Swap Front Coils W/out Spring Compressor? (1 Viewer)

[Jetboy]

Does anyone know if the tundra front coils can be swapped without a spring compressor? It's really common way to do it on the 4Runner/Tacoma suspension by just removing the retaining nut on top before dropping the suspension and you can separate the coilover safely as you lower the LCA and pull it out separated.

I don't seem to see anyone doing it with the Tundra. I am swapping shocks on my 2016 and would do it this way if it can be done. I just don't know if there's enough range in the LCA to fully extend the coil spring and still get the components out of the truck. Has anyone done it this way or do you know if it can be done?

 

[crikeymike]

Does anyone know if the tundra front coils can be swapped without a spring compressor? It's really common way to do it on the 4Runner/Tacoma suspension by just removing the retaining nut on top before dropping the suspension and you can separate the coilover safely as you lower the LCA and pull it out separated. I don't seem to see anyone doing it with the Tundra. I am swapping shocks on my 2016 and would do it this way if it can be done. I just don't know if there's enough range in the LCA to fully extend the coil spring and still get the components out of the truck. Has anyone done it this way or do you know if it can be done?

I've had customers tell me they've done it that way. But I haven't tried it. I can't see why it wouldn't work. Maybe the sway bar has to get moved a bit

 

[Jetboy]

I've had customers tell me they've done it that way. But I haven't tried it. I can't see why it wouldn't work. Maybe the sway bar has to get moved a bit

Thanks. I have a set of quality spring compressors, so I could go the normal way, but it's pretty conve3nient to just do it all at once in the vehicle as I pull them out. When I search I can't seem to find any examples of people doing it though. That's what made me question whether there's something about it that keeps it from working - like maybe the expanded spring ends up too long to get out or something. But you probably interact with so many more people doing it that you'd hear from them. I appreciate the response!

I'll give it a try and find out. If it doesn't work, I'll use the spring compressors to get the parts out.

 

[gnob]

please record this

 

[Jetboy]

please record this

I'll try to remember when I'm doing it. It's not very eventful. The lower control arm and spring bucket are basically functionally an HD spring compressor.

 

[Jetboy]

Need to do a writeup on the install and thoughts. I installed fox 2.0 snap ring shocks on my tundra. I do think it's at least possible to do it without spring compressors, but it's not easy. The issue is that the springs are pretty soft and the clearance is tight to get the coilover out. The result is that the lower control arm has to swing a LONG way down to get the lower eye out when the coil is released. (soft spring rate means the coil has to extend a long way before it is fully extended to a free height). So - the ultimate issue is that you'll have to let the LCA swing way down by releasing the LCA cam bolts. If you pull them out as a single coilover - then you can just use a pry bar and flex the LCA down to pull them. It's just easier on the Tundra to pull them out and use a spring compressor.

I had some issues with Fox. One side had the correct 16mm reducers (misalignment spacers). So, first side goes in and I'm done in maybe an hour or so and move on to the second side. Get it all put together and back in and the through bolt on the lower eye wouldn't go in. Nothing I did would align it correctly. Nothing. I fought it and tried a tapered drift and all sorts of things to get it lined up. Finally I got my calipers out and fox put a F'n 14mm reducer set on (Tundra through bolt is 16mm). After cursing fox for a while I pulled the reducers out and drilled them out to 5/8 (.625) and then reamed them out a bit more so the 16mm (.630) would fit through. I'm still annoyed at Fox for that ****up. It's not that hard to do this right.

Anyway - I got it all buttoned up. The wrong parts added about an hour or maybe 2 hours to the whole process. Fox customer service is consistently terrible. Including on this. I reached out and they are going to send a replacement set of spacers. The BOM lists them as a .625 reducer. Mine came with one side unknown and one side 14mm. I couldn't seem to get the concept across that 16mm is larger than 5/8 and the spacer they told me at fox tech were the correct ones are .625 so if they are actually true to spec the 16mm through bolt will not fit. But they are sending them and I'll find out. I measured the through bolt and Toyota fasteners are exactly true to size. The shaft is .630. What would have made sense is for the tech person to say "that's a nominal size reference but it's actually a bit larger" or "I'll double check with our folks to measure it and make sure the 16mm fits" or "we sell that size and it was tested to make sure it works" or anything like that. The only response was "that's the part number on the build sheet for that shock and that's all I know about it. I don't know what size it is or what the specs mean, but that's what my part list tells me is right, so we'll send you as set to try." This shouldn't be trial and error on my end.

