Opinions on rear suspension

[Jeff614]

Hey guys. Will try to keep this brief. Just looking for opinions on what you all would choose in my situation. Keeping in my what I've already added to the front suspension.

Looking to replace my tires soon (due to not being keen on the stockers off-road and on-road wear). I drive A LOT. With the coilover up front I'm pretty much good to move to 285's, I know many add control arms when doing so though. I'd love to have 285's, however due to the $$$ of the CA's, and more importantly the need to fit in some very tight garages in DC have made me decide to stick with the 265's for now.

Planning on Duratrac's, c-rated version. Thought about the new BFG AT's, Firestone AT's, Revo's, etc... Just like the Duratrac's though. Since I'm sticking with stock size I wasn't planning on a new spare so the difference in price is +/- $100.

So much for keeping the background short :lol: , onto my "question". I've added 5100's outback recently because I've noticed more of a "Cali" lean to the truck recently. I've towed pretty heavy lately, nothing obscene but on the heavier end of the spectrum for these rigs, and done so numerous times (and will have to continue for awhile). Could the coilovers upfront exacerbate the lean? What would you do to correct it? New springs (if so stock?lifted?HD?), airbags?, go with E-rated tires (prefer not to), spacers? Towing will inevitably happen again but not enough to warrant mods solely for that benefit. Any opinions would be much appreciated!

Again, sorry, didn't mean to to make that so long!


- Jeff

 

[3wbdriver]

By Cali lean do you mean reverse rake? If so and considering your towing requirement you may want to install a set of airbags in the rear. Then you can vary your rear spring weight with air pressure in the bags depending on your load at the time.

What are your parking garage restrictions? I'm at +2" lift w/265's, have a full Baja Rack on the roof, and still fit in a 7' 6" parking garage with room to spare.

I don't want to make any specific rear spring recommendations to you because I see you have installed 5100's in the back, but you're a little shy on what you have done in the front. Forgive my ignorance. I've followed some of your build, but it's been a while since I last saw it.

 

[cjacob316]

I'm guessing you have the adjustable coilovers with the threaded toytec sleeves. How much lift do you have in the front?

 

[Jeff614]

Yes by "Cali lean" I mean a reverse rake. To me it seems to have gotten worse after a few trips with trailers/generators with full tanks.

Apologies for not laying out what I've got up front. I've always wanted to do a build thread. However just when I did the more significant mods, my mom passed away so being busy is an understatement lately unfortunately.

Upfront, cjacob316 is correct. I have the Toytec/Bilstein 5100 adjustable coilovers. NOT the "Boss" version, unsure if that has any bearing on this but mentioned it fwiw. I didn't do the I nstall myself but it was done by a very trustworthy shop in the area. From my understanding they are barely set at barely any lift at all. I only went with these to help support the weight of the winch/bumper and figured since I wanna move to 285's eventuallyyyy, I decided to get them then.

As to parking garage restrictions. Some of the places are barely 6'4. Some even less (think 3 point turn in a Miata, lol). Some have plenty of room except for all the low hanging piping. I work in the entertainment industry and most backstage areas, especially in older cities (DC) are underground, tiny, and absolutely packed full.

The airbag option, in addition to the 5100's already back there, was what I was thinking would be best overall but hoped to get others thoughts too so thanks!

Hope that clears things up some and appreciate any all help I can get!

- Jeff

 

[cjacob316]

If you measure from the center of the front hubs to the fender it will tell you how much lift you may have in the front. I'm just trying to see how much rake you have without a load before I suggest anything.

Where I am essentially going with this:
Do you want a lift?
Do you want a firmer rear to lessen the sagging?
Do you want to just lift the rear to still be high enough after sagging?

 

[Swarty]

Yeah, probably airbags.

The airbag option, in addition to the 5100's already back there, was what I was thinking would be best overall but hoped to get others thoughts too so thanks!
- Jeff

I think you have it right. If you think the slight increase from tires will lift you too much I can't imagine aftermarket springs are an option as most lift 2"-3". I run 285s and my truck with stock rear has the top of the stock rack at 6'4". I think your only real option is airbags if you are determined to get it into those garages...

Airbags will give you some adjustability.

 

[Jeff614]

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Swarty, good to know on your measurements with just stock springs. Wish I could get around the height restrictions (I could pay for some of the larger garages that aren't nearly as secure but also extremely expensive or "God forbid" park on the street and kiss my ride goodbye, probably less body damage running one of the major trails out west. No offense meant to those folks who live in DC. Not my cup of tea but can see its immense drawl.

