2013 suspension upgrade

Howdy
Let me preface this post with the fact that I am as mechanically educated and inclined as a Neanderthal.
I took my 2013 Tacoma antelope hunting over the weekend.
My stock suspension is pathetic at best. It was bottoming out from small dips and hits.
It's my "daily driver" except I don't drive very much. I live in the mountains of NW Wyoming. Most of the driving I do is forest service roads and two tracks for hunting, hiking, mtn biking, camping, etc... It's almost every day from May to November.
I would like to do a full kit with zero to minimal lift.
I have looked at the Bilstein kits on Shock Surplus.
I can't decide between the 5100 or 6112 kits
All of the options are confusing

Any input at all would be appreciated

Thanks!

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/5100’s-or-6112.729809/

You may find your answers in here!

 

5100’s sound like it fits your need. 6112’s are a entry/mid enthusiast suspension. Both can add lift.

 

@Crikeymike can help you out and make many suggestions. Bought my replacement suspension from him exitoffroad.com

 

5100s or the 6112/5160 front/rear combo are both options with the 5100s being cheaper with less performance.

Both can be installed with essentially no lift.

However you may need to address a rear leaf replacement as well, either new stock or aftermarket.

 

Upgrading to higher quality struts and shocks, keeping the springs the same (since you don't want to lift it) would help, and also upgrade the bump stops so that bottom outs are dampened 100x better than the stock bump stops.

 

When I first made this post, I was still confused and not quite ready to drop any cash.
Winter trickled in and the suspension upgrade was put on the back burner.

Recap
I am a backcountry hunter from NW Wyoming.
I drive on Forest Service roads almost daily from June through October. Some rougher 2 tracks at times
If both my wife and I are successful I may be driving out of the mountains with a payload in excess of 500# including camping gear, coolers, ice, meat/bone/antlers.
I would eventually like to get into overlanding. My wife absolutely would.

Opinions please?
Shocks - 6112 w/650# spring 2" lift clip setting #11/#9 & 5160's 1" lift
Rear springs - Deaver F85
Bump Stops - Super Springs SSR - 624 - 40

Question?
Do I need to or should I, replace my upper control arms?

Thank you for your input

 

just did my ‘13. I wanted stock height originally but said screw it and went for 2” lift as it seemed pretty safe. 5100/OME 884 up front
5100 and HD leaf pack rear.
Simple and effective. I hunt also, and I get up into trails and cut/haul firewood out. Works great. You don’t need top of the line stuff to work these trucks. If you wanna go smashing over big rocks then yea. But to go hunting and haul gear you can do that on something more affordable like I listed. Also, I did not need to replace UCAs

 

I’m quite envious of your lifestyle, sounds pretty dreamy if you ask me

 

Thank you! I'm fortunate to live in an amazing place

Thank you
It seems like everyone I talk to is recommending a bigger, higher priced shopping list than the previous person

 

For a 2" lift, no, you won't need to replace your upper control arms. I wouldn't recommend going any higher than 2" though. That opens another dimension of potential problems. Just understand that when you lift it any, there's a good possibility that your alignment cams are seized and you may struggle to get a good alignment. A lot of shops will simply set your toe and let you roll.

I don't want to sound like I'm discouraging this. A 2" lift would be good and you can run a 265/75-16 tire with no problems. Just be prepared to have to change your lower control arm bushings with the install of the lift.

 

Thank you!

 

I did 5100 with 885 springs in the front and got about 1.5" of lift at the lowest shock setting. I did not replace the LCA's or UCA's. For the back I went with 5125 and RXT option 2 and got about 2.5" lift after it settled. I drove around for a week with 400# towards the back of the bed to settle the leaf pack and there was barely, and sag and the ride was fine. The nice thing about the RXT leaf pack is that you can go to option 3 when you add the overland equipment's weight. Including the shocks, struts, springs leaf pack, carrier bearing shim and extended brake lines cost me about $1600.
The 6112's would be nice, but including springs they were cost was prohibitive and more than I need. My truck is my DD and the majority of the time my bed is empty. I don't off road, but do drive gravel roads frequently.

 

The #11/#9 clip setting giving 2 inches of lift is for the 2016+ 3rd gen, not a 2nd gen like your 2013. It is also assuming you will have your oem spring rate. With a 650 pound spring, you need to add approximately 1/2 inch to the lift. So what you suggested above would give you 3 inches of lift, not 2, per the chart below plus the 1/2 inch.

For 2" of lift with 650lb springs you should be looking at #8/#6. This is what I just installed a few weeks ago on the front of my rig.

 

Thank you so very much

 

Consider where you are bottoming out: front or rear. There's a lot of talk here about shocks, but if you want to improve your ride with bed load you're going to have to do something about the leaf springs: add a leaf, air bags, or new pack. I occasionally pull a boat so I started out with what I wanted to do about the leaf springs then moved on to shock and strut decisions. Shock and struts just smooth things out. Weight capacity comes from leaves and springs. A HD leaf pack will probably lift the rear and consume some of the stocks strut's down travel and without lifting the front the rake may look ridiculous.

 

that seems low for 885s

 

I believe it already has a lift.
It's definitely leveled
It sits taller than other Tacoma's I have parked next to

 

Thank you
That was the first thing I considered
I started from the rear springs
I was unsure as to what exactly I should get
That's how came up with this combination of components
Shocks - 6112 w/650# spring 2" lift clip setting #11/#9 & 5160's 1" lift
Rear springs - Deaver F85
Bump Stops - Super Springs SSR - 624 - 40

 

They said 1.5" when I purchased them. IDK if they make taller ones. I'm no expert so I went with Hotshot off road recommendations.