Looking for lift/suspension guidance

I’m looking to go with the fox 2.0’s front and rear as well. Did the front ones yield you 2”? And then the rear is rated 1”-3” I saw.

 

Since everyone here is pretty knowledgeable about what i'm looking for, i figured I'd ask another question here.

So for the 5100s for front and back, i see people talking about adding a spacer to the rear to level things out. Is that something i'd have to buy separately from the kit? I'm thinking i'm either going 1.75 or the full 2.5 on the front. What do you think? Thanks in advance for your input!

 

A spacer would be a separate part. At 1.75" you might sit nose-high, and at 2.5" you definitely will. So, a small lift in the rear will be a good idea.

I'm not sure what spacers cost, but rear lift springs can be bought for around $200. If you haul and/or tow a lot, an aftermarket spring will also help reduce sagging.

I went with Bilstein coils rated for 400# constant load. This is probably a bit heavier than I needed, but I'm not noticing any issues with the ride. I usually have about 200-300# worth of tools and other gear in the truck, though.

 

Just get the rear lift springs. You’ll already be pulling the springs to put the spacer. A good set of springs that’ll give you lift will run your around $200. You’ll thank yourself by being able to keep the smooth ride. Also, if you go higher than 1.5” in the rear in lift you’ll have to buy extended rear shocks.

 

So with that, would it be more cost effective to buy a full kit or just the 5100s front and rear and rear lift springs separately? I see a lot of people pairing the 5100s with OME rear springs.

 

I'm not sure. You'll have to shop around for the best deal there.

Bilsteinlifts.com has a set with the front and rear shocks and lift coils for $588 right now. But, that's with Bilstein rear coils.

Check out headstrongoffroad.com for the OME coil option.

 

How do you like the bilstein coils? Would you rather replace them with a different coil like OME? Considering going with the full bilstein kit with rear lift coils but wondering how it feels. Also do you have pics of how yours looks?

 

Do I have pictures, LOL?

I've had them installed since Saturday, and so far I am quite satisfied. I've never ridden on anything else other than the stock suspension, so I can't compare to other set-ups. The ride is stiff, but not harsh. Also, no more nose dive while braking.

This is set to 2.3" lift up front, and 1.5 in the rear (the 1.5/2" heavy duty coils)

 

The more i look at yours the more i'm convinced i should get the rear lifted too lol. Did you do all of the installation yourself? Did you need to add anything else like UCAs?

 

At this height, UCA's were not really necessary. I did them in case I lift it higher down the road.

The install was mostly done by my friend Steve in his garage. I'm fairly mechanically inclined, but my friends have more car wrenching experience than me. He pretty much just dove in and all I could do was watch and hand him stuff. Then 2 more good friends stopped by and helped out as well. We had it knocked out in about 4 hours.

 

Good friends lol. I'm pretty set on doing most of my mods myself if capable. But the height you have yours is probably the highest I want to go anyways since this will be my daily driver as well. Not looking to do any crazy offroading but the capability is a must.

 

I think we're pretty much on the same page. I drive mine everywhere, and I also wanted to maintain a good street ride. My off-roading is also fairly tame, but I like knowing that I can get through pretty much anything I want easily.

 

Exactly the same. I'll give it a few days(till payday) to decide whether i'm going the full bilstein lift kit or just 5100s all around with .85. I do like the slightly higher lift but might start small and work my way up.

 

In your watching, can you describe how they worked around the KDSS on the install? As in, what got disconnected, or not?

 

It would be easy to add rear springs later.

 

Exactly my thoughts too. I don't mind the extra work either. Gives me something to do during this "pandemic" lol

 

We disconnected the sway bar links on the front and rear to make it easier. We also learned that the bushings need to be orientated a specific way to get them back together. There may have been some swearing involved.

 

Did you have to do anything to the hydraulic cylinders, or did you just let them hang?
Also, bushings on...?

Sorry for all the questions, but I don't know anyone who's done this and could help...wish I did.

 

I have BP-51’s and I love them.At first I thought resi’swere going to be over kill, and I guess they are, but the ride is amazing. This will be my go to suspension set up going forward. I had the OME 888x on my Tacoma and dug it. But these blow those out of the water.

 

Yeah, BP-51's are great. But, the OP is looking for a reasonably priced set-up.

 

I didn't do anything to them. My plan was to not mess with them unless needed. So far, there's no light on or anything.

The bushings that go around the sway bar.

 

Yes, 2 inches and the rake is gone. The driver side tends to sag, even without a full tank of gas...this annoys the crap out of me... It eventually always evens back out...

 

Just to confirm.. the front suspension must be .5 taller or 1” taller then the rear to be level?

 

Al

Also, are fox 2.5 rebuildable or is that just kings and icons?

 

If you lift you front 1" higher and keep the rear the same, you will still have some factory rake.

 

So how much is the offset from front to rear?? Im asking be because im looking at a new full suspension. If i get kings for instance... do i get the 2.5 (0-3) fronts and then the 2 inch rear springs.. or do i juat need 1.50 rear springs?

 

At 1” higher in the front you’ll look level to eye, unless you really want to pull out a tape measure to figure out how much more tall you are in the rear.
I’m having my lift installed this upcoming week and I’ll be at 3” in the front and 2” in the rear, I’ll post pictures to give you an idea how how an inch higher in the front looks.

 

With 2.5-3" in front, I would do 2"in the back. I'm not sure what is exactly "level", but the last thing you want is the front sitting higher than the rear. If you choose to sit "level", I would recommend heavy springs or air-bags in the rear, so that you don't have reverse lean while hauling or towing.

I've read that the front sits 2" lower than the rear stock, but I think it's less than that.

 

Yeah, the front is somewhere around 1.75" lower than the back when you're measuring center of hub to bottom of fender.

So basically, if you lift your front 1.75" and leave the rear at 0" you will be level, but to some this still appears nose high.

Best to follow Thatbassguys and mtbpsych's advice and go with a ratio like 1/0, 2/1, 3/2, or whatever you want. That seems to be the stance most people are happy with.

I'm at 1.6" in the front with 0" in the back. I'm 1/4" higher in the back still with center of hub to bottom of fender measurements, but I don't carry any weight back there.

 

Great info. Say i snag some kings, they dont make rear springs. What are the ideal ones to pair with?