Dobinsons, Bilstein, or Toytec on 02 SR5 AC 4x4

So I’ve got my 4x4 2002 SR5 access cab tundra and owned it for about 18 years. Originally it had some RC lift with AAL and airbag suspension. Sometime in college I had to replace the front shocks and being as I was broke af, I went with the cheapest option the shop offered me at the time to maintain its current lift. As to this day it has non TRD coils with trd struts (totally blown and bushing are shot. The rear has 5100s with the original AAL and airbag suspension. At its current status from middle of hub to top of wheel well. Front measure approximate 22” and the rear measures 23”. The rear can probably grab another 1” with bags fully inflated but she bucks like a bull if I do that with no weight in the bed.
So after searching the forum and forums for the past 2 weeks. I’ve come up with what I think will be suit my current measurements or potentially gain a little lift in the front. I just can not find much information of any one really running Dobinson coil overs front and back

 

There's a lot of helpful info on suspension over in this thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

Check the "Suspension, wheel and tires ..." section of the 1st reply.

Your last sentence, left me with questions. You said "Dobinson coil overs". Are you confusing a coilover with a strut? I checked, Dobinson's doesn't seem to make coilovers for 1st gen Tundras.

Anyway, check that thread. See if it helps shed any light in that one section. Then pop back in here and tell us what you're thinking in hindsight after reading the different options and pricing.

 

How it currently sits
https://www.dobinsonsdirect.com/pro...ride-rear?rq=mk_toyota~md_tundra~yr_2000-2006

You are correct it is a strut set. Thanks for the reply shifty, I’ve seen you weigh in on a ton of threads. I’ve searched this site along with tundrasolutions and YouTube. I’ve looked in specific threads and specific forums for key words of Dobinsons and 6112. I think due to Covid there was such a shortage of supplies few put in 6112 Bilstein. And the ones I’ve seen that have all have double cab and use the recommended settings which supply more of a lift. When I look for AC I show a 1” lift which if I’m lucky and they over estimate I’ll be where I’m already at. Everything on Dobinson for AC all pends to those that purchase on 1stgenlifts and got the package of 5100s with Dobinson.

 

Not a fan of lift blocks for the rear. Especially if you plan on offroading or towing.

 

Yeah I didn’t plan on adding any blocks. The toytec offers a block option if you don’t choose the AAL option.

 

I went back and forth I had the dobinsons on my Tacoma and they rode really well for the tundra I ordered the bilsteins 6112 to try them out on the tundra I haven’t received them yet so can’t say anything about the quality yet.

 

@vst yeah the things I’ve read for the 6112 appears all good. But I’ve only read things about them related to the double cab which you have so I’m betting you’ll be happy with it!

 

There were at least two people selling 6112 fronts, brand new, in the 1st Gen Marketplace.

I guess my questions are pretty basic.

What is your goal, just a refresh and maintain current height, level it at the current height, raise it higher front and rear?

What are you planning to do with the truck in the next 3-5 years? Daily driver, mostly street? More than 25% offroad? Towing? Crawling?

What is your current budget?

Are you dead-set on static lift, or would you prefer coilovers if you had the option within your budget?

 

@shifty` , I want what everyone wants, cheap quality 2-2.5” lift with no issues installing them .
But all that aside I’d like to spend less than 2 grand for front struts, coils, and UCA’s. Really there’s nothing wrong with my rear end currently. Airbag suspension and AAL are all intact and working. I’d like to get close to 23” on the front which is what the rear sits at currently. The fronts sit at about 22”, both measurements are from mid hub to top of wheel well.

This truck is my daily driver/commuter to and from work, I use it for home renovations, towing an A-frame camping, long distance trips with poor road conditions (not paved). I never take the truck just for off road unless it’s to take me to a destination for mountain biking, hiking, rafting, or camping. With that being said a lot of my destinations are rather off the beaten path. My intentions with the truck are to keep it running as long as I can just like I have for the past 18 years. I’ve done almost all the maintenance and repairs myself which I enjoy but definitely enjoy less as ive gained more hobbies. I honestly could care less whether the lift is static. I do like the idea of rebuildable and maintainable. I also like to purchase things once and do it right but I’m not going to drop 3-5k on a custom suspension, Atleast not all at once.

I’m only interested in the 6112 because they come with new coils, but I’m unsure these will provide lift to even match what I currently have that’s blown out haha.

 

I mean, during Black Friday I was able to get the Toytec Aluma Boss 2.0 coilovers, which are just rebranded quality Elka coilovers, for $800 (proof), fully loaded with 700lb springs: They run around $1,100 now and the price keeps going up periodically, and if you buy direct from Elka, you'll pay $1700+. Toytec does deals periodically for 15-20% off and offer 5 or 10% off for forum members with a specific code found in the Vendors forums here. At least going with that setup, you have complete flexibility to raise or lower without having to pull an entire strut assembly, compress a spring, and move a circlip.

