Ride Comfort? (i've read SO much!) - 5100 or 6112 (ahhhh)

What's up Tundra Peeps!

This is my 2nd official thread and am so excited to have moved from a Tacoma (that I loved) to a 2021 Tundra Platinum.

There are so so so many threads and opinions on here about suspension. I'm pretty sure I spent 8 hours yesterday despite the wife reminding me how long I've been staring at my computer.

I'm looking recommendations on my very specific needs/wants. What suspension between these options should I used with my preferred outcome.

WANTS

• Smooth Ride - This will be my daily driver and our road trip vehicle. 2 young kids, 2 small dogs, and the wifey. I've never came close to spending this much on a truck and I want to make sure to keep the ride quality comfortable.
• Leveling - I want to level or mostly level the truck. I do tow a 2500lb (dry weight) pop up camper about a dozen times a year.
• Off Road - I do dirt roads often, but do go to places that I wouldn't bring our 2in lifted Subaru Outback a few times a year. I'm not that worried about how 'smooth' those few rides are, but do want to make sure I am still capable of getting to some of our few back back back woods spots.
• Reminder - Nothing but a remind that #1, I want to maintain a smooth ride on the pavement.

OPTIONS

• Bilstein 5100s on Front
• Bilstein 6112s on Front
• Bilstein 6112a on Front and 5160s on back

I know the overall topic has been overly discussed, but I would really appreciate some personalized recommendations. Also, I'm so glad there is a TacomaWorld equivalent for Tundras. Loving this truck so far, almost 2 weeks !!

 

Congratulations on the move up from aTaco. Welcome to the forum. Before you get advice you have to show us some pics of your new truck.

 

I went with 6112 and 5160 with shackles and new bushing in the rear... I was not impressed at all for the amount spent. It was barely any different than stock suspension and this is after I spent countless hours looking into posts about suspension. Everyone rants and raves about this combo like it’s night and day. It’s not... at least not for me. We even proceeded to take a 2k mile trip a month after install and it felt the same as stock suspension. I wish I saved the money and went with 5100 if I knew there would not be much of a difference or spent a little more for that smooth ride, especially on sectioned concrete.

 

6112’s at 1.9 and be done.

 

I didn-t feel a world of difference....hell I put icons on my Tacoma and didn't notice much difference...so I am probably not a good judge...lol

 

I Had 6112/5160 combo for 40K
Set front 1.9” rear 1” with shackles
It was improvement over stock but not to much.
Recently installed Ironman4x4 stage2 kit.
So far much better ride, more planted and stable.
Bilsteins felt like pogo stick compared to Ironman.
My 2 cents

 

There you go! Nice Tundra! If money is no object the Fox suspension on the Pros is good on the highway and amazing off road. Lots of other options like Kings, Icons, Old Man Emu and many others. Good luck in your quest and keep us posted on your progress.

 

I ended up going with 5100s front and rear and honestly think that the ride is about the same. I do mostly pavement driving and couldn’t justify the price difference for the 6112 set up. I went with the middle setting up front and really like the look which is the main reason I upgraded from stock.

 

the leveling is the main reason why I want to do this but I don’t. Want to lose any ride quality.

 

I had the 5100s on my Tacoma and hated them. Rode like crap.

 

I'm following a similar path. I want the additional ride height of a lift, but don't want to reduce the ride quality for the 99.9% of the driving I do.

Most of the aftermarket shock options rely on some sort of collar to set the ride height. If you want more height, you raise the collar, which preloads the spring. I don't think I'm going to get the ride I want by adding preload

The Fox Pro shocks are supposed to have a longer, but softer spring. I have not verified this, but it would explain the taller ride height while still feeling plush on-road.

One of these days I'm going to go test drive a Pro on a dealer lot and see if I like the ride enough to drop the cash for the upgrade.

You can probably get a similar ride out of a custom tuned set of kings or foxes. Arguably, those would perform even better offroad as well.

 

I dont hate my 5100's, but they're most certainly a bit stiff or "pogo" like. After riding a tacoma with 2.5" kings for 4 yrs it's quite the downgrade.

 

I had 6112 and 5160s for almost 2 years. It seemed firmer and less bouncy that stock, but I don’t mind the harsh ride of a truck so don’t take my word on ride quality. One of the 6112s started leaking after about 6 months and bilstein was useless and their lifetime warranty sucks. I changed to icon I got last bf on sale. If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t get the 6112s.

My truck is also the family trip vehicle and I don’t get any complaints that it rides too rough.

