Stiffen Suspension?

I have a ‘21 Crewmax limited. My kids in the back (young, still in seats) get more car sick than ever in the truck. It feels “boaty” my wife says. I was wondering if anyone figured out a way to stiffen the suspension. I asked a local truck place and they suggested leveling the front to the rear. I did so with Rough Country 2” coilovers, but it’s still soft.


I did some research I guess slamming the truck with a drop kit (I know, opposite of lifting) would stiffen the suspension, but has anyone else got a setup that stops the breaking nose dive?

How about wheels and tires? I have the standard 18s stock tires. Anyone throw in 20s that use less wall like KO2s or grapplers that helps with the nose dive?

Edit: 5 year old faces forward, 2 year old is the one that gets sick rear facing. Baby 4 months obviously rear facing is fine.

Its not the left and right turning. It’s the slowing down nose dipping that gets the bleh feel.

 

First get sway bars.

 

I have the rear TRD one. Does the front one need it? I thought it was more for turning and keep it level from left to right. My issue is more front to back. Like breaking and the nose’ll dip.

 

Do the kids seat rear facing?

i have 1 kid who loses his stomach every tine he’s not looking out the window

 

The front already has one. There’s a stiffer one you can replace it with but I don’t think it’ll make much difference especially on the nose diving. How old are the kids?

 

Does your truck have the black shocks or does your limited have the trd sport or off road package?

The black toyota shocks are the softest. They make the truck handle more like a boat and are generally worn out by about 50k miles. The trd sport shocks are tuned for the road, off road shocks for off road, either of them will ride and handle better than the black shocks. The TRD off road shocks are probably the best compromise for ride and handling, but even those roll in turns. I have them and added the TRD rear sway bar- nice difference. You can often find the sport or OR shocks for sale cheap when someone decides to lift their truck.

Also, get the trd rear sway bar- great upgrade, does tighten up handling in corners/roll and is inexpensive. There is also a TRD front sway bar available, does make a difference, but not as much as adding the rear sway bar.

You could also install bilstien 4600 shocks, they will be firmer and work with a stock truck. Other than that, you can always install new coil overs like the 6112s, which are firmer and can be adjusted for height, from about an inch higher than stock to 2.5 inches higher.

 

coach builder shackles should help the boaty feeling, icon coilovers for a stiff sporty ride

 

oh, just saw you installed RC coil overs, nevermind on the shocks. Well when, adding the sway bar will help and moving to a different tire (E load) will firm it up even more. The stock tires are standard load, very squishy, roll in turns, etc. Moving from the SL load tires to C, D or E will firm it up.

 

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I had the off-road package (blue and yellow bilstein) but got them swapped out when I levelled the truck with 2” rough country front coilovers. Both times the front end still dips. The back end has yellow/blue bilstein. Not sure if those are the 4600s.

I got a loaded backseat. 5 year old faces front, he’s fine. The 2 year old and baby both face rear. The 2 year old is the one that gets the most sick, especially stop and go traffic.

I wish there was a mod that does what the rear sway bar does for side to side. But front to back instead.

The Sport Red/Blue Shocks would work if I slammed the truck 2” front and 4” rear. Total of 4” in the front if I did that since it’s lifted 2” And was recommended other than stock ones. But since I have coilovers from rough country, if I did have to buy Shocks and slam the thing then I’d get the red/blue / TSS ones for “sport” or stiffer ride.

 

The front of a vehicle will always "dip" when braking. That's just how suspensions work. If it is a severe dip, you may have to start braking sooner so you don't have to brake as hard. Lots of finesse can overcome these things, because a stiffer suspension will start translating every bump in the road right into the cab. Washboard roads will suck, speed bumps will suck, and you'll still get nose dive and rise if you are hard on the brake/gas.

The "TSS" is an appearance package from Southern dealerships not a trim and will not change your shocks. From Toyota you have the basic black shocks, Blue and Yellow TRD Off Road shocks, Blue and Red TRD Sport shocks, or the Fox TRD Pro shocks.

 

Well I think the obvious answer here, is not to carry the kids around. Let the wife drive them around, give them up for adoption, let the grand parents have them, lots of different ways to go...




Sometimes the hardest problems have the simplest solutions!

 

^ thanks for the laugh. Haha. Ill def try a different tire when it’s time. I just can’t justify changing them with 5k miles only. Maybe the more I drive the better they’ll get. LoL, and yes I gotta drive like a grandpa to smooth out the braking for sure. But sometimes it’s sudden stops.

 

Bilstein 5100 shocks with the stock coils tend to ride firm but good. The 5100 shocks are adjustable and preload the stock spring.

 

TRD sway bars front and back
Air bags (yes, it stiffens the suspension)
A lot has to do with coil over and shocks u are using
AT tires
Coach builder shackles
Coach builder steering kit if the steering feels light at high speed

I m coming from German cars, the truck wasn’t stiffen enough for me but now it drives like a sports car with 4 inch lift

 

Seriously? Worst advice ever. Why would you give your kids away? For free? When you can sell them on the black market and get more money for mods?

 

Well that is very true, didn't think about that.

Also came up with another couple of easy fixes. Get a pair of vice-grips, find both hard lines to the front calipers, and crimp both lines down some. Not all the way, just want to limit the amount of braking force that can be applied, which will reduce the front end dropping. Go slow on the crimp, don't want to totally crush it.

Another idea might be to put 500lbs in the bed, that would cause it to settle and help keep the front end up when braking.

I am forever full of helpful ideas!!

 

My sons get car sick very bad. The sway bar helped but putting a black back on the inside of the window has worked best and driving like there is an egg under the pedals. He hates the bag trick. My wife gets very car sick as well and they both always prefer the Tundra over our Highland and RAV4.

I feel stiffening the suspension will be counter intuitive…the Tundra is ten times better than the sway on the 5th gen 4Runner. Liked that truck I a lot but that was bad.

 

I have a 2021 TRD Sport SR5, It sways like a bass boat in an ocean storm. I hate it. It has the TRD red shocks, and TRD front and rear sway bars. My 2015 I had stock front sway bar and added rear TRD sway bar. made a noticeable change. I also added 5100's front and rear ride was slightly more firm with better bump handling. the 2015 also had 285/55r20 E Nitto Ridge grapplers. I think the stock non E rated tires are the issue. I plan to get new E rated tires soon and will report the change. If I don't like that I will add the 6112 front and 5100? rears. Soon will have a fiberglass topper on back. >>>> note Front sway bars control the rear of the truck and the Rear bar controls the front. sounds odd but that's how they work. Stiff front bars can settle the rear and over stiff can make the rear come around. The rear can help with a over or understeer also. Its a balance where shocks and springs factor in also.