I added to that SPC uppers, but Eibach branded. I got those for around $525 versus the $900+ SPC charges, buying them from Elite Race Fab which has them under $600 right now, and I think if you add to your cart, and get to the point you put in your address and email, then walk away, within 24 hours they remind you and - if I recall - send you a coupon for 5% more off. LINK You may want to check in before installing, IIRC you want to go with setting "D" when clocking the balljoint and make sure your alignment shop understands how these work. AND make sure you re-torque the top balljoint nut after alignment. Read the instructions because they changed the way

You'll want to run extended links if lifting above 2". Here's what most folks are using around here. IIRC, install the top first because you virtually need a cone wrench to install the top last. Only tighten to the point the bushing is starting to get convex, but not so much it's like a parenthesis (_) because you'll wear things out faster.

After installing the fronts, you'll see where you need to be in the rear. There are a few spring options, or go AAL. Skip the blocks, they're not ideal.

This is just my 2¢ but some folks may have other thoughts.

 

I had the same issue, after much reading i settled with 6112. They finally ship after i placed the order on april 18th. I will let you know how they ride once installed

 

Elite doesn’t send any coupon for the ucas. I’ve had them in my cart for a while.

 

Bummer - I must be confusing w/another vendor.

They are veteran-owned and operated though, and seem to drop coupons and pricing across the store on nat'v/vet holidays.

 

$600 is still a great deal however the wife might kill me if I spring for the trucks suspension vs the front door replacement and the driveway replacement. Plus I want a 10k shed lol.

 

@shifty` , this is all great info. I assume you’re running the toytec 2.0 aluma on your setup? You’ve been pleased with what you have, ride quality is good, what ride height you’re running at? Thanks for the eibach link, now you’ve got me strongly considering them because I was just gonna go with jba. I was going to chose Jba for several reasons but mostly their cost, easy maintenance (grease able bushings and ball joint) along with their known great customer service. I see these are not nearly spoken about often on 1st gen tundra forum but extensively covered on taco and runner forums and ran by many people. You have any issues with the eibach arms like squeaking? Obviously the spc’s adjustability is the huge selling point here but I’m pretty sure my outcome either way will not affect the ability to get good alignment. I really do appreciate the input along with the tips on install. I have not even considered the extended links like those you mentioned. Overall I believe I’d be plenty happy with 2” lift, do you think they’re necessary or have a noticeable difference with lift set at 2”?

looks like if I went with the Aluma setup it’s going to run me $1150 for the setup with shipping which is fair and reasonable for cost on my part. I see I could also get the icon 2.5 extended travel, you feel in your opinion this option is better. I ask your opinion because obviously others might say they’d prefer the icon. The huge difference I see between these 2 is that I do not think the Aluma setup is extended travel? Or am I just not seeing that?

 

I believe @805Tundra is running the Aluma Boss 2.0 setup I bought. I still haven’t had a full free weekend to work with it and didn’t have wheels and tires yet anyway, and I need to book my alignment 3-4 weeks in advance. It’s like waiting on planets to align at this point; the boxes are at risk of becoming furniture, and it’s killing my motivation. Like today - was hoping this would be the weekend, then work dropped this trip on me 3 weeks ago, and I’m out for several days, I’m sitting in the airport right now heading to AZ for work.

To be clear, the Eibach arms are SPC arms. SPC arms are resold under a couple different brands. Exact same arm, accessories etc but way cheaper if you buy re-branded as another brand. Just like the Toytec coilovers, they’re Elka but come in a different color and name screened on them, but I was assured the exact same product inside and out. But anyway, the SPC-Eibach branded come with grease to use on bushing at install, you always grease poly bushings when installing. I never hear people bitch about these UCA squeaking though.

I think if you wait ‘til upcoming Memorial Day to purchase you might see price drops on stuff at Toytec and at Elite Race Fab.

Believe me, I look forward to posting pics and providing feedback on the suspension, the couple of people running these tell me I’ll be very happy, and I’ve been told they are on par with or better than Icon’s stuff.

 

@shifty` , yeah copy all that. I have read couple places about the spc and eibach are the same. I even caught a thread there was an even cheaper brand that also rebrands them, I think it’s mevotech I believe it was. I understand the grease on install but the Jba’s have a grease able zerk fitting on both bushings and ball joint. Allowing ongoing grease to be added, they recommend every 5k miles you regrease all fittings. Also great idea, I didn’t even think about the upcoming holiday! I will wait till then and see if I can score a sale.

 

First off @shifty` get them installed! That’s some expensive furniture lol.

