[LowVolt]

Many times on this forum I have seen people use the term "bottoming out" or "hitting bottom" or whatever when they talk about how weak the rear springs are both TSB and non-TSB. People are also saying that they are "bottoming out" when they have no payload and just themselves driving or no payload and with 4 persons in the cab.

I myself and having a hard time believing that the truck is "bottoming out" in these situations. I am not calling anyone a liar or anything like that. I just feel that we are kind of indirectly telling other members that if you hear a loud thud coming from your rear end you just "bottomed out" and that may not always be the case.

What does it mean when someone says they "bottomed out?" I don't know what everyone else thinks but my definition is when the bumpstops hit the frame.

I own a DC LB and have had four people in the cab with no payload in the bed and I have never had the truck bottom out. My setup is a lot different now but I ran pre and post TSB springs and never had the problem. I did have a problem with shock over extension. I raised the rear up too much leaving the shock with little upward travel. If I would go over pretty much any bump the shocks would over extend and it felt and sounded like you just got rear ended.

So I am posting this poll. Do you think the trucks are bottoming out or do you think something else is happening here?

My vote is for something else. You might want to see if you are possibly over extending your shocks.

 

[asgard 1976]

My truck 'bottomed out' w/ four passengers and nothing in the bed, I have been driving trucks for about 15yrs. and I know when a truck is 'hitting bottom'. I drive a short bed DC so my weight distribution is probably different from yours, maybe you haven't experienced this because you have a long bed.

 

[jeremy556]

It is pretty easy to tell the difference between bottoming out and topping out. When I was pulling a trailer with 500lb tongue weight with a DC short bed with 3 passengers and the stock springs and SR5 shocks, I promise it was bottoming out on almost every expansion joint. With all the passengers out of the vehicle, the bumpstops were within 1/4" of the frame

 

[WilsonTheDog]

Definitely bottoming out, which does mean hitting the bump stops. There's no question mine has done it with only 400-500 lbs. in the bed. It's very easy to tell when going over a speed bump (there are 4 in my development). I WILL be getting the TSB by summer.

 

[LowVolt]

Remember, it says with nothing in the bed, just people in the cab. With stuff in the bed, that is different story.

 

[the.phantom]

crawl under your truck and look at your frame and bump stops !!!!!

the bump stops are very hard and will jolt you if you ever did it !
i have a tacoma and would hit the bump stops with 400 pounds in the bed !
( and the bump stops showed it )
so just look for contact marks

 

[jeremy556]

Oh yea, easy way to tell. The bumpstops will leave nice clean areas of the frame where they impact the frame rails.

 

[jeremy556]

Remember, it says with nothing in the bed, just people in the cab. With stuff in the bed, that is different story.

Even stock, pre TSB and pre helper springs I never hit the bumps without cargo. However, if you are hauling 4-5 250lb people, you would probably be impacting the bumpstops, in fact with a 4x4 you would be exceededing the cargo capacity.

 

[WilsonTheDog]

Remember, it says with nothing in the bed, just people in the cab. With stuff in the bed, that is different story.

So? You don't think 4 people in the cab isn't a "payload"? The rear end still carries much of the weight.

 

[dktaco]

I have a access cab SR5 and that P.O.S. rear would bottom out with hockey gear in the bed and a bed cover. Within the last month I put in 5100's set @ 2.5" and no TSB since out of warranty and I got a 1.5" AAL and it hasn't bottomed out yet. :thumbsup:

 

[griffin407c]

my DC short bed has bottomed out with 4 people in it and no cargo in the bed. it's definitely happened a few times.

 

[asgard 1976]

So? You don't think 4 people in the cab isn't a "payload"? The rear end still carries much of the weight.

X2
'payload' is 'payload', from the driver of the vehicle to the sand bags in the bed.

 

[dktaco]

X2
'payload' is 'payload', from the driver of the vehicle to the sand bags in the bed.

x3. :thumbsup:

 

[The_Kernel114]

i have had 5 average sized adult is the cab and five 40 plus pound mountain bikes in the bed, driving up my local mtb mountain which is a shit road and never hit bump stops.

 

[LowVolt]

So? You don't think 4 people in the cab isn't a "payload"? The rear end still carries much of the weight.

Did I say people in the cab are not payload? I don't believe I did. I did say no payload but with people in the cab. Let me rephrase. No weight in the bed and just people in the cab. What I am saying is I cannot bring myself to believe that Toyota would design a four door truck that could not handle four grown adults.

 

[jeremy556]

i have had 5 average sized adult is the cab and five 40 plus pound mountain bikes in the bed, driving up my local mtb mountain which is a shit road and never hit bump stops.

Unless you have a 2005 Tacoma, or bought yours in the US, you have the TSB done. All later Canadian trucks came with the TSB done, and they were doing the TSB on unsold trucks in Canadian dealer lots when it came out. It also came out a lot earlier than it did in the US.

 

[dktaco]

Did I say people in the cab are not payload? I don't believe I did. I did say no payload but with people in the cab. Let me rephrase. No weight in the bed and just people in the cab. What I am saying is I cannot bring myself to believe that Toyota would design a four door truck that could not handle four grown adults.

I don't think they would design it either. However, I do think most manufactures barely get by to cut back cost and when people have issue they would rather fix it rather than put the money into "all" the trucks to get it right the first time. How many really have issue other than the real truck enthusiast like here on TN and other forums?

 

[LowVolt]

Unless you have a 2005 Tacoma, or bought yours in the US, you have the TSB done. All later Canadian trucks came with the TSB done, and they were doing the TSB on unsold trucks in Canadian dealer lots when it came out. It also came out a lot earlier than it did in the US.

So does the TSB fix the bottoming out problem with just passengers in the truck?

 

[One4games]

I have had 3 average (what is average now a days) adults, child, cap, Large portable kennel, 2 dogs and all the associated luggage and never hit bump stops.

adults = 515 pounds approx
child = 40 pounds
dog = 110 pounds
kennel = 45 pounds approx
luggage = 150 pounds approx
cap = 200 approx (just taking guess don't really know)

with all the cargo not including myself, I didn't see any really noticeable lean either. Suspension was a little lower, but the ride was still very comfortable for a 8 hour road trip.

also luggage was packed close to the cab and the dogs where closer to the tailgate.

 

[jeremy556]

So does the TSB fix the bottoming out problem with just passengers in the truck?

Yes. It has stiffer springs in the rear, and as, if not more importantly for non-TRD trucks, it includes the Bilstein shocks which have much more damping than the standard shocks.