OME 885 terrible off road ride

Yes, I took my truck bear hunting in Tonto national forest. The ome stuff is good if you drive 3mph but I walk at 4mph. The rear actually does ok and flexes really well. The front has no down travel and very little up travel due to a very stiff coil driving the strut down to full extension, A multi rate front coil would make a huge difference in ride. The front ome is coming off and I am going with extended travel Icon 2.5 ifp.

 

Sounds like you know what you want to try next then.

My practical tuning advice, whether using the OME coils or the Icon coils is this:

1. Talk to a knowledgable vendor when ordering the Icons. Make sure they know how you want to use your truck and your complaints about the existing setup. That'll help them select the right shock valving for you. Be aware that the spring rates on the Icons are actually stiffer (at 650lbs/inch than the OME coils at 585lbs/inch)
2. Once you're using an adjustable coilover, set the height lower to allow more downtravel.
3. Lose the top plate spacer. That's solving for height, and you're definitely solving for ride, speed, and comfort.
4. Figure out what's actually limiting your down travel. Is it the shock bottoming out? Or is the swaybar hitting the coil? Or is the upper control arm hitting the coil? Or is the balljoint on the upper control arm topping out?

 

Also, you *are* airing down when off-roading right? Airing down is the single biggest thing you can do to any truck to improve off road performance. With your 255/85R16 size, you ought to be able to go somewhere lower than 20lbs psi.

 

Actually you would think dropping to an 884 coil and then adding the 1/2 inch spacer on top of the strut assembly would give more downward travel of the strut but still maintain ride height. Maybe I can get a picture of how much droop it has in the front, I can stuff the rear tires into the bed.

 

I too will do the same, but not sure when I'll have the $$$ to do so.

 

Not sure why you guys running E rated tires on a Tacoma are surprised your ride sucks if you aren't aired down.

Good luck with the Kings.

 

Just went out and took some measurements

ground to fender flare pass loaded 38-1/4
ground to fender flare driver loaded 38

unloaded pass ground to fender flare 41-1/8
unloaded driver 40-3/4

sag from top of tire to fender flare pass 8-3/4
sag from top of tire to fender flare driver 8.5

loaded top of tire to fender flare pass 6-7/8
loaded top of tire to fender flare driver 6-5/8

Measurements were measured with 35psi in tires but my garage floor is not exactly level, This explains that it over extends the strut because it only has around 2 inches of travel in the extension end and the poor front articulation. Also at full sag no binding whatsoever and ball joint angles appear to be fine.

 

Pic of unloaded upper ball joint angle

 

Late to the party here, but I have 5100s and OME 887 coils, and do experience hard top outs. Its a characteristic of both 5100s and Nitrochargers. The reason this happens with these shocks vs. high-end coilovers is because they have an part integrated into them called a "top out bumper." Bilsteins and Nitrochargers don't have these things, they have welds, pieces of metal, etc that is what stops them from extending any more.

Also, the shocks aren't valved properly on the rebound side, which allows them to rebound way too damn fast for any application.

Take a look at part number 9 in this diagram linked below. Though it says 2.0 IFP, the web address says truck 2.5, and was linked into their web-page for Tacoma coil-overs. (Just for authenticity.)

http://www.ridefox.com/dl/truck/FOX_TRUCK_2.5IFP_Exploded_A.pdf

 

Vs an 885 spring only? Yes, I agree.

If you off-road your truck hard and you use a 1/2" top plate spacer, I do recommend you space out your bumpstops a bit with some thick washers or a 3/8" aluminum billet spacer, so that the bumpstops, rather than the shock, take the transmitted load from the wheel to the frame on a hard hit.

 

This thread is making me reconsider ordering OME and saving up for some Fox/Icon/Kings

 

it all depends on what you want to do and what cash you can do... I went with the OME and don't regret it I am taking off the sway bar for more travel on the front and will be putting armor on the front as soon as I can. More weight equals more resistance to the "jump"

 

Seems like Bilsteins are a waste of time too.

 

I thought it was common knowledge that everything besides King's is shit?

 

oh yea and DB lifts are the shit

 

for real though. You guys do know they come with C rated right??

 

Comfier

 

Appropriately rated tires are for bitches.

A single E rated tire has a higher load rating than my Tacoma even weighs, and that is badass.

 

soooo glad that I didn't blow the tires when I found what mine governs at with my E tires, had to go that badass for my fat ass

 

I fully understand the tires argument but you will be walking home after wheeling a c rated tire, Not to mention tires have nothing to do with the suspension articulation except the weight of the tire during sag. They do affect ride due to sidewall stiffness etc. If that was the case I would have king make me some long travel tires and have a set of Cadillac tires for street driving and some lambo tires for more hp and prius tires for 50 mpg.