How much do you want to spend? What about the TRD pro fox suspension?

 

Hope Icon treats you better, in my experience it will likely be the same as it was for the Bilsteins, only it costs more up front. At least the ride is better for you.

So far in my experience, between either having had or ridden along with, the OEM Fox Pros were the best.

Between Tacomas and Tundras I have felt 6112/5160s, 5100s, OME, Ironman FCPs, Icons, and OE Fox Pros.

Best value or budget option were the 6112/5160, hence the reason Im doing them on my current Tundra, even after having had the Pro with Fox suspension. The extra 2k isnt worth it, ROI really falls off at that price. If you plan to run it in the desert or at the beaches often then YMMV.

Ironman FCPs were really nice, but leaked after a year and had terrible travel. Lifting them to 2.5" resulted in a top out clunk over pot holes and such. Hopefully they fixed that, but at the time the only way to get 3" with them were strut top spacers.

OME last for ever and are pretty good, but I dont believe they make the softer valved options for the Tundra. The OME sports are still.

Icons were stiff IMO on the highway, but good at speed on the trails, something I did maybe 1-2x a year, so not worth it for me. They ended up leaking after a year as well.

5100s were ok, just ok.

5100s:



6112/5160:


FCPs:

 

I think it’s cause they are digressive, but I haven’t educated myself a lot on the difference. The roads around here are crap and they only redo about 1/4 mile at a time for some reason. I feel like I can drive faster with the icons than I could with stock and stay planted. Bilstein did ok too. So far no leaks. I had icons on my 2010 tundra and did some off-roading and those held up good.

 

Fox 2.0 coilovers and shocks on my 1794. Smooth and stable on the freeway. Bombing down forest service roads on the fox 2.0 ate up all the bumps without harsh rebound unlike the stock yellow bilsteins.

 

Valving is important too. I had icons (digressive)in the past on a taco and that I felt every expansion crack and pebbles but it took huge hits at speed like nothing. Now fox (progressive) on the tundra is way to go in comfort.

 

I had the Bilstein 5100 before and now the 6112 on my Tundra. I had the 5100 on top setting for about 8-9 years with no issues. It is more firm than stock but me having a background of racing, I personally don't mind a little firmer ride. It felt more controlled and handled better. Now I have 6112 on top setting for around 1 year. I'm happy with them, they do ride better than the 5100. It is softer on bumps. But to be honest, I don't hate the 5100 either. In fact, I put the Bilstein 5100 on our Sequoia also. Sometimes it can be slightly harsh ride on some roads but I think it has more to do with the LT tires on it. It rides smoother with the stock tires.

 

@Bluesttape, thanks for the thread. Not to highjack you, but I’m on the same search. Lots of good input and reviews so far. One set up I’ve considered but haven’t seen yet is Toytec. Can anyone with a Toytec set up put their $.02 in? Thanks for letting me jump in.

 

If your riding on factory 20s also consider going smaller wheel and more tire and that will help ride quality.

 

6112’s will have the best ride for the money.

Fox Pro’s will ride nice but are expensive. They also use the normal top hat not a metal one like race shocks. That helps with the ride.

I would go Kings if you want a traditional race coilover.

I have ADS on my Tundra and Kings on the wife’s Sequoia. I think the Kings ride better on road than the ADS.

 

Also in the market...following thread.

 

If you want ride comfort neither of those options 5100's or 6112's are good options. You are going to want a good set of coilovers, BP 51's from OME, Kings, Elka's are on my short list. Have heard great things about ironman offroad but I don't want that much lift....

Falcon Shocks get rave reviews as well. But at 1500 for the set you can get into a good set of coilovers for a few hundred more bucks..

 

Thanks for the feedback. As far as cost goes, I am trying to keep it minimal. The truck already cost double the budget. I'm not looking for best, just looking to level without loosing ride quality. I'll probably lift in 3 or so years.

 

Curious. Was the pogo feeling on pavement or back roads?

 

Thanks for the details. I really want the best bang for the buck without going cheap. Just wanna level it out without loosing comfort on the road. Seems like both would be good options. I guess I'll have to figure out what deals I can get

 

This statement really just says 5100s to me. It will ride pretty much the same, is the cheapest way to level, other than a spacer that is.

 

Come on in, boys... The water's fine!

 

I was actually going to power coat my wheels. I did this on my Taco and it came out amazing, and was half the cost of new wheels. That cost went up 50%, so I may hold off for smaller wheels, maybe 17s, and move to a 33.

I am very curious as to how that will effect ride quality.