Urgent Question: With Bilstein 5100's and OME 3 inch lift springs.

long story short:

shop called me about my installation, im doing Bilstein 5100's around and OME 2884 (3 inch) front springs and OME 2895E (2 inch) rear springs.

With the front springs, do i set the bilstein fronts at stock and then the front springs will lift? or do i have to set the adjustable shocks at the highest which is 2.5 inches along with the springs? He said the new springs are the same height as the stock springs but have a stiffer recoil so it can add 1/2 inch of lift. Which he says will basically complete the 3 inch lift.

Does this sound right? i know nothing about this stuff..... Please advise so i can call them asap to give them direction. Thanks!

 

Might get a better response on Tacomaworld or T4R, I wish I could help further.

 

Or call customer support of bilstein or OME and they may be able to help.

 

So i just called WheelerOffRoad and the guy confirmed that the Bilsteins need to be set at 0. Even though the springs at are the same size, they still will lift it up to 3 due to the stiffness. Just called the shop and notified them!

 

The shop doesn't know this? That's pretty basic shit. I know this and I'm a pretty basic dude.

 

hahahah! right!? i knew it didnt seem right when they were telling me that on the phone and i dont know anything.... oh well its done the right way now.

they wouldve had me pick up my rig with a 5 inch lift in the front and 2 inch in the back hahahahahah

 

The 5100's come with a snap ring and three positions, lowest being stock, next is 1.5" and the top being 3". I would think you would want the shocks set at the top position (3") to assist the springs...... otherwise the truck is basically riding on springs and might start to compress over time. Also lifting 3" may require you to look into new upper control arms to get the wheel camber alignment correct. I am also new to this so please correct me if I am wrong.

 

No bottom perch....and he already bought UCA's.

 

Got everything installed last night..... didnt get to take pictures cuz it was already dark.... but yea, it rides awesome! really could tell the difference and the stance/height is perfect.... im still running stock tires and rims though until they wear out... but once they do, im doing a body mount chop and going for 295's or 305's! didnt tell the wife i lifted it and she ended up using the 4runner today.... she doesnt notice still hahahahah! at stock i didnt really use the nerf steps to get in.... now I actually do.... kinda funny.

Posting pictures when i get off work.

 

Not to be a dick, but you are completely incorrect. It actually is impossible for you to be more wrong. There are 4 positions on the 5100s, ranging from 0 - 2.5". You do not want to set the snap at the 2.5 position and then use lift coils because you would garner an incredible amount of non-usable lift, would have a terrible ride, and would destroy your truck. With lift coils, the setting is 0, and the coils do the lifting. With OEM (note, not OME) coils then you would set ride height using the snap ring on the 5100s, up to 2.5". All coils including the OEM coils will sag a little over time, but that's factored in to the design. 3" may require UCAs but that's right on the line, and OP already bought UCAs since we dealt with that in another thread.

 

No worries, you are....

 

Meh

 

lol

 

A few other items to consider.

I added a SSO hybrid bumper and a winch to my 884s and Bilstein 5100s and lost about a 1/2" of lift due to weight. I moved the coils up to the 1st position on the shock to get back that lift, essentially adding pre-load to the coils. Honestly not advisable, the proper action would be to upgrade to 885s and leave the 5100's at 0 setting.

This worked, and it's been doing well, but I fully intend next year to bump to 885s, reset back to 0, and add some LR UCAs.

I hope this helps answer future questions if you add weight up there.

 

So on this note. What would be a better ride. The ome coils with 5100's at 0.
Or
5100's at 2.5 On stock springs?

 

Most likely the OME with Billies set to 0.

The problem you run into when you use the shocks to increase your lift is that you limit you up-travel and also pre-load a set amount of force on coils to generate that lift. If you take a spring and compress it halfway already before you use it, what happens when you compress it the rest of the way? It only takes half as long to max out. That's called coil bind. Notice that the spring, with too much weight on it, while binding....does? The middle shoots out to a side randomly. You really don't want that to happen with your suspension because parts shear off and go bang.

The OEM coils are pretty soft, designed for a floatier, more urban kind of ride. Preloading them heavily using the 2.5" setting on the bilsteins create a situation where they deliver your lift but are always starting at half cock. They are more likely going to max out frequently, giving you a hard ride when you hit a bump on both the road or the playground.

While a little stiffer, the OME coils have more travel due to not being preloaded, therefore being smoother even in rougher situations and maintain that better travel. When I say a little stiff, personally, I really like their feel. It makes the vehicle have less body roll, it's somewhere between what the factory suspension felt like an a quality sports car. It's not as floaty as factory, and not as rough as a sports car, but honestly feels very balanced and handles better on the highway IMO.

**Final Note** I saw someone mention 2.5" setting on the Bilstein + OME 884s. Please don't do that. Firstly, I'm not even sure if that would be able to be installed due to how hard it would be to compress the coilover to fit it in there. But also that would give you like 5.5" of lift and coilbind all at once

 

Using things like the Bilstein adjustable perch struts or using a spacer to compress the coil generates lift but isn't really the "right" way to do it. For a street only truck, with performance secondary to appearance, there is nothing wrong with doing it that way... it's just not the best way. If appearance and economy are your motivators, then use the factory coils plus adjustable struts or a similar cheap option like a spacer.

I would actually take that idea one step further and suggest that the adjustable preload coil overs like the BOSS and some high end stuff like Icons also aren't really doing it right. The idea of the adjustable coil over isn't that much different from the height adjustable Bilsteins since it also compresses the spring to generate lift (flame away).

The correct way to garner lift, from a performance standpoint, is to use the correct height coils, selected based on anticipated use and weight requirements. To that end the OME ones are very good, though a common complaint is a "harsh ride" especially when the truck is unloaded.

People really over think this stuff. Figure out what you want to do with the truck, how you want it to look, what sort of budget you have; and build accordingly. You don't need some crazy kit or to drop $3000 on a setup. Really, the parts are and should be cheap - there's nothing to them. 4 coils, 2 struts, 2 shocks. Bam. Done.

 

well im done with all these lift issues and already installed so now my next focus is getting the right look for my wheels and tires and of cours the body mount chop! i need to be schooled in this offset number game!

 

Not quite right on adjustable coilovers. When companies like Toytec, ICON, or KINGS devlop these suspensions they used different length springs with different springs rates and optimize the ride typically at 2.5" of lift. The ride you get and their "optimized" lift height is typically better then factory ride height. From there you can adjust the coil to increase the lift typically up to 3" with very little affect on the ride. Anything over that the ride will suffer significantly.

 

Solid point.

 

actually the 5100's come with a snap ring a four positions: perch 1 = 0" - Stock, perch 2 - .85" front end lift, perch 3 - 1.75" front end lift, and perch 4 - 2.5" front end lift. (these are approximate NOT exact)

 

I know this is an old thread, but I got mine installed on the 3rd of 4 notches. My cv angles are crap but just thought it was due to the lift. Been running this for almost a year now, should I lower the notch to the bottom or are the coils shot after being preloaded for a good amount of time?