1986 Toyota Pickup - OME CS009R springs with Bilstein 4600 shocks?
08-10-2023, 07:42 AM
#21
YT Community Team
The previous owner of mine had raised the back, and then cranked up the torsion bars to try and level the front. A pretty miserable ride. I decided to see if I could make it even worse (which I did) by replacing the collapsed body mounts with poly.
After installing the OME springs I did put 500-600 pounds of weight in the back to try and break in the springs (OME tech suggested) months later it was the same. That’s when I broke down the leaf packs and started swapping single springs.
Once I got that decent I installed front and rear Bilstein 4600. I also cranked down the torsion bars to get it closer to spec.
Ride got vastly better! Finally.
my last big improvement was getting OEM rubber body mounts and yanking the poly. That made a much bigger difference than I had hoped for.
I think if I had kept the poly it would have been pretty hard on the steel floor.
After installing the OME springs I did put 500-600 pounds of weight in the back to try and break in the springs (OME tech suggested) months later it was the same. That’s when I broke down the leaf packs and started swapping single springs.
Once I got that decent I installed front and rear Bilstein 4600. I also cranked down the torsion bars to get it closer to spec.
Ride got vastly better! Finally.
my last big improvement was getting OEM rubber body mounts and yanking the poly. That made a much bigger difference than I had hoped for.
I think if I had kept the poly it would have been pretty hard on the steel floor.
Last edited by Jimkola; 08-10-2023 at 07:44 AM.
08-10-2023, 07:49 AM
#22
Also, please report back on what you end up installing and how it feels. I'm curious about the damping rates and harshness of the Bilstein 5100: 33-247717 as well as any configuration you install.
08-10-2023, 07:51 AM
#23
The previous owner of mine had raised the back, and then cranked up the torsion bars to try and level the front. A pretty miserable ride. I decided to see if I could make it even worse (which I did) by replacing the collapsed body mounts with poly.
After installing the OME springs I did put 500-600 pounds of weight in the back to try and break in the springs (OME tech suggested) months later it was the same. That’s when I broke down the leaf packs and started swapping single springs.
Once I got that decent I installed front and rear Bilstein 4600. I also cranked down the torsion bars to get it closer to spec.
Ride got vastly better! Finally.
my last big improvement was getting OEM rubber body mounts and yanking the poly. That made a much bigger difference than I had hoped for.
I think if I had kept the poly it would have been pretty hard on the steel floor.
After installing the OME springs I did put 500-600 pounds of weight in the back to try and break in the springs (OME tech suggested) months later it was the same. That’s when I broke down the leaf packs and started swapping single springs.
Once I got that decent I installed front and rear Bilstein 4600. I also cranked down the torsion bars to get it closer to spec.
Ride got vastly better! Finally.
my last big improvement was getting OEM rubber body mounts and yanking the poly. That made a much bigger difference than I had hoped for.
I think if I had kept the poly it would have been pretty hard on the steel floor.
Last edited by kanurys; 08-10-2023 at 07:56 AM.
08-10-2023, 08:12 AM
#24
YT Community Team
That's some good experimenting and tweaking. What spring packs did you end up with? I did see your prior post that addressed this a bit, but wanted a final update. I had the same experience with OME springs. I had to move about 1000lbs of snow and the vehicle sat level with the torsions bars cranked..
I removed one of the long leafs from the Toyota pack, and swapped it out with the corresponding OME leaf. I then installed the original OEM spring pack (with the one new OME leaf) back in the vehicle. When I dropped the jack i could see an immediate difference from side to side.
In some ways I basically just did an expensive add-a-leaf. I guess the one good thing is I swapped out a long leaf, rather than adding a stiff short one. I think this will greatly minimize the chance of the OEM spring pack breaking, as the long leaf spreads the load better.
This isn't a repair path I'd recommend. I was trying to rescue a sunk cost from being a complete waste. But it does show that fixing the OEM springs is possible without complete replacement.
Last edited by Jimkola; 08-10-2023 at 08:13 AM.
08-10-2023, 08:20 AM
#25
I dragged out the Toyota spring packs, then removed one of the OME springs from the vehicle.
I removed one of the long leafs from the Toyota pack, and swapped it out with the corresponding OME leaf. I then installed the original OEM spring pack (with the one new OME leaf) back in the vehicle. When I dropped the jack i could see an immediate difference from side to side.
In some ways I basically just did an expensive add-a-leaf. I guess the one good thing is I swapped out a long leaf, rather than adding a stiff short one. I think this will greatly minimize the chance of the OEM spring pack breaking, as the long leaf spreads the load better.
This isn't a repair path I'd recommend. I was trying to rescue a sunk cost from being a complete waste. But it does show that fixing the OEM springs is possible without complete replacement.
