 DC stock black shocks were like being on a boat.
My 2005 SR5 DC rode so much better stock.

I wanted a lift/level and did a ton of research.
Ended up with 6112 and 5100 rears, the 5160s couldn't be found at the time.
A few months later added the 5160s to the rear and sold the 5100 rears.

Observations;
The 6112s mounted second notch from the bottom with a CB shim on each side.
For some reason I felt that would make the ride better.
Gave me 2.5" of front lift.

They are stiff as f*ck, even after 3 years and 60K miles.
I feel every bump in the road, be it a seam, city titty, transition from asphalt to concrete..
Potholes are jarring.
But I love the look of the lift/level.



The 5160 rears ride just like the 5100 rears did.
It was a waste of money to have the cool looking reservoir.
Even Bilstein says the 5160 is a 5100 with a reservoir.
But it looks cool.



I used Toytec shackles on the 1" setting for the rear lift.
They have an option of 1" or 1.5" of rear lift.
The truck actually sat perfectly level with just the 6112s and stock shackles.
But it set off nanny warnings on quick turns.
There is a mod to fix that, putting something under the sensor under the console to make the CPU think the truck has rake, but I just lifted the rear a little to get the rake back.

Not sure what I would if I had to do it over again.
Either leave it stock and add a crappy spacer lift, or just leave it stock.
I cheap spacer would have done it for me, I rarely get off road anyway.

Too late to go back to stock now with the bigger tires.
Even though I still have my stock black struts, springs, and rear shocks in the attic.
Maybe a better riding brand of shocks someday....

Stock shackles before the rear lift..
Measured damn near perfectly level, but looks to be a little front high..




Finished product..
About of inch of rake..



My TRD RSB did more for my ride comfort than anything else on both my Tundras..
Well the 2005 had a Hellwig RSB..

 

Want a better ride then get something other than bilstien.Fox 2.0 would be a nice upgrade for the money to.

 

My .02 since ive just put stock suspension back on my truck while my icons get a rebuild. The icons are stiffer, but dear lord the “smoothness” of the oe suspension is overrated. It is floaty and handles like garbage. Imo go with the 6112 or since you’re just mostly daily driving, a 2 inch coiliver or a toytec setup. Feeling more secure in turns or at speed is way better than the floaty Cadillac feeling

 

Honestly it is a pretty easy job. You can do the rears without a doubt and would be a good install to build your confidence.

The fronts are just a bit more time consuming though intimidating.
Especially if one chooses a setup where you have to build the coilover like the Falcons. You can pull them and run them to a shop and pay $50 or so for them to swap everything, then reinstall yourself.

If you are disassembling/reassembling a proper spring compressor is paramount and they aren’t cheap. So generally paying a shop is still cheaper than buying a compressor. Don’t ever use or buy a harbor freight compressor.
This is probably the best rental/loaner compressor but only some Autozones can get or have it.
https://www.autozone.com/loan-a-tools/loaner-coil-spring-compressor

I will have all new parts and am not swapping from my truck so If my autozone can’t get that compressor. I’ll just take the parts to the local shop drop them off and have them built. That way when I do get a chance to install everything I can just pop out the old and in with the new. Not waste a few hours in the middle of the install driving to the shop and waiting.

Even if you do have a shop do it I would save for a little longer for a better setup. Not worth skimping on parts to be able to afford the install. Especially if you had something else in mind you won’t be happy.

 

I agree. I had the 5100 on my old Tundra, no issues or complaints. When I got my other Tundra with stock suspension, I forgot how factory suspension drove...and I hated it. The handling was terrible. On the drive home it was very floaty and felt like a boat. I couldn't wait to put new suspension on, I decided to try 6112 on this Tundra. I like them, no complaints either.