I set the shocks on the lowest clip. Advertisement says 0-2" lift. Lowest clip is about 0.75" lift in real world. Not super thrilled with that. I wanted to keep stock height. But it's close. I'll live with it. Just not what was advertised.

Ride quality - it's very good. The small bump damping is night and day better than my TRD bilstiens (the cheap TRD 4x4 package, not TRD Pro). It's not a small improvement either. My wife thinks I'm wasting time and money on stuff that makes no difference. She said on my 4Runner with Fox 2.5 Factory Race series stuff that she couldn't tell any difference between the OEM and the Fox setup. We were talking about it on the way out to the truck. First 200 yards down the road and she said "wow - it's so much better. I couldn't tell at all in the 4Runner, but this really is a lot nicer to ride in already." Our roads are currently choppy ice covered packed snow - so just the subdivision road is like washboard. And I would say the same. It's a night and day improvement. Significantly more plush feel on everything at lower speeds. And a decent amount of rebound damping keeps the truck from the 2 or 3 bounces back and forth on bigger bumps. Overall it's a big improvement in the sharpness or harshness of the washboard type stuff, pot holes, etc., and a lot of reduction in head toss on the bigger bumps like parking lot entrances.

It's also a lot nicer towing my smaller trailer with my UTV on it. Not sure how it'll be with bigger trailers. Probably won't tow anything over 5k lbs until spring. Hopefully it has enough damping to control the big hits with 800lbs or 1k lbs of tongue weight. That's another area that the digressive valved Bilstiens really struggled. They didn't have enough damping to manage the big swails in the road with a heavier trailer. Fox seems to be plush initially and ramps up as progressive shocks typically do. I do get a lot of damping on things like speed bumps. The bigger full stroke travel bumps you get all the damping at once it feels like. It's good in the sense that I'm not hitting the bumps, but it's not plush on those bigger hits like a Raptor would be. And I didn't expect that for the price point. However - at the price - if they last a decent amount of time, I'm super happy with the ride quality. Wish I had done it sooner. And TBH I think the ride quality and damping curve is better than the much more expensive setup I had on my 4Runner. However, I also don't expect the smaller 2.0 shocks to handle 70mph bombing through the deserts and jumping on the dunes like I did in the 4Runner. Very different uses for the two vehicles.

ICON has a new set of budget 2.5 EXP shocks that are c-clip 2.5 icon's that reuse the OEM springs and parts like the 5100 and Fox 2.0 C clips. I'd love to try the ICON ones. Had I known a bit more I might have ordered those instead. I also think Bilstein should seriously consider offering a progressive valved version of the 6112s. I think the 6112 are better quality than the Fox 2.0 and the pricing is about the same. I just don't want the digressive valving. If Bilstein offered that option I think they'd sell a bunch of them. I also think the ICON 2.5s will do well, but I don't know how they are valved. My memory is that they call them "digressive" when in reality they are a linear/progressive compression and only digressive on rebound - which in the real world feels pretty progressive. My buddy has the ICON 2.5's on his tacoma and I really liked them. Like them better overall than my fox 2.5s on the 4Runner setup very similarly. The fox 2.5s were just too firmly valved and when paired with KDSS the mid speed stuff was overly harsh.

Anyway - just my .02. Super happy with the ride, not so happy with Fox.

 

[Jetboy]

Just as an update - Fox did send me the replacement parts right away. I still have not installed them, but will whenever I have the shocks out again.

Still really happy with the ride quality. Price was $750 shipped to my freight forwarder and I paid another $30 to forward on to the port where I can pick up in Alaska. Price to value is pretty good IMO. And I bought via a company called "Jack it" in SLC, Utah. They were really easy to work with doing the sales tax exemption form for me since I don't pay Washington state tax, but that's where the freight forward hub is. They are built to order, so they shipped from Fox about 3 weeks after order.

One other thought is that I did add rear shock boots. Alaska roads have a lot of glacial silt that gets on them and it's like nothing I've ever seen anywhere else. It's extremely fine and I suspect it is also abrasive, so the rear shocks being inverted will get a lot of spray on them and I think boots with drain holes in them will work better than exposed shafts. I tried to re-use the front shock shaft protective cup thing from the OEM shocks, but they didn't really fit with the Fox shocks. If I have them apart again in the future I'll probably go find some alternative that fits in that same configuration. Toyota puts them on for a reason and I think they serve a useful purpose.

My last thought is that I hope they last as long as the OEM ones. OEM bilsteins last forever. Why can't aftermarket ones that are 5 times as expensive?