Toyota Tundra suspension rough on small bumps

Hello, just wanted to see if anyone else is having this issue or if there are any suggestions that can help me out a bit on what the issue might be. So my truck is set up like this; I have a 2017 tundra 2.75” fox 2.5 lift with Icon billet upper control arms and coachbuilder outer tie rods which are intended for more travel. I also have 35” Toyo RT’s on 17” method wheels aired down to about 32 psi. I have a spacer on my front sway bar to improve sway bar angles. The issue is that every time I hit a small bump on the road I feel the living hell out of it on my steering wheel, I just got my rack replaced 1 month ago so I’m almost certain it can’t be that, initially I thought it was due to the racks bushing being loose but even after I installed the new one i can still feel a bit of play, when I run my truck off road it handles perfect…and smooth it’s just on actual paved road where the suspension seems crappy. Reason I am upset is because I have bought top of the line products for my truck and I am still having the same issue with bumps and truck wanting to bounce all over the place. Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you!

 

You installed a lifted and heavier duty suspension which rides firmer. Then you added what, E load 35s, which also ride rougher and firmer than the stock P load tires. The truck will be considerably firmer riding. All normal.

If your alignment is off, that can contribute to a rougher ride in a Tundra in my experience. If it is off the suspension can be working against itself. Ive certainly noticed a difference in ride when mine was out of whack even a little. And on your lift/suspension, toque on any of the moving parts should have been done on the ground with truck weight vs in the air unweighted. If it was done in the air, can lead to harsher ride and accelerated wear on the bushings.

But a Tundra with 2.5 lift and 35s will ride firmer. You will feel road imperfections via suspension and steering. All normal.

 

it would also be your sway bars.
Many people with coilovers and who wheel often remove their sway bars.

 

Thank you for the reply, will go over all my bolts and make sure everything is torqued down accordingly. Maybe next time I will consider coming down to a 315” tire size and KO2’s which carry a little less weight on them

 

Check out @AccuTune Offroad.

Out of the box Fox uses 700lb springs, firmer valving, and any higher than 2.5” ride height all likely contribute to the “harshness”.

Depending on your rig, weight, setup it could benefit from some tuning or softer springs.

Disclaimer: I’m just an idiot in the internet. Call accutune and talk to an expert.

 

That is interesting.. The reason I went with 2.75” is because a lot of the tundra guys with the similar setup that I have tend to go up to 3” of lift with fox and king suspensions and the fox guys usually say there truck runs smooth on the street unlike king guys that say it usually runs a little rough. Maybe it’s a little different for everyone, or maybe I just need to man up and stop whining

 

Something isn’t right. I also have Fox 2.5, aftermarket UCA, 18s with 295/70/18 E tires aired up around 32 and I don’t have an issue with rattling steering wheel. Sure it’ll move slightly, but not any different than stock suspension or 6112s I had on before. I even upgraded to TRD front sway last week didn’t change the way I feel bumps.

Yes, Fox does use springs that are stiffer than factory but it’s not felt so much through the steering wheel, but just feels like overall slightly stiffer ride.

did the issue surface immediately after the lift?

 

When I bought the truck it had bilsteins level out at 2.5” of lift up front with 305’s and it drove smooth, I then added a spacer to the bilsteins and lifted it up to 3.3” and that was when my rack bushings went bad and made me realize I over did the lift. I always wanted a better suspension so I took off the bilsteins/spacer and upgraded to fox suspension alone this time only went with 2.75” of lift but it seems as ever since I added the spacer and took it off it hasn’t felt the same. Seems a little complicated to figure out the solution, have had well known shops in my area inspect and re-torque suspension components as well as rack and pinion to factory specs already.

 

The more I think about, the more @frichco228 might be onto something about either the suspension being torqued in the air or you may have alignment issues, or both.

I’d start by jacking up the front on both sides and trying to wiggle your wheels on each side to see how much movement there is. If there’s a lot, could be ball joints or bushings which would result in your issue. If not a lot of play, I’d still consider taking it to an alignment shop. Once on the rack, they’ll quickly identify worn out suspension components.

 

disregard my other reply, since it sounds like you’ve tried troubleshooting and had others look at it too.

You know what…try loosening the upper control arm bolt that connects UCA to frame when truck is on the ground. Then torque it down to correct spec when truck is on the ground.

Sounds silly but the reason is when it’s torqued, it pinches the bushings giving the bushings and UCA small travel amount. When your truck had the spacer lift, the UCA may needed a different angle than Fox.

With spacers, the UCAs typically point down more, limiting your up travel. So with Fox installed, your UCAs might be at the top of the upward travel range.

after this I am out of ideas.

 

They did align my truck to factory specs with the after market billet arms and everyone has always had issues aligning my truck especially when I had my tubular camburg aftermarket arms that I got rid of because of that same reason. Once I got the billet arms it seemed to definitely help and shop was happy to align my truck because they didn’t have the camber issue anymore

 

I recently swapped my tubular arms to billet arms after I installed fox shocks and got my rack fixed so the puzzle doesn’t add up. Yeah seems like a big headache….

 

What is the offset on your wheels?
(I feel like I read that the coach builder tie rods requires +25 or less on 17’s)

 

I have 0 offset

 

Okay so after doing a little bit of troubleshooting today just to make sure everything looks and sounds okay I noticed something that I had noticed previous to me getting my rack replaced and was wondering if everyone else’s tundras do the same thing. So I leave my truck in park and have someone jerk the steering wheel left and right while I grab onto the outer tie rod. There is a quick second where I can feel a small “click” “click”. Can feel a little more on the left side of the truck but both sides do it. Rack was just replaced new from oreillys so I would not think it’s busted gears inside rack or something or the tie rod joints that are worn out since I only use this truck on the weekends but you never know, so was wondering if this is normal ???