2nd gen MT and/or LT build. I've researched and lurked. Now I need feedback.

Hey all. Long time lurker here, I read somewhere in a thread that a person needs to study for a while before attempting to make any informed decisions on a suspension build; that coupled with the fact that people asking redundant and searchable questions always annoys a forum community made me decide to stay lurking, do my homework, and wait until I had an idea what I was talking about before coming at you guys. I'm here now. I've built a pretty good idea of what I want and why I want it. TW, will you accept my humble introduction and be my sounding board for these ideas, good, bad, and otherwise?

To start off, I know there's some things you want to know. I'm going to be verbose, forgive me:

My Truck
Bone stock '05 6lug 6speed 4x4 access cab that I bought in October of that year with 53 miles on the odometer.

My Use
I'm from southern NV and grew up bombing anything with wheels in the desert- from the dry lake to DuMont to Barstow, or just around Sloan and Jean. I want to give my truck more capability to deal with the nonstop abuse I've been smashing on it for the last 9 years. Mostly burst speed and crawling, finding what absurdly steep or awkward thing I can climb over. I do my occasional 40-60mph runs across open terrain, but by no means am I intending to either race or huck. Just your garden variety "lets make everyone in the truck piss themselves" Mohave desert offroading four or five times a week.

That being said, I still DD this truck; so sacrificing some baja 1000 contention to be able to enjoy it on the street when I'm not driving my car is optimal. I still regularly tow a trailer, fill the bed with tools, go camping, etc so something between "purpose built" and "street queen" with a strong favor toward the former is right up my alley.

My Budget
I promised myself I wouldn't do anything to the truck until I paid it off. That time passed plus another four years. It's well within my means to go get a new raptor or 2013 TRD or whatever I want, but I like this truck too much. That's a way of saying it really doesn't matter what it costs as long as it's right for my type of wheeling and I don't quickly outgrow it. I'll probably still be driving this thing in another 10 years so I'll spend what I have to to make it right.

My Build
I intend to buy everything at once and do the whole build in one go. Everything I have listed below is open to suggestion, so feel fee to tell me why I should or shouldn't go with whatever I've chosen, and offer alternatives if I'm doing something wrong.

Wheels: AE series 185 16x8
Why: Simulated beadlocker look, just like Mickey Thompsons, but made in the USA (unlike the Chinese MTs).

Tires: Cooper Disco STT 285/75
Why: I only do business with Cooper on everything I drive, so that's set in stone. 285s only until someone convinces me I would like 35'' better.

Front Suspension: Why: I want 4130 and 1.25'' uniball. That means Camburg or AllPro. I literally can't decide between the two other than AllPro seems like a smaller company so maybe they would appreciate the business more and/or possibly have more personal CS? Totally open to discussion here.

Front Shocks: Racerunner 2.5x8 RR with 700# FJ cruiser Spring
Why: Sway-a-way only because I had initially decided on Burg UCAs; when I changed my mind to all-pro, I couldn't see a functional reason to change my shock decision. Also I don't like blue or black. RR because why not (bro), 700# coil because I saw a Burg rep on TTORA recommend their FJ Cruiser C/O for the Tacoma if a bumper, winch, or lights were planned (which they are). Only difference is the coil.

Rear Suspension: Defined SUA with connection bar.
Why: I want to go SUA for reduced wrap, more uptravel, and longer shock. DMZ and Defined look exactly the same to me, only figured Defined because I might get Oliver's if he doesn't sell it before I get off my ass and PM him back.

Rear Shock: Custom hoop to put 2.5''x12'' Racerunner RR bypass
Why: I don't want to cut my bed. I don't think I'll be wheeling hard enough to miss another 2 or 3'' of rear travel, though I will miss the bedspace. That shock size only because I'm copying Fixed and Nofords underbed SUA applications.

Bumps and Straps: I'll put hydro bumps on all four corners and straps in the rear. Just pick a color on bumps, right? I like the bracket FOX uses.

Of course there's a lot of other "build" stuff like lights and grilles and bumpers and armor etc etc, but all that is kind of irrelevant, I want to talk with you guys about the parts that do work. So. How's my plan so far?

Questions:

1) Regarding bypasses. I have googled and googled and I can't seem to find a definitive answer anywhere on the intended function of dual shock setups in the front. Best I have gathered is that in dual shock setups, you essentially turn off (or sharply relax) the valving in your CO so that it basically only functions as a spring, and then let your bypass function as the main damper with the advantage of being much more adjustable. Is that right? If it is, what the hell is the point, exactly? If you're going to effectively disable 1/2 of your coilover setup, why not just have a coil next to the bypass (does that exist?) or a single shock that does the work of both (does that exist?)? Is it because the shock absorber portion of the CO assists in heat management?

2) Regarding LT. I think that my rear setup, despite lack of a cage and 16'' shocks, will be pretty stout. As it is now, I won't need glass on any of the corners (shame, I really did want that wide front flared prerunner look). Will the hooped SUA outperform this modest front MT setup enough to justify going long travel? I'm not at all opposed to overbuilding and having more travel or more capability than I will usually use, but I don't want to go full LT if it's going to be considerably more maintenance and absurdly outperform my rear end. Really need advice, here.

3) LT, part 2: If you guys talk me into going LT (please do that), I'm leaning toward all-pro for the same reasons I picked their UCAs. No mount for a secondary shock is and interesting choice for an LT kit, but it seems to be geared more for the occasional crawler and bomber rather than a straight high speed race setup, which is me. I don't ever intend to do anything long distance, will I ever miss a secondary bypass? What I don't want is to shell out the money for LT and one day be kicking myself that I didn't get something that could take a secondary shock for essentially the same money.

For the three or four of you still reading, I really appreciate it and owe you a beer. Thanks in advance to anyone that assists on this quest that's been almost 10 years and lots (LOTS) of replacement stock parts in the making.

 

It sounds like you have the means and that you know what you want.

You will want to run a secondary shock up front. If you run hard you will get your single 2.5" shock really hot and stop dampening. The secondary shock will keep you from doing that. I recommend Total Chaos or Camburg for a front LT kit since they offer dual shock capability and All Pro doesn't. MCM Fab is in Las Vegas in in Las Vegas and has a nice dual shock LT kit as well.

I recommend the DMZ kit over the Defined kit in the rear.

For shocks I have always run King due to the wide parts availability and support. Any Fox, King, or Sway Away will be fine as long as you are in a dry climate and won't worry about rust.

Bottom line is that you should ride in a MT truck and an LT truck so that you can see what each kit is capable of.

My 2006 4x4 ran a Total Chaos LT kit and a DMZ rear kit. It was solid and took everything that I could throw at it.

My 2012 is MT and does everything that I want it to do but isn't a full tilt LT build.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Read the whole thing. I dont have much advice as I am pretty new to this stuff. What I would do is make a sheet to compare the cost of basic MT vs built MT vs LT. Also might wanna post in the LT section.

 

06HA - huge thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Good looking out on the MCM referral. There's about 10894203842389 wannabe fab shops in this town and they're all clowns from what I can tell. Browsing MCM's facebook and site, looks like dude takes this seriously and is one hell of a tig welder. Some of these welds look photoshopped they're so pretty. How'd you learn about them?

 

MCM is a member on the forum, he's pretty active in the LT BS thread.

 

Super, so all this bragging about how much lurking I've been doing and I had no idea

Gonna go wade through that thread again.

 

MCM fab is a great shop out there by you. Seen lots of pictures of his work and it looks awesome! Nice shop to talk to and pick their brain as well.