King coil over length?

Hello All, new here but been reading for years. Here goes…
2014, 5.7, sr5,2wd- bought king coil overs from shop and installed myself about 3.5 years ago(installation involved some prybars, much more difficult than I expected for “bolt on”). I understand they are for off-road but ride quality has been extremely rough to the point of being hard to communicate with my passengers while bed bouncing down the 5 fwy. I’ve tried solving the issue by:
-adding k37 deaver pack
-getting lower load range tires
-installing spindle lift and removing ALL preload from springs
-adding heavier bumper for weight
-etc,etc,etc.
I decided recently to maybe try going down to 550lb coil over spring from the current king 600lb and came across a possible explanation.
The number on my spring is 3.16.600B E18. Based off this number, I am assuming I have a 2.5” shock, 3” ID spring, 600lb rating, AND AN 18” SPRING?? Is an 18” spring on the coil over application (with stock lower arms) too long? Shouldn’t I have a 16” spring? Would this be what is making the ride stiff As hell with zero preload and only a 600lb spring on a Tundra carrying a 5.7 motor?
Thanks in advance for any and all input and/or suggestions.

 

I think you should contact King and see what information they can give you, they will know for sure what application those coils are for.

Also, how many miles have you put on them and guessing they were new when you installed them? Reason I ask, shocks like fox, kings, need to rebuilt ever so often. How often depends on how hard they are used. Could be every 1000 miles for a heavy off roader, or 40-50k miles for a street truck.

 

also, what tires, load rating and pressure are you running. I checked Kings site, those coils appear to be 3 x 16 x 600lb Coils, not sure what the E18 at the end means but that middle number, 16, should be the length of the coil.

 

Thanks for the reply, great info, I automatically was thinking the e18 meant 18” spring. I have load range E regular BFG ko tires, not sure of exact pressure but I have messed with pressure a bit and while helping slightly, not too much difference. Have approximately 25-30K miles on the coil overs. They have rode the same since the day I bought them. Contacting King is the obvious best choice, just wondering if anyone here had some insight and/or similar experience with these coilovers riding extremely rough.

 

Those are 16" x 600lb springs, standard for Tundra front coilovers. Depending on the amount of weight you have up front that may be fine. Most of the ride quality will be coming from the internal valving, not necessarily the springs. For stock weight, we actually like to drop to a 550lb spring. At this point based on everything you've already done, you may want to consider having them custom valved to be softer, something we can certainly help you out with. Shoot us a message and we can help you out

 

I had KO2's on my 2014 and I ran the rears at 30 and the fronts at 33PSI. At that pressure, I still didn't have a full contact patch on the rears unless I was loaded. They have a very stiff sidewall. I run my current AT3's at 43PSI and I have a full contact patch when empty. Keep in mind that the AT3's are mounted on a rim that is a bit wider.

 

Thanks guys, I will hit you up at accutune. Would you be able to get 550 springs as well?

 

Wow, you did a lot of stuff before addressing the coilovers, which seems to be thing that created the harsh ride in the first place. Something is wrong there, and I doubt it's the springs. My Kings came with #650 for a 05' 4.7 DC. I just swapped to #700 and the ride is great with either spring rate. I don't have your adjustable reservoirs, I assume you played with those. Accutune or King.

 

Yes, but we will need to run some numbers on your setup to make sure thats even needed. May not be. Also, these shocks most likely have a digressive piston in them, which is usually where some of the harshness comes from. We usually swap those out to a linear piston for a much smoother and progressive ride. Sounds like we should be able to get you taken care of without spending money on anymore unnecessary things.

 

Accutune will get you sorted out for sure. I would love to know if you have any droop left currently. If you jack up the frame, does the wheel drop away at all?

 

that sounds great. Sounds like I need you guys in my life.

yes,I have about 40% droop left. Definitely not bottomed out.

@alb1k - yes I’ve done a lot to the truck but not entirely to solve the problem, cause I mainly wanted deavers.

 

Yes I have played with the reservoir adjustment but honestly have not felt any difference. To my understanding it is only a rebound adjustment, not compression. I could be wrong there but that is what I think it is.
Honestly with my 600lb springs and how they feel, it blows my mind hearing on these forums of people like you going to a 650 or 700 lb! I can’t even fathom that with how the ride is currently which makes me think Accutune is 100% right with incorrect valving or something. That is waaaaay beyond my knowledge. Sincerely appreciate all your insight and comments. This forum and all of your guys knowledge has helped many times in the last few years.

 

It's a compression adjuster only, no rebound affected. As Accutune said, the spring doesn't do a lot besides support the vehicles weight, valving is the biggest thing. I'd be curious if your shocks still have a nitrogen charge too.

 

Once you have it worked out, please let us know.

 

i thought the same thing and took it back into the shop to charge the nitrogen and they said it was holding. I tried to let some out thinking it was like a bike tire. That was a lesson learned. When I drained it, I brought it in to have it filled the next day. That was about a year ago. Nothing has made a difference tho.

 

Seems like the problem is the rear of the truck. Too light and of course our frame flexes too. I'm using a 500 lb coil springs on my 2010 4x4 Crewmax and my Kings are non-adjustable. I have front and rear Kings and running no sway bars. Before my Crewmax I had these installed on my 07 RCSB 4x2. The 600 lb coil springs were too stiff for the RCSB but on really rough road and a bit higher speed, oh man, they are like butter. With the Crewmax, I haven't driven it hard like that with 500 lb coil springs. But I have driven the truck on some uneven terrain like technical trails. I do have 600lb weight on bed always. Now I have probably close to 800 lbs. No bounce on SoCal freeways. My rear springs are kinda flat from the previous owner carrying bike and off roading too. I do have a tune on my truck that's why I have all that weight on the bed. I was testing it a few months back and have not unloaded some of it. 2 inches of lift with 500 lb coils. I also added some skid plates/catalytic converter 3/8 inch steel plates underneath and those added some stiffness to the frame.

 

update?

 

I know this is old .

Did you ever figure this out? I have the same Kings and they may as well be welded solid.

 

I'm sure we can help, if you are interested in getting them revalved and possibly re-spung.