On to some measurements; which may really make you scratch your head. Back when I had the coilovers put on I knew to expect some settling. Which it of course did, it then did again. At the moment the passengers side sits around an inch higher than the drivers. Regarding the measurements you asked for cjacob316;

driver's side:
front 21"
rear 22"

passenger's side:
front 23"
rear 21 7/8"

Tried to get these measurements as accurate as possible, site/ground seemed level but one never knows.

As you can see the passengers side generally always sits higher, feel like I'm part of the "leaning KDSS" club w/o even having KDSS :lol: I've talked with the tech who installed them and whom I trust and he also felt that having the coilovers essentially spun all the way down to "zero lift" might be the cause (or he just wants to see me put them to use and go to 285's......j/k!)

Regarding your questions;
- I want a lift, however my livelihood prevents this. Hence I'd like some good stock size meaty tires like the Duratracs.

- Hit the nail on the head. I'd like something a little firmer to balance out the occasional added tongue weight as well as the extra weight I carry around back there on a daily basis.

- Don't want to lift just the rear to address this problem. If I absolutely had to choose a "lean", I'd go Cali style over the ass-high look. To each their own though.

So perhaps I'm answering my own question, but opinions are always welcome, it seems like airbags would be the way to go. I hate to sound like a total noob but is it possible that a seriously heavy load could have permanently compressed the rear coils. I know it can happen, but I'd think if it did I'd have noticed a few other things wrong as well. I started this thread because only very recently has the "lean" become noticeable to me and a few others, ironically this was after towing a particularly heavy trailer. Couldn't tell you how much it weighed, was NOT happy about doing it though, and the butt pucker factor was intense. I've towed a lot, from tiny light-towers with golf carts to CDL low-boy equipment haulers with Tri-axles so I know when things aren't right.

Wish I could have my cake and eat it too but I think some nice new Duratracs and a set of airbags to go along with the 5100's and compliment the front end is the way to go.

Perhaps I'm overlooking something so please if anyone see's things a different way I'm all ears!!


- Jeff

 

[cjacob316]

Your front is lifted and very unevenly. Those coilovers don't really have a 0, I think 1" of lift is the lowest setting. If it were me, I would want to be at least an inch higher in the rear to account for some sag. Whether that means lowering the front or raising the rear it's really up to you if you want to have a rake.

If you don't want to lift the rear, you need to firm it up, and it seems air bags would be the way to go for that.

A spacer would lift without firming the springs so all you're really doing there is trying to counter the sag with height, rather than decreasing sag.

A lift spring would not only provide lift but they are typically firmer than stock so your rear would sag less and ride higher.

 

[Jhalko]

Custom rear springs? There have been a couple folks that got them, search for it. I can't remeber the name but there were two threads with details and it wasn't that expensive. Just a thought.

 

[Jeff614]

Don't think I'd wanna go with custom springs. I'm probably over thinking this. Years of trucks with leaf spung rears has spoiled me I guess on an issue like this, (add-a-leaf's/helper springs, even the extended rubber bumpstops).

Anyways after thinking about things over the week, one thing I realized that I'm not giving enough thought to is the amount of stuff I'm carrying. Due to some of the changes in my life I don't have any garage type of place to keep tools and stuff, hence I'm carrying almost everything with me. Tried to streamline but still probably pushing between 2-300 lbs that I need for work and im betting that's what's causing my Cali lean.

Gonna keep researching the airbag option as well the different springs out there.


- Jeff

 

[3wbdriver]

Firestone rear airbags

 

[Jeff614]

Firestone rear airbags

Yea they've found their way into my cart a number of times a long with many other goodies lol, if only I could hit "checkout" more often.

Also going brush up on others experiences with those. I believe they're one of Antman's many mods so bound to have a good write up on here somewhere.

- Jeff

 

[Jhalko]

Yea they've found their way into my cart a number of times a long with many other goodies lol, if only I could hit "checkout" more often.

Also going brush up on others experiences with those. I believe they're one of Antman's many mods so bound to have a good write up on here somewhere.

- Jeff

A few beers usually loosens the wallet up I find! :lmao:

Otherwise if the airbags don't sound good I would speculate a set of sway a way rear coils might work if you are carrying the weight listed. They raise 1.5" although that is with the third row, also a touch more than 10% stiffer. With the stuff loaded in back it would probably level things back out for you perhaps. Just throwing another idea out.