Quick bilstein 5100 question

[BurbanAZ]

Around 6 months ago I installed the bilstein 5100 shocks and eibach 650 coils. I called Toytec and they said to put the shocks on the second setting up from the bottom to help with the weight because I have an ARB bumper and winch also. Now I have a tiny bit of rubbing if I'm at an angle and turned at the right angle. Does anyone have this setup on a higher setting? It's barely rubbing and just touching the mud flaps so I could just remove those but I'd rather not.

I'd like to move the bilsteins to the 3rd position from the bottom but I don't want to ruin my shocks either. I also have the total chaos UCAs.

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

You won't hurt the shocks by playing around with the adjustments. It sounds like you're looking for ride height adjustment though and adjusting the shocks won't help you there.

Try it on the 3rd position and let us know how it works out.

 

[uscg2008]

If those are the silver 650 eibach coils I'm pretty sure toytec and bilstein recoommends that you dont set it any higher than .85. That being said if you want a little more height you could had some of the thin top plate spacers that toytec offers. You will still have a little bit of rubbing, you may need to do some trimming of the plastic and/or do a cab mount chop.
This is the top plate spacers I was talking about vvvvvvvvv
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/Front-Top-Plate-Spacer-Kit_p_333.html

 

[BurbanAZ]

Yea their the silver eibachs. Is .85 that's second notch from the bottom? I thought about the spacers though. If it's really going to strain the shocks I'd rather not risk it.

 

[uscg2008]

Yes .85 is the second notch from the bottom and it's ok to use that top plate spacer. The eibach coils are shorter than the old man emu coils so that top small spacer makes up for it.

 

[rickashay]

Keep in mind that lifting the truck more does not alleviate the fact that you are rubbing. It just changes the static ride height of your suspension so you rub less often. You will still rub in the same location with more lift, but you would just have to compress the shocks more to get to that point. Also keep in mind that the more you lift, the more you are adding more up-travel for the cost of losing your droop. Your IFS suspension will ride nicest when you have adequate droop still available. I'd leave your suspension alone and just trim the little bit needed to eliminate the rubbing, while keeping your ride the same as it is now. Another thought might be to ad more castor to your alignment, pushing the tire farther away from the firewall or point of rub.

Good luck!

 

[ebg18t]

What does your alignment look like? Some of us eliminated the rubbing with alignment tweaks.

 

[Stone_Blue]

What does your alignment look like? Some of us eliminated the rubbing with alignment tweaks.

This is one reason why I went with SPC Light Racing UCAs, instead of the TC uniballs I tried first.

They allow up to +/- 2° of caster adjustment, by themselves, so you can adjust and dial in ONLY the caster separately from camber, which you cant do with the stock LCA cams. I have rubbing on the frame at full lock. Not sure if more caster will help that. But I also have rubbing on the right side on the mudflap at 3/4 right turn...Hoping a little more caster from the LR arms will help that, instead of having to raise the 5100s to the 3rd notch, when I get my next alignment.

 

[NCtrail4R]

Rickashay is right - any tire that fits stock will fit with a lift, and any tire that rubs stock will rub with a lift. The only way to change that is to alter the geometry of the suspension - springs and spacers only set the truck higher in the travel.

I'm running 5100s on my Xterra and found that the shock is damped too lightly for higher lift settings. Probably works well for stock height and 1st lift setting, but go higher and the front end may top out hard (with a clunk) over speed bumps and in some offroad situations. Once preloaded, the springs are stronger than the rebound dampening that is built into the shock. Guess it makes senses as they have to pick a target dampening level since the shock dampening is not adjustable. Not a deal breaker, still works, but worth considering.

 

[BurbanAZ]

Yea u guys have good points. I think instead of messing with my suspension settings or adjustments I'm just going to cut the small area of plastic where I rub. It's a very small point and only does it at a certain angle while compressing the suspension on a side.

Plus I really like how my 4Runner rides and the suspension feels great so I'd rather not mess with it and worry about bottoming out in travel like NCtrailX was talking about.