Upgrade Shocks on TRD Pemium?

My buddy had an 88 Towncar years ago, he'd drive that thing like a truck. Over curbs, full speed over speed bumps, you felt NOTHING. I miss riding in cars like that.

 

I had a job out of college where I rode home in a Lincoln Town Car every night at no cost - basically because I was never out of work before 9pm, and would be back again at 7:30am or so to do it again

To this day, I still have flashbacks to how much that job sucked every time I’m in a black Lincoln.

 

Stock shocks are soft to me

 

I just installed Bilstein 5100 today on my TRD off road and I have to say I’m pretty happy. The floaty, leaning , nose dive has been pretty well mitigated and with the front set at .85 (second knotch) it leveled the front up to the back….front measurement from the hub to the top of the shell wells is 20.5” at all four corners.

 

Stock measurements are 22” rear 20” front. 5100s at .85 should just add exactly that .85, or in some cases close to 1”.

You must’ve gone to the third clip or something else to add 2” to the front.

 

Sorry.. I was not clear. I did the second clip adding .85… it actually added about an inch as the shocks add about .25 vs the stock shocks at the first clip per the installer at 4 Wheel Parts …the fronts are capable of about two inches at the top clip and that would require some additional work on the rears to keep the vehicle level … I did not want to go higher… just take out some of the rake … the ride is more firm, but I prefer this to the bouncy, leaning nosedive which is much much reduced and the ride is still smooth at speed

 

If you haven't already, make sure you get it aligned.

Good choice on the .85. I went to the next clip up (1.85") and added rear Bilstein 1" Springs. Then I chased the lean and added a 10mm spacer in the rear drivers side, followed by a .25" spacer in the front drivers side. Lost my caster and added UCAs to get that back in spec. It's finally where I want it (2" lift on all 4 corners) but it did add some cost to get that extra 1.15" of height.

Fortunately, I twist my own wrenches so experimenting with the spacers wasn't that bad.

 

Good work.. your ability is beyond mine! Thanks to this site and members with previous experience help me decide on the level the suited my goal and I found a good shop nearby to do the work… drive mine more today at interstate speed and totally happy with the responsiveness changing lanes, turning and braking . Cheers

 

This is absolutely true. A 13° drop in average temperatures in my area since my last pressure adjustment led to a 2 to 3 psi drop in my tire pressure. I had gone to Costco and done my own nitrogen exchange. The last time I wanted to check my tire pressure, Costco’s pumps were off, and I used Discount Tire air... in addition to the Costco nitrogen pumps having the high concentration of nitrogen, that’s in the 90% to 91% range, they also remove all the moisture. From what I understand, the discount tire pumps do not have the same level of drying of the air.