Bilstein HD's (1 Viewer)

[Crain]

All,

I have searched and am now confused (as usual).

I would like to install Bilstein HD's, do I have to level it out or are these plug and play? I have read about turning the T-bars but do not want to take the chance of having CV leakage.

Do these really lift the truck +/- an inch? I can not figure how this would happen.

Thanks for you help.

Crain

 

[Trunk Monkey]

A shock will not provide lift - that's t-bars and springs. The Bilstein's have different valving and provide a more firm ride vs. the OEM shocks.

If your truck has a slight rake to it you can level it out by cranking the torsion bars up slightly. The amount we're talking about would not affect your CV's at all. You'd need to go ~2" or more to start worry about those and a diff drop. Over time (a long time) the torsion bars will loose their "spring" and it's part of the standard Toyota alignment practice to tweak them slightly should they need it.

At only 34k (or whatever it's at now), your OEM shocks have a lot of life left.

 

[Crain]

Thanks Trunk,

The idea is to make towing easier.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Towing is springs too. Shocks control rebound of the springs and suspension. You can add airbags for cheap, under $100, or stock height but higher load aftermarket springs.

 

[uzj100]

Does the diff drop kit from slee provide and lift or is it just for correcting the cv angles once you have turned up the t-bars?

 

[TXLX470]

It's just for correctiong CV angles....and you will loose some ground clearence as well..

 

[Real]

Get the Bilsteins!

FWIW, I waited until my stock shocks were spent and then upgraded to Bilsteins. If I had understood how much they improve the handling of a 100 I would not have waited. That annoying body roll and front end squat in turns will disappear. It won't handle like a sports car, but compared to stock shocks it'll feel that way. Go for it!

Tweak the bars a little while you're at it. Some on Mud have had trouble with the bolts being tough to turn, but they're really beefy so just grab a breaker bar with an extender (pipe) and crank away. I think it was about 6 revolutions for 1".