Shocks/struts replacement for rough road

Hello
Looking for some suggestions on new shocks/struts for my 2021 tundra. I live 2 miles up a really rough dirt road in Montana. My shocks are pretty shot and I need to replace them. I would like to do a slight lift as I do get into some rough terrain when hunting in the mountains and stuff. Nothing crazy just enough lift to give me a little more clearance. Any suggestions on good replacement options? I’m looking at the n3 rough country’s with 2 inch front lift. I’m open to other options and don’t know much about what to consider or look into when lifting a truck. I will do the install on my own. Thanks for any advice you can give on what shocks and struts I may want to consider.

 

I installed the Eibach 2.0 front and rear kit about 2 months ago and am very happy overall. The front comes as a completely assembled coilover with new forged aluminum top mounts/strut bearings. The fron are also adjustable between factory height and + 2.75"

I have mine set at about 2" of lift which I think provides a really nice level.



Been a fan of Eibach's springs on my cars for decades, but they are apparently skilled at shock tuning and building as well. The lower shock mounts are seriously beefy on these and I dont worry about shearing the little spindle that most other shocks use.

On road handling is much improved while being only marginally stiffer than the factory billis.

Offroad performance is great. I find that I can carry quite a bit more speed on dirt/washboard trails while remaining comfortable and in control.

Only drawback that I can find is more pronounced "bed bounce" on certain sections of concrete slab freeways.

No way I would go back to stock.

 

I used some Eibach springs on Bilstein 5100s and am quite happy. If I had seen the Eibach shocks before I bought the Bilsteins, I probably would've gone down that road.

 

Eibach or Bilsteins win out over rough country any day. Also anything over 2 inches and you’ll probably need new aftermarket upper control arms to dial in alignment

 

@memario1214

 

Don't go with rough country! Youre going to ruin your new truck, id buy some fox coils

 

Classic choice, and I like that you added new springs!

Just couldn't pass up the opportunity to NOT use my spring compressors. Plus I really love the meat on the lower mounts. I have no plans of jumping my truck or anything even close, but I'd rather be looking at the beef than for it


Also nice to have so damn many good options available. I tend to buy vehicles with weak aftermarket support

 

4 miles of rough road every time you leave your house? Get 2.5 shocks bare minimum. 3.0 if it’s in your budget.

 

Falcon!!!!
You’ll thank me I promise.

 

I have to second the Falcons! I have taken my truck on quite a few rough roads here in the Utah desert, a lot of washboard, and rocky trails and really love how they perform. My wife couldn't tell the difference from washboard to pavement. If you get the towing ones, you can adjust the stiffness in the rear to help with stability when loaded.

 

Hey I’m about 30 miles out from Kalispell. I drive our darn road about 4 -6 times a day and doing a lot of traveling up in the mountains during hunting season for elk. My truck is BEAT UP after this year. Missoula is a cool town. We go down there quite often.

 

So you get to drive on a bumpy dirt road like 10 miles a day??? Oh you’re so lucky. Lol You need a quality mid travel suspension and take that road at 50 mph. And you’d enjoy every minute of it.

Imagine doing this everyday.
https://youtu.be/YirKVT3fn3k

 

So I’m looking at the stage 1 eibachs with a 1 inch block in the back. I’m trying to save money but am wondering if I’m being losing money by trying to save money. A few questions. 1- why would I want the coil overs? I don’t think I’ll be adjusting my shocks much. I want to set it and forget it. 2- if I get the stage 1 I’ll need a spring compressor which will require a shop, which requires money. The coil overs are a fixed unit which I could install on my own. Is that the case for the front and back suspension? Do I offset the upfront cost by installing on my own? I know I’ll have to pay for alignment in either scenario. 3- is a 3 inch lift adequate? What size tire/ wheel would you recommend with this setup? Thanks for all the good advice and sorry if I’m asking naive questions.

 

The eibach pro truck stage 2 system is complete assembled coil overs and rear shock. No spring compressor needed, just install the assembled coil overs.

With a 2-2.5 lift up front you should be fine with 33/34 inch tires fitting (295/70 or 285/75 if running 18inch wheels), 35s will fit with proper offset wheels and some trimming.

 

Falcons for the win. There’s probably a wait but they’re awesome.

 

Here’s a member selling his Falcons

https://www.tundras.com/threads/900...h-sport-tow-haul-shock-leveling-system.98833/

 

you're basically shooting for the same budget lift I did... heres my 2 cents on that

I have the Eibach Pro Truck Stage 1 (in the front), I have them set on the 3rd settings (very top) because I have an after market bumper with winch so added weight, as well as Coach Builder shims (2 driver, 1 passenger)

FRONT:

• I would advise that you order the Eibach's (stage 1) pre-assembled on the 2nd clip (this should get you pretty close to a level if not exact paired with the coachbuilder shims)
• You'll pay (I believe, could be $50) $100 to have Eibach assemble the coilovers for you (THIS IS WORTH IT, I should have done that) which will save you TONS of time and you won't have to worry about using spring compressors.
• I also have Rough Country UCA that I got used, I only needed them because I was pushing 3+ inches of lift in the front, you shouldn't need that if you just go for a level and not a lift/level.

