Ultimate Suspension For On Road Handling?

[Dezert4Runner]

Do you think the original stock 4Runner springs + Tundra 5100s @ bottom perch would yield no change in ride height? Again I'm happy with my current ride height so I have no interest in changing springs.

From what I understand they shouldn't. As far as this thread goes, it's kinda hard asking what rides best without prefacing it with 'I want best riding stock ride height' or 'best riding 1"-2" lift setup'.

 

[BrandonF]

I am running tundra 5100's with stock tundra coils up front and oem 80-series coils and shocks in the rear.

I found the largest improvement to the ride comfort was removing my front sway bar. Of course, the body roll is pretty bad but I drive it accordingly so I don't really care. Not to mention, the ifs is dead useless off road with the sway bar attached.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Good logic and info here.

The best riding springs will be the ones that don't have extra preload. If your main concern is ride quality, take any additional lift from preloaded coils and put it out of your mind (top plate spacers may be the alternative to that rule, more on that below).

Having had a few different combos of shocks & springs, this is what I would go with given the goal of best on road ride:


For the front: I would go with Tundra 5100's on the bottom setting. I believe on the bottom perch they would ride smoother than a set of Bilstein HD's or Tokiko Trekmasters. The bottom perch on the Tundra 5100's provides no lift, and the Tacoma 5100's bottom perch gives .85" IIRC, so in trying to avoid extra preload to coils, the Tundra ones would be my pick. I would either pair those with a 99 tall or the Tacoma TRD springs. In my mind, this would be one of the cushiest setups. Add a 1"-2" top plate spacer and you'd get your lift and still probably keep the ride quality (yeah, I know top plate spacers have their stigma, but we're talking ride quality here, right? ). One thought that I would like to see someone try is some aftermarket c/o's like Icon or King etc and use lighter spring rate; say 500lb or 550 and run as little preload as possible. You could even valve them softer if you had an idea of what could potentially soften up the small bump compliance, but this could be an expensive and time consuming venture!

I considered both the Tundra and Taco 5100s before going with the Tacos. I chose them because I assumed the Taco valving would be softer than the Tundra, though I never found that specific info. When I get the chance I am going to drop down to the bottom of the the three rings to remove some of the preload. I didnt realize the bottom ring gave that .85 preload, though it makes sense that that would be the difference between the Tundra (with 5 settings) and Taco (with 3). How do you know this for certain though? The only way would be to actually measure from bottom ring to top hat on both shocks. I kinds wish I had gone with the Tundra 5100s, but I think Ill try putting the Taco progressive coils on my Taco 5100s at bottom ring, and see how that rides. Or I may just transfer a complete stock Taco TRD setup (progressive coils and factory installed bilsteins) like nissanh did. Then add a 1" top hat spacer if I want the slight added height.

For the rear: Any OME spring will be too stiff given their spring rates, and LC coils are nice and soft but only give 4"+ lift, so they're both out. I think a 99 tall or possibly a FJ rear spring might win out here. Not much info available on the FJ setup, so I'd love to know the spring rate before saying if they're really a worthy candidate. The one plus is that they'd give you around 1.5" lift, so really why not just stick with the 99 talls since we know they're soft and give the same lift? You could even use a stock rear coil of any year 3rd gen with a Daystar 1.5" or 2.5" spacer to keep it off of the rear cone bumpstops and this would keep the ride nice and forgiving.

Yeah Ive ran OME 890s and lc 7 wraps, both with lc tokicos. Both rode about the same. At stock weight these setups were a little too stiff for me, though not bad. If the lc's were shorter I would have kept them on. I still have the lc shocks in the back, now paired with 99 coils. The lc shocks are definitely valved too stiff for 99 coils. So I think shocks are the only thing I need to address in the rear now.

As long as the sway bars are connected F&R and a decent rear shock is used, a soft setup wouldn't cause any instability or undesired handling characteristics. The big question would really be what rear shock to go with, but that would really depend on if you had no lift or 2.5" lift before you can really narrow down your options.

Im considering the Rough Country rear shock, as Ive heard it rides decent. Or the Rancho 9000 series, for the 9 adjustment settings. Im just concerned about the quality of either. I would also consider the bilstein 4600 series, or the KYB oe shocks as many seem to like the ride. But I dont think they would be long enough with my 99 coils + 1.5" rear spacers

Edit: To mention the FJ coils . . .
I looked into those as well. I dont know the spring rate on them. I do know that Brilliant is running them in the back of his truck and he likes them. He claims 1-1.5" lift from them. Logically, because they are slightly shorter than the 3rd gen coils unloaded, but sit higher under the vehicle weight, they must have a higher spring rate. So I dont think I want to go that direction. Now, if they were progressive, that would be a different story. But Im certain theyre fixed rate

 

[Dezert4Runner]

The info for the Tundra 5100's online says 0-2.5" lift, but who knows how accurate that is.