@Ak907 I love mine so far. They ride great, very smooth on and off road. They are indeed extended travel. Like shifty mentioned above they are made by elka and if/when you need a rebuild they will have to be shipped to Canada, but great quality shocks. I got about 2.5” of lift, I think 2WD will get the full 3 inches. I’m sitting at 22.5” hub to fender for reference. Overall I have no complaints and am very happy to go with them and the price is hard to argue with. Definitely wait for a sale, I think I got mine for $899. Or when you are ready to order give them a call and order over the phone. They can usually give you a discount even when one isn’t advertised online.

 

With extended travel struts, and extended travel cv boots, and extended travel bumpstops how much extra travel are we talking?

 

It’s only 1” more travel

 

I can do that if i stretch beforehand. An inch of shock travel or wheel travel? Cause i've still got my stock springs.

 

Not sure you need to ship to Canada. They say they're rebuildable with commonly available parts. I'm assuming any shop equipped to rebuild can handle it. I expect Toytec and/or Elka can tell you who is capable, or has a referral.

 

@805Tundra , you also running eibach uca’s and extended steering links?

 

That’s what toytec told me, they send them to Canada for rebuilds since elka makes them. But who knows

 

I’m running camburg UCAs and I do have suspension maxx extended links as well. I recently took my sway bar and am not currently running it

 

How do you like the ride with out the sway bar? Do you have a lot of body roll?

 

I personally think it rides way better and smoother. I enjoy the ride and it doesn’t feel sketchy at all for daily driving. Doesn’t feel too floaty and there is hardly any body roll. The 700 lb springs on the coilovers plus new leafs in the rear are helping with that. All that being said, I still have it in the garage ready to bolt back on for long drives, fully loaded with the fam.

 

I searched them up and all I found was complaints. Is this the same place?

 

Looks like the same place. I had a totally easy, pain free order. Maybe orders just suck when there's a fulfillment issue, i.e. you need support?

That's usually what generates BBB complaints.

 

So I ordered the JBA upper control arms and toytec Aluma boss 2.0 and finally finished the install yesterday. After install and a short drive around town I gained about 1/2 inch of lift now sitting at ~23” from center hub to fender. I also gained a significant improvement in ride quality which was suspected since my old set was blown out bad with a 1inch spacer.

Here’s what I learned and some issues I had along the way. I’ll start with the arrival of product. Once the coil overs showed up I quickly checked my package which appeared all good with what was supposed to come with it. Upon disassembly and installation it became clear that toytec failed to give me the correct bolts and washers which damaged one of the mounting holes during attempted installation. Now I thought something was off because the bolts they gave me only hand threaded about a 1/4 into the top mount. But there I was thinking, “there’s no way they sent the wrong bolts, these have to be them”. After talking to their sales guy because their support guy was out for the day, they came to the conclusion that they sent hardware they don’t even stock in their warehouse as shown by the pictures I sent them. So they overnighted the correct hardware which still hasn’t arrived. I went down to a specialty fastener shop and bought the right stuff myself along with a tap to correct the threads of the fucked up mounting hole from attempting to install the hardware that Cheech packed in my kit after smoking a gram of shatter from the local weed dispensary. Although I appreciate their expedited shipping of the correct parts, if I waited for it to arrive it wouldn’t be installed. Also they didn’t really like the idea of replacing the damaged head since they don’t sell individual parts for the coil over. They did say to contact them if I was unable to salvage the head by taping it myself. Overall I spent way to much time and about $50 dollars in parts and tools for the repair for their ignorance. Also it appears these coil overs are adjustable but it looks like the 2.0 version recommends pulling the shock, placing it on a compressor, then making the adjustment. This is unlike their 2.5 version where they advertise adjustment while installed.

Now onto the install. Every video I watched showed everyone installing the upper control arm first and then the shock. I did that first and then reversed the installation order on the other side. I must say I think it’s easier to install the shock first so that I was not fighting as much getting the bottom shock bolt in. Also it’s clearly mentioned to place the bolt in the bottom mount with the head by the cv axel. I noticed my old setup was done in the reverse and also noticed multiple videos online had incorrect bolt mount direction. It was extremely difficult to get the bottom bolt in the correct orientation on the drivers side. This was the side I fully installed the upper control arm first and then the shock. I actually had to pull the cv axel out of the hub assembly just to get the bolt in due to clearance issues. The passenger side when much smoother and I had a lot more clearance.

I don’t have enough time in my truck yet to determine if everything was well worth my time yet. I also need to get an alignment. I’ll post up some pics once the alignment is all done. I also will potentially purchase and install those max steering links. My stock ones are working but they have 15+ years of stress from being stretched so the bushings are crying for help. Overall I’m happy with the lift amount, I wanted to keep what I had for lift or gain maybe 1/2-1” which is what I got. Thanks for all your input @shifty`