REAR:

• On the rear, I have Bilstein 5100s and a Torch Off Road add a leaf,
• I have a heavy bedrack and RTT so the add a leafs help with the weight. You won't need the AAL,
• but I would get something other than the stock shock for the rear, either the Eibach's or Bilstein 5100s for the rear

TIRES:

• I'm running the factory 18" Alloy wheels
• 1.5" spacer (originally for an offset look, but with stock UCA it made sure I didn't rub with the 12.5" wide tires)
• Running 35/12.5R18 tires

SWAYBAR:

• If you're comfortable with it, I would experiment with taking off the swaybar, I took mine off and gotta say the truck rides way better without it. Granted I do way more off roading than towing so I have no real worries there. As well as the truck being lifted I'm not trying to corner super hard or make fast sharp turns. The truck still feels planted and I don't get any bouncing around on the interstate or highways.

If you got any questions with what or why I did it, feel free to ask, more than happy to explain anything.

If you're looking for something super smooth, maybe look into the Bilstein 6112s or something of the sort, maybe the Eibach 2.0

 

Thank you all very much for your help and steering my in the right direction. So I'm going with the Eibach Stage 2 front and rear kit. The coilovers should save me some money. I'm putting a one inch block in the back and taking the fronts all the way up. Our road turns into a sheet of ice come spring and mid winter melts (see below). Going to run Nokia Happalita studded tires in a 275/70r 18 on my stock rims. In the summer i'll switch to a larger summer tire.

On another topic, what's the best way to search the forum for threads on checking my chassis? General searches seem to give me a broad range of not specific results. I have a 150K on my truck and my alignment regularly goes out. I was hope to find a check list of things i might need to replace.

thanks again

 

Our Ice rink

 

one last recommendation if you haven't ordered the block yet- personally I wouldn't, blocks aren't good for rear lifts due to axle wrap and other variables I'd get the Add a leaf from Torch Off Road's website (~$65), it gave me like 1.5" height in the rear (just is better for ride quality and payload over a block)

hmmm, maybe check inner and outer tie rods and ball joints?

 

Great suggestions.
For searching I tend to use google and type “site:tundras.com:_____(your search keywords)___”, but you can also use the search bar in the top right!

 

If the road is that bad and a good ride is worth it to you I would try removing the front sway bar and dropping the tire pressure to about 25psi.

 

thats a great suggestion on the leaf spring. Did you do it with the spacer and leaf or just the leaf spring?

 

just the add a leaf, ride is good, when hitting a bump the rear rebounds very quickly, no bouncing around, it lifted my rear end the 1.5" even with my like 300 lb bedrack on it

 

I used a torch AAL. Just be warned, you're going to need a good couple clamps or ball joint press to get it in. And be very careful with the leaf spring through bolt. It strips very easy. I used a screwdriver to align them first. Then used a metal punch that was the same size as the hole to make sure it was perfectly aligned before putting the through bolt on. The torch AAL is worth it, though. Gives a great lift and extra support at a fraction of the cost!

Double check your U Bolt lengths, too. You might need longer ones, but I'm pretty sure you don't need longer ones with just one added leaf. It's not a bad idea to buy longer U Bolts for the future in the event you start enjoying modifying your truck and want to add more!

 

Just for full disclosure, I'll tell you what I did and where I went wrong.

I bought the Icon AAL pack and the Torch AAL. In my mind, my leafs were so bad, I needed to replace most of them and it probably wouldn't lift it much because of how bad the top leaf spring was....I was wrong!

With the Icon AAL, you keep the OEM top leaf spring (with the bushings) and discard the bottom two. Icon's AAL is 3 leafs and projects 1.5-2 inches of lift. The Torch AAL projects 1.5-2 inches of lift, also. So in total I added two extra leafs, and it delivered. The truck went from about 2 inches down to 4 inches up. To me, it changed the rear by 6 total inches from where it was. Pretty nuts and I wasn't expecting that.

So if you want a quick and simple fix that doesn't hurt the bank, I would use the Torch AAL. It's very thick and works great. If you want longer term stability, consider the Icon AAL pack which replaces your bottom leafs with new ones. Both are great options and not super expensive. If you want to go crazy, do both like me. Just be prepared to lift the front 3 to 4 inches so it doesn't look like a super raked drag truck lol