Quote:
Originally Posted by 19toyrunner
I have been kinda curious about when and how I would upgrade my suspension when the time comes. First of all I'm just going to wait till my stock suspension needs replacing. Till then I have been on a few trails only one rated as hard and as much as I wanted to continue on the path it would not have been as fun going as slow as I had to roll to negotiate the terrain. Still I had full confidence that my T4R off road would have made the the trail, so going anywhere is still something I believe, just seems like it requires more patience and maybe a navigator help out in some of the rockier spots.
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I am as big of a fan of stock as anyone, but the reality is that the 4R's stock suspension is really not made for frequent off-roading. It forces excruciatingly slow speeds when it is not necessary and causes more hits when crawling than needed. It gets the job done but leaves too much to be desired, on road as well.
I just replaced the 600lb springs with 650lb. The plush feel is gone as is much of the nose dive. All this bodes well for offroading. I felt the 600lb were too soft the moment I got off my curb sideways (it is kinda steep). There was too much movement in the front. Not so now. Cornering on road went from great with the 600lb Bilsteins to amazing for a vehicle of this type.
I have to say that maybe I am partly at fault for not realizing I need the 650lb from the get go. Maybe the Bilstein springs are build to super tight specs. My 3/16 skid plates did not faze the Dobinsons springs but they do add 60lb extra weight in the front half. Add some weight from the sliders, too, and maybe I am beyond the lower threshold of the 650lb springs, which is 80lb over stock.
At least replacing the springs was a quick job though I always work alone. Hope I am done though as this is the 4th set of front coils on my 4R in 20 months. Consider that just 3 years ago I would not touch a suspension on my own, lol.