Brake Diving, Weight Distribution, Tire Wear

[MAJIK]

Hi fellow Gen3 owners! I just got a 2021 TRD Offroad and am noticing the truck dives nose down a little when braking. It’s not real bad, but it definitely does it.

My question is: how normal is that? Do stock Offroads do that, or is it maybe because the former owner of mine added a big steel push bar and winch up front? Should I consider counter-weighting in the back? That would reduce MPG, add to my gross weight, and increase stopping distance of course… but it might solve the brake diving and increase turning stability. Or maybe I could get stiffer springs up front? Dunno.

I’m also noticing a lot of uneven wear on the inside of the front two tires. This could be due to the added weight up front. I could probably solve that by getting an alignment to adjust the camber to handle that extra nose weight a little better. Or do they all do this and I just need to be rotating more frequently than I normally would?

Your thoughts are appreciated!

 

[tacojoel]

Idk much about the trd or, a buddy had a 2019 one that had some weird vibration issues right from the get-go....other than that, it never made close to the same power as my 2020 sr5, that performs, and rides about as perfect as any vehicle I've ever had. It doesn't feel nose heavy at all, in fact under power, the rear tends to squat a tiny bit so it cruises smoother over bumps. Doesn't nose dive at all when braking. My truck sits perfectly level front to rear, side to side. Everyone thats seen, or ridden in the truck, claims I got an exceptionally well made one. These trucks seem to be all over the lot the way they perform...you either get a good one, or one so so. My fishing buddy traded his 2019 in for a new frontier where he claims it's a much better running truck. I've been in it. The frontier has way more power, and rides more civilized. I still say looking over the two, the tacoma is put together better.

 

[Don Drake]

Nose dive is the bumper. Uneven tire wear is either damage/wear to front end suspension components, tire balance or something as simple as air pressure. Of course it could be no one ever rotated the tires. Have a good shop examine the front end for damage/wear and road balance the tires. Of course make sure they are rotated regularly.

 

[MAJIK]

Nose dive is the bumper. Uneven tire wear is either damage/wear to front end suspension components, tire balance or something as simple as air pressure. Of course it could be no one ever rotated the tires. Have a good shop examine the front end for damage/wear and road balance the tires. Of course make sure they are rotated regularly.

The Toyota Dealer had these stock Wranglers aired up to 38psi cold. Second day after I bought it, I noticed the door jamb called for 30psi. ‍*facepalm* Who knows what the first owner was running. Its quite possible these are the original tires. There's less than 30K miles on the truck.

 

[Rock62]

ok.....Don hit the problem. There are two issues.

Issue 1. The front is too heavy. The center of gravity of the truck has been shifted forward due to the extra weight up front. Suggest removing as much of the extra weight as possible. If you must have the winch for bro points, then drop the heavy bumper. If the winch has steel rope on it, try replacing with the lighter nylon equivalent.

Issue 2. The tires worn on the inside suggest an alignment issue. This could be aggravated by the extra weight up front. You may have early wear on the suspension components from carrying the extra weight.

Adding weight in the a55 isn't going to help. It will only further decrease your load capacity, negatively impact fuel mileage and accelerate wear on suspension. This is a band-aid not addressing the root cause of the problems.

If you insist on keeping all the weight, then you should consider front springs with a stiffer spring rate and different shocks for the front. And be sure to adjust your load capacity DOWN. You add 400 lbs up front, then the Cargo Capacity drops from 1000 lbs to 600 lbs. Expect the handling to be a bit wonky because the CG of the truck has moved forward, meaning the rear will tend to get loose. Wet, snow, ice could be challenging.

Good Luck.

 

[tacojoel]

I agree get all the access weight off the front end. Almost sounds like someone did a lift without a front end alignment, or worse they did a lift without using the proper upper control arms.

 

[MAJIK]

I agree get all the access weight off the front end. Almost sounds like someone did a lift without a front end alignment, or worse they did a lift without using the proper upper control arms.

No lift, stock TRD Offroad… just with a steel bumper and winch added by the prior owner.

It also has a MountainTop metal rollup tonneau which looks to be about 100lbs.

 

[MAJIK]

ok.....Don hit the problem. There are two issues.

Issue 1. The front is too heavy. The center of gravity of the truck has been shifted forward due to the extra weight up front. Suggest removing as much of the extra weight as possible. If you must have the winch for bro points, then drop the heavy bumper. If the winch has steel rope on it, try replacing with the lighter nylon equivalent.

Issue 2. The tires worn on the inside suggest an alignment issue. This could be aggravated by the extra weight up front. You may have early wear on the suspension components from carrying the extra weight.

Adding weight in the a55 isn't going to help. It will only further decrease your load capacity, negatively impact fuel mileage and accelerate wear on suspension. This is a band-aid not addressing the root cause of the problems.

If you insist on keeping all the weight, then you should consider front springs with a stiffer spring rate and different shocks for the front. And be sure to adjust your load capacity DOWN. You add 400 lbs up front, then the Cargo Capacity drops from 1000 lbs to 600 lbs. Expect the handling to be a bit wonky because the CG of the truck has moved forward, meaning the rear will tend to get loose. Wet, snow, ice could be challenging.

Good Luck.

I need to try to figure out what make/model bumper that is so I can figure out how much it weighs.

The winch is a Warn VR EXO 10s with a synthetic rope which puts it around 75 lbs.

Edit to add: Found it. Bumper appears to be a semi-hidden kit from Warn and is 89 lbs.

89 + 75 = 164 lbs on the nose.

 

[tacojoel]

I need to try to figure out what make/model bumper that is so I can figure out how much it weighs.

The winch is a Warn VR EXO 10s with a synthetic rope which puts it around 75 lbs.

Edit to add: Found it. Bumper appears to be a semi-hidden kit from Warn and is 89 lbs.

89 + 75 = 164 lbs on the nose.

Thats not a huge amount of weight....gotta be something more serious going on, like bad struts/springs, or the shocks, plus whatever else. Probably the cause also why the tires are wearing weird. I can tell you, I've not seen tires on a gen3 taco wear like that unless a bigger front end issue then excess nose weight. I know a guy here that plows all winter with his gen3 that carries far more nose weight, and it doesn't wear tires like that.

 

[Rock62]

Agreed 164 lbs is not excessive. Suspect the front suspension.

Raise the front end get the tires off the ground.

Quick checks.
Grab the tire at the 9 and 3 o'clock position. Try to wiggle the wheel. Any play, suspect the tie rods. If play, then could be either inner or outer tie rod.

Grab the tire at the 12 and 6 o'clock position. Try to wiggle wheel. Any play, suspect UBJ or LBJ. If play, then could be either UBJ or LBJ.

This is simple old school check.

Worn shocks could be the cause of the dive. Generally, shocks only last about 50 k miles. The only way to "test" is to remove them and check how they rebound and compress. If you've removed them to check, then you are half way to a replacement.