Suspension Options

Your mods will have mods.

 

You will be this site just to keep with the rest

 

Trust me I've already figured that out. before this tacoma I had 2 pickups and a jeep and I can't leave anything alone. I get bored easily so its either mods or buying other vehicles and this is the first truck I really enjoy and wanna keep.

 

not a bad idea

 

Any other suspension recommendations out there?

I was looking at toytec/eibach 3" kit and the bilstein kit from toytec. Both these kits come with new struts, coils, rear shocks, add-a-leafs and diff drop kit. The toytec eibach kit however is roughly 175 bucks more than the bolstering kit. Is it that much better? Does it warrant the cost difference? I also feel like the add-a-leafs will be a bandaid on the problem. Is there a better route?

 

You can go OME route, if you going for around 3in lift it's a good idea to add uca's so you can get decent alignment

http://www.headstrongoffroad.com/store/p314/Complete_Old_Man_Emu_Kit_w/_Dakar_Leaf_Pack_-_1998-2004_Tacoma.html

Edit: can't go wrong with free shipping

 

Call wheeler's off road.

-Get OLd Man Emu coilivers (881's) and matching shocks
-get OME Dakar leaf springs.

You should get the lift you want 1.5 - 2" and your bed won't be dragging.

Anything higher than 2" is going to cost you more money, with additional parts. This is a great setup for your needs, and you won't be wasting money on stuff you don't need.

 

This is the kinda info I was looking for right here. Not just a "get this" but "here's what you should get and why it's right for you." Thank you for that. I will look into this closer.

Not that I'm looking to upgrade anytime soon but what size tire should I be able to fit with about 2 inches of lift?

 

And one more thing... should these leaf springs be able to compensate for the weight of the camper shell and stuff in the bed?

 

Wheeler's has a 4 corner suspension upgrade for something like <$1200. Springs, shocks, bushings, pretty much everything you'd need. With your added weight in the bed, I'd consider the extra leaf for the Dakars. Call them up and they'll make sure you get everything you need.

As for tire size, most people end up with 285/75r16's or 255/85r16's (basically 33" tires) without too much problem. Maybe a bit of trimming on the front fender wells (pinch weld). Don't try and lift it to the point where you won't need to trim *anything* to fit 33's, it will be sky high...

Most people say anything over 2.5" to get a diff drop kit (for 1st gens at least), but I'm running a diff drop with about 2" lift, but I also have longer travel shocks with more droop.

Another option is the OME coils and leafs, and the bilstein 5100 shocks. The front shocks are height adjustable, which might make it a little easier to level out your truck (though you shouldn't mix and match the OME lift springs AND lifting via the 5100's - if you go 5100s, stay with the stock length springs). I had the 5100's on my truck for a good 6 years and was really happy with them. Now they're on my friend's truck since I have pretty blue coilovers now.

For a complete package, you can't go wrong with the OME...

 

If your leaf springs are worn out, I would suggest against an add-a-leaf.

You're just putting a band-aid on an arterial wound, so to speak...

will it cause your truck to explode? No, probably not, but it's far from ideal.

 

so if I decide to go with 5100's and I get OME coils I should only set them on the zero setting of the 5100 shock and the spring itself will give me the lift I wish to attain? how would help me leveling out my truck though? doesn't that leave stuck with one setting? what springs did you run with your 5100's?

 

this kind of what I figured which left me unsure as to what to do for my rear spring situation... one of the main reasons I'm looking into this in the first place

 

If you get OME lift springs and get the 5100's, yes, you should (generally) stick with the lowest setting on the 5100's, but that's really because if you have 3" OME springs, that's all the suspension should otherwise handle (without other modifications/lift kits), so you shouldn't go any higher, even though the 5100's technically *could* lift it more by going up a notch. If you had springs that only gave you a 1" lift over stock, you could presumably set the 5100's on the middle setting to get ~2" of lift, but I don't think there are a lot of good 1" lift springs out there... The main thing is to not go above 2 or 2.5" without a diff drop (if you're 4x4), and not to go above 3" without doing a complete bracket style lift. By setting the 5100's higher when you already have OME lift springs, you will easily exceed that.

I had my stock springs with my 5100's, and put them on the middle setting. That was enough to more or less level out mytruck with the shackles I had in the back. If anything, I could have gone higher and been fine. I gave the billys + my old stock coils to my friend with an 03 DC and left them on the middle setting, and his truck looks level with a 100% stock rear end.

I think the 5100's were a great fit for me, and I'd recommend them to anyone. However, if you are replacing your springs too, the advantage of having "adjustable" shocks isn't as pronounced, since getting new springs would allow you to get the proper length/weight springs for your application. I've always had Bilsteins, so I'd probably still go with the 5100s were I to do it again (although when I DID do it again, I went King, lol), but the OME setup is also just as well respected around here.

 

Werd.

I'm a big fan of OME stuff where there is salt on the roads. I put 100k on my OME setup in a third gen 4Runner and it held up great to all of the midwest winters better than the bling stuff would have.

 

yup!

Just installed an OME setup mid sept, 882 coils nitrochargers all around, dakar leaf pack, shackles, BPV bracket, extended rear brake line and SPC uca's. Ride much smoother. Got a good lift from the setup (helps that i put 285/75/16's on as well)and no i didn't measure before and after.

OP, there's a whole thread

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/old-man-emu-setups-on-1st-gen.141055/

 

I ordered my suspension from wheelers. Old man emu 882 coils up front and dakar lead springs in the rear. $1300 shipped, I got the 882 coils because I plan on adding weight in the front (bumper/winch). They offer 883 coils for a good amount of weight and 881 for basically stock weight. My 882s are a little stiff but bearable and they gave me about 3.5” after they settled and will settle more when I add more weight. As for the Dakar’s I’m very pleased I got them, worth every penny with their performance.

 

First off nice truck. Are the top 2 pictures stock and the bottom 2 with the lift? if so could you maybe post a side view of your truck lifted on flat ground. what size tires are you running? Second, how rough actually are the 882's with no steel bumper? Reason I'm asking is because I honestly thought about getting 882s and building a steel bumper in the future but idk if I'm dead set on putting a steel bumper on or not and by the time I actually decide a tube bumper might be thrown in the mix (although if I were deciding today there would be no chance of that).

I'm leaning towards replacing my rear leafs with Dakar's along with the extra OME leaf and then doing bilstein 5100's around. 1 reason for the bilsteins is I have a serious vendetta against any shock that utilizes that hard stiff style shock boot like the nitro chargers. The edges always seem to rust out and end up looking like complete trash before the shock is even close to be worn out. Second is that given my predicament above about the steel bumper or no steel bumper in the future I'm thinking that I could maybe utilize my stock front coils for the time and maybe when I get closer to the point of deciding, switch out the coils for OME coils (either 881's or 882's) and set those coils on the stock setting of the 5100's. Does this seem like an impractical or bad idea?

 

With 882's without a steel bumper have a good chance of increasing your cv angles leading to cv boot tears.

I personally did my bumper first then my lift to increase the load on my springs

 

I was about to suggest the Dakar's also. I don't have them, but I've heard they ride best with a little bit of weight in the back, the shell + platform + tools should give you that.

I was was on a slightly lower budget so I just did 5100's, reused my oem coils, and a set of used oem leafsprings with a 3" AAL that had sagged to about 2". Left me at a pretty good height for me. Rides great.