Toyota Tundra Front Bilstein 5100 Ride Height Adjustable Shocks 99-2006 w/ Optional Rear Shocks


This link says the Tacoma 5100's are 0-2.5" also, so who knows :noidea:

https://wheelersoffroad.com/product...-5100-height-adjustable-front-strut-set-d558/



What's funny is the Downsouth link says not designed for 96-02 4runners, but this Wheelers link says it fits both :lmao:

https://wheelersoffroad.com/product...-adjustable-front-strut-set-for-99-06-tundra/

 

[BrandonF]

When I was running stock tundra struts and shocks (non TRD), they gave me about 1.5-1.75" of lift. Based on this, the tundra 5100's at the bottom perch should give about that much lift on a 4runner.

 

[1985taylor1925]

Does anyone have experience with Skyjacker products? I saw these for the first time the other day. They look to be an equivalent to Bilstein 5100s, with 5 settings. From doing about ten minutes of research Skyjacker products get fairly good reviews. But I don't know anyone personally who has ran their shocks. Im wondering if these are a good option for me because, as this threat discusses, Im looking for a softer ride than most, and have no added weight. Im considering trying these with 1st gen taco OEM progressive coils



Skyjacker TT413ST - Front Performance Strut Series Leveling Kit Brand New

 

[DionJ]

The 4600 Bilsteins are perfect with stock springs. The fronts have more compression and less rebound damping compared to the 5100s, better for stock springs. I think the rears are identical. Can't really compare to stock as the ones they replaced were dead, but the ride was more comfortable as it stayed off the bump stops.

 

[Goyo]

I was thinking on a new question or thread... but this one seems pretty close. Let's see if it works...

Looking to make a better 3rd gen. Not crazy crawler, objectives are:

1. Improve original set up of a 160k miles truck. --》 posh and supple ride please !!!
2. 95% Daily driver, with 5% (ocassional) off road, wheeling, beach.
3. Max 2" lift.
4. Reduce nose dive.
5. New parts, want to do it once and do it right.


Options ? Comments ? Toytec Ultimate kit is overkill ?

Cheers.

G.

 

[madbomber08]

OP, did you ever figure out a magic combination for the front/rear for on-road driving? I am sitting here on cyber Monday about to pull the trigger on the Toytec Ultimate, but I am having trouble convincing myself that this is "the one."

I've spent years researching this and I am still having a helluva time pulling the trigger on a setup. I do not want to spend $1000+ and find out it's not what I want.

 

[jgue467]

Based on the OPs original question, I think post#5 says it All. That's what works for me, not perfect but pretty darn decent and think of what else you can do with the money!

Luck and enjoy. :cowboy:

 

[Kyngfish]

Based on the OPs original question, I think post#5 says it All. That's what works for me, not perfect but pretty darn decent and think of what else you can do with the money!

Luck and enjoy. :cowboy:

Lol. The op wanted the best setup for handling and complained at stiffness. Stiffer reduces body roll and improves handling. Same with widening. While I will agree that lifting the truck impacts it's on road manners for the worse, I would be shocked if the Toyota OEM setup was really the best for on road handling. Most OEM setups are more for comfort than handling. And most OEM setups have serious compromises.

To madbomber, decide what you want. Comfort or handling. You can find a balance between the two but you can't really have both without the new magnetic setups. Recommend you look at the newish 4Runner specific 5100s and something probably a little stiffer than stock for coils. If the OME are on the stiff side, maybe the LC or FJ coils. I've heard they are comfortable but I've never ridden them.

 

[1985taylor1925]

OP, did you ever figure out a magic combination for the front/rear for on-road driving? I am sitting here on cyber Monday about to pull the trigger on the Toytec Ultimate, but I am having trouble convincing myself that this is "the one."

I've spent years researching this and I am still having a helluva time pulling the trigger on a setup. I do not want to spend $1000+ and find out it's not what I want.

I can't say I have. But, I do think oem is the way to go for me. What I was looking for was something more comfortable and that feels planted on rough roads. The 3rd gen has choppy handling, partly because of the narrow trac width and short front control arms. So not much you can do about that. If I could afford it I would probably go with kings or icons up front and just set them at oem height. But, my truck isn't worth spending that kind of money on suspension