I removed one of the long leafs from the Toyota pack, and swapped it out with the corresponding OME leaf. I then installed the original OEM spring pack (with the one new OME leaf) back in the vehicle. When I dropped the jack i could see an immediate difference from side to side.
In some ways I basically just did an expensive add-a-leaf. I guess the one good thing is I swapped out a long leaf, rather than adding a stiff short one. I think this will greatly minimize the chance of the OEM spring pack breaking, as the long leaf spreads the load better.
This isn't a repair path I'd recommend. I was trying to rescue a sunk cost from being a complete waste. But it does show that fixing the OEM springs is possible without complete replacement.
08-10-2023, 08:26 AM
#26
YT Community Team
So many brake and suspension parts from the first gen Tacoma fit the early 4Runners I wonder about their spring packs.
08-10-2023, 09:15 AM
#27
YT Community Team
If you’re in So Cal I’d give you a great deal on my OME springs with the on Factory leaf.
08-10-2023, 09:22 AM
#28
Registered User
If you end up installing the OME springs, pull the 3rd biggest leaf first, unless you regularly have 500lbs in the back. At least that would be a good starting point. I think the 60062 shocks have too much compression damping that make the ride too rough unless you're carrying a lot of weight. Their rebound seems fine. Go with the Bilstein's discussed above if price is not a concern.
edit: if you have stock Bilstien 4600's they might hit their max before the the springs do. I'd consider selling at least the rears if you get any other springs than stock.
edit: if you have stock Bilstien 4600's they might hit their max before the the springs do. I'd consider selling at least the rears if you get any other springs than stock.
Yes I was actually thinking since my front suspension is IFS I could install the 4600's in the front and install the brand new OME with a leaf removed and also the nitrochargers in the back until the springs end up sitting nice and even. (I keep reading they end up being way more than 2 inch lift. I sorta just want 2 inch lift in the back and will probably just crank my torsion bars. I do have a couple options right now I could just mix them all in together. Talk about reviving a thread up !
08-10-2023, 09:36 AM
#29
YT Community Team
2” on the front is a lot, imho. It’s going to make for a horribly rough ride. At that point you could really put any inexpensive shock on the front.
besides mKing for rough ride it’ll stress your upper ball joints. Torsion bars are hardest on the ball joints they pass through.
besides mKing for rough ride it’ll stress your upper ball joints. Torsion bars are hardest on the ball joints they pass through.
08-10-2023, 10:15 AM
#31
2” on the front is a lot, imho. It’s going to make for a horribly rough ride. At that point you could really put any inexpensive shock on the front.
besides mKing for rough ride it’ll stress your upper ball joints. Torsion bars are hardest on the ball joints they pass through.
besides mKing for rough ride it’ll stress your upper ball joints. Torsion bars are hardest on the ball joints they pass through.
Last edited by kanurys; 08-10-2023 at 01:07 PM.
08-20-2023, 11:01 AM
#32
For anyone interested in this setup please also look at my parallel thread that deals with pulling leaves out of the spring packs: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...ration-316018/
08-21-2023, 05:27 AM
#34
Now that I have leaves pulled out of the ome springs to lower/soften them I can get a better feel for the soft version Nitrocharger. They are pretty high damping rates and that works great for rebound but they are a little stiff on the fast compression stroke. Slow compression is quite soft.
04-17-2024, 05:59 PM
#35
Registered User
The previous owner of mine had raised the back, and then cranked up the torsion bars to try and level the front. A pretty miserable ride. I decided to see if I could make it even worse (which I did) by replacing the collapsed body mounts with poly.
After installing the OME springs I did put 500-600 pounds of weight in the back to try and break in the springs (OME tech suggested) months later it was the same. That’s when I broke down the leaf packs and started swapping single springs.
Once I got that decent I installed front and rear Bilstein 4600. I also cranked down the torsion bars to get it closer to spec.
Ride got vastly better! Finally.
my last big improvement was getting OEM rubber body mounts and yanking the poly. That made a much bigger difference than I had hoped for.
I think if I had kept the poly it would have been pretty hard on the steel floor.
After installing the OME springs I did put 500-600 pounds of weight in the back to try and break in the springs (OME tech suggested) months later it was the same. That’s when I broke down the leaf packs and started swapping single springs.
Once I got that decent I installed front and rear Bilstein 4600. I also cranked down the torsion bars to get it closer to spec.
Ride got vastly better! Finally.
my last big improvement was getting OEM rubber body mounts and yanking the poly. That made a much bigger difference than I had hoped for.
I think if I had kept the poly it would have been pretty hard on the steel floor.
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grimpy
95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners
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