Front Shock spring question regarding upgrade

I just purchased a new set of Bilstein 5100's for my 2013 SR5 4x4. I was wondering instead of using the stock springs up front is there a better stock replacement for them? I'm only going to be leveling the truck so I'm just raising the front the .895" or whatever the adjustment step is on the new shock. I think it's the second step.

Just wondering if it's worth doing and any suggestions related to what springs to use. My runner has 115,000 miles on it and was mostly on the road.

Thanks for any feedback!

 

Thank you Snickel Fritz ( love the name ) ! Great info and just what I was looking for. I'll start looking around for the coil set's and see what I can come up with. Appreciate your feedback!

 

Yeah, Snickel Fritz is dead on. 1.6" is the smallest lift coil I've seen available for our trucks.

If you want to go to the 0.85" setting, then a stock height coil is your only option.

 

So if I use the ToyTech 1.6" coils with the stock Bilstein setting up front, should I raise the rear using a .5" spacer or leave the setting at stock? What if I raise the rear setting to .850 setting in the rear? Too high in the back??

Thanks for both your feedback. I'm new at this stuff.

 

With the front Bilstein 5100 struts, you have the option to lift the front to different setting. However, the rear 5100 shocks do not have that option. All of your lift in the back has to be done with either a taller coil or a spacer on your stock rear coil.

So like Snickel Fritz said, it's up to you on the height. I'm at 1.6" of lift in the front with 0" in the back. My truck sits level, but I don't put weight in the back. If you want it to retain a little factory rake, then put a 0.5" spacer on the rear spring. By doing this, you'll have the stance front to back of the Pro trim but just 0.5" taller all around.

 

Ok, I got it. I forgot you couldn't adjust the rear shocks. That said, what are the benefits of going with the 1.6" coils and factory Bilstein 5100 settings up front only as opposed to just using the .850 and stock coils. I really have no clue but it all sounds good. I hate to waste the opportunity of having the shocks upgraded and not taking advantage of a kinda low $ upgrade while I'm paying to have it done.

Thanks to both of you again, Your feedback is invaluable!!

 

The 1.6" coils are going to be a little heavier duty so that you could add some weight if you needed to.......roof racks, sliders, bumpers.......things like that. They will firm up the ride a bit. So will the Bilsteins. If you go with the 0.85" setting and the stock coils it won't be as firm, but will still be a vast improvement over stock. Another option is to go to the 1.75" setting on the 5100's with the stock coil. In your situation, I really think it just depends on how much weight you're going to run. If you're not adding weight, save some money and keep the stock coils. If you are adding some weight, go with the 1.6" Toytech coils.

I have the stock coils on my truck all around still and just replaced the struts with Eibachs. I love the way mine rides.

 

Ok, One last question and I'll leave you guys alone. I like the 1.6" coil idea. The only question I have is, if I do this does it affect my drive train, /CV joints, transfer case etc.. ( do I know even what I'm talking about?? ) Would I need to make any adjustments going that high?

Thank you again!

 

No, you don't need to make any other adjustments. 1.6" is a fairly mild lift and it's easy on CV joints.

Just make sure you put your front 5100s on the lowest setting (the 0" setting) when putting your 1.6" lift coils on. If you put your 5100's on a higher setting, you're going to have a lot more lift than anticipated.

 

Ok, great. After consideration, I'm looking at keeping stock coils and going the 1.75" setting on the new Bill's. I think the rear will lift a bit with the new Bill's on the back as well so I should be pretty level. I may be loading 100 lbs worth of Bicycles on the back when going camping. So I think I'll be good. Thank you both again for you feedback. Ill send an update when I get it all done. Bilstein's are on order

Cheers!!

 

No prob. But just to be clear, you will not get any lift out of the rear from the new Bilstein shocks.

1.75" in the front will be dead flat level front to back. Which is fine if that's what you're going for.

If you go this route, adding weight in the back will put you a little nose high. If you don't add weight all that often I wouldn't worry about it.

If you're worried at all about being nose high on occasion, throw a 0.5" spacer on the rear springs while you're getting your lift installed because it'll be a lot easier to do while you're getting the other things put on.

 

Adding to this, stock rear coils are crap when it comes to loading, they will easily sag with the slightest load in the rear.

 

Where do I get .5" spacers? Seems like everything is 1" What are Poly Spacers? I found this link but I cant tell how much lift these give!!

This is getting technical

https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/2019-...8101475017__aud-320825498147:pla-668137087866

 

I would go with the 1/2" option on this page:

http://ozarkmountianlifts.com/4th-and-5th-gen-rear-lift.html

 

Ok, here is what I did. I kept all the stock coils on it and raised the front .850 on the Bilstein's. I took it off road in the desert over some fairly easy stuff but a few rocks and such and it was great, much more stable but not harsh at all. A significant difference and would highly recommend this. That said, I kinda wish it was a bit higher so I took it back to the guy and had him raise the shock ring to 1.75". Well, now its noticeably higher & stiffer on the highway but not to bad. I took it off some curbs & dips in the neighborhood I must say it's still sucks up the impact very nicely. It seems like I may have traded off some of the smoothness on the road for hopefully a little more off-road prowess. Maybe??. Overall, I'm pretty happy and am getting use to the 1.75 position. It defiantly feels a bit more off-roady now. I also added new Cooper LTS AT3's, same stock size 265 /70/R17 to it. These are a 6 ply tires and seemed to work really well on the Hwy as well as off-road. I chose this tire because I didn't want to stiff of a side wall and a tire that was under 50lb, it's 47 lbs. I have seen some tires so heavy that it seems to overwhelm the engine a bit. The 4 runner isn't exactly a horse power machine. Maybe my thinking is faulty, would have been nice to put 275's on it? Oh well!! Maybe next time. I will probably go with the 1/2" spacers in the rear at some point. Thanks again for all the feedback, it really helped!

PS - It is still about 1/4" higher in the rear but looks really level.

 

Good deal Bob!

Glad you're happy with it. That's what's most important.