This winter has been brutal in KC… absolutely brutal. The roads are barely driveable with potholes. And it’s beating the front end of the Tundra to death.
Any Tundra owners level out their truck? Did it help with ride quality?
The tundras already have a forward slant, but I have airbags in the back and even at 14-15 psi it feels like my front end is just shoveling into bumps and potholes even at slow speeds.
Just finished replacing lower ball joints 2 months ago. This morning I replaced a CV axle and upper ball joint. This weekend I’ll replace the other upper ball joint. Last week, I had to replace the sway bar links. I’m over it.
If nothing else leveling it will make it look cooler. I have spacers that bolt to the top of the strut on a 2005 f150. It looks nice. Not noticeable on ride comfort. It’s a pain to get the strut back on even if you disconnect the upper ball joint. Do the tundras have struts? If so would you get leveling struts or just spacers?
Better shocks up front will help with the ride quality. Another thing most people don’t think of. What size wheel and tire combo are you running? Does it have enough sidewall to help absorb any kind of bumps? Are you running the correct air pressure, not what it says on your tire or inside of door. You need to do the chalk test to make sure you are running the correct tire pressure (not to high/low).
If you are leveling it out, just know that all lifts are not built the same. I am not sure on Tundra’s but can find out what a good quality kit would be for it. I used to do Jeeps and always laughed at people who said the ride quality of a Sky Jacker lift was the same as Rock Krawler.
I would buy some Leveling struts. They are about 1.5-2 inches higher. The only way I know to improve ride quality is get nicer struts. Like bilstein, fox or Rancho. I guess Monroe has higher quality than others too. How many miles does your struts have on them.
I had an '07 Tundra CrewMax and it road like a caddy. I believe it was set up with BDS if I remember correctly. But it sounds like you are looking for a softer shock up front. I’d stay away from FOX Shocks as they tend to be a little stiffer of a shock (going off my Jeep knowledge here, so hope it’s the same with other vehicles). Have you looked at a coil over up front? You can get the best of both worlds with a soft and stiff spring.
Side not if they have never been replaced pretty much any name brand will give you a better ride quality. As long as you don’t go with some low cost off brand Chinese crap.
I’ve never heard of anyone “improving” the ride quality by adding a front leveling kit. Most of them are cheap junk that throws off the suspension geometry and wears items out faster. There is, however, a few aftermarket shocks that can provide much better ride quality. There are also adjustable shocks that claim to do both. Bilstein 5150’s seem to be a good option.
LOL I think most trucks look good stock. The guys riding around with that “Carolina lean” are posers and rarely use their trucks for work. My truck is level when I hook up a trailer. The way God intended.
A leveling kit will definitely not help the ride, er the suspension wear. Bilstien 5100 struts will help a lot, and look into Old Man Emu front springs, don’t laugh, just look them up🤣. They may make a stock length spring, I’m not 100%, but they definitely make a 1” lift spring, and will ride much better, include the 5100’s and u will have the best ride your going to get from the Yota. Also only buy Toyota or MOOG ball joints, TRE’s and bushings, 99% of everything else is less than junk.
A few years back I got to go to a training event held by shock manufacturers. Monroe will actually let you replace your shocks under warranty once they get 40k miles on them. They had done test to show the difference in not only ride quality but braking distance, away and even tire wear after 40k miles. It has to say something if they were teaching you to come get new shocks under warranty after only 40k miles. Obviously you have to keep your box flap and receipt but how hard is that?
Just thought id share this for an idea of how long they are actually going to last. OEM equipment won’t hold up that long. Especially if it’s made my dodge.
