*RIP* Bijan's #EXPOASF Long Travel Build

I GOTZ TO KNOW.

 

Granted you could do it better in terms of the hole then I did...but yea this is what I did for about 150ish in parts?

 

That looks clean as heck

 

3.5 is a better value, hands down. Better performance per dollar and glass always looks bitchin'. This is the problem I foresee you having if you go with a 3.5 kit though: you carry a lot of weight and you also have a camper on order. While you can custom order some deavers for better weight, SUA doesn't typically handle loaded, top-heavy rigs as well as SOA does. So if you go with a 3.5 over kit, are you going to be able to get the rear to keep up with the front?

This is literally the only reason I see 2+ making any sense because a well-optimized SOA can hang with a 2+ kit as well as a heavy SUA kit can for weight bearing. Otherwise I don't think I've ever seen anyone on here with a camper bombing anything with a 3.5 ever. There's just no way to get the the rear setup within reason to handle the weight of a high-clearance swingout with camper. You would need a bed cage minimum and a ton of bump travel.

 

Appreciate the kind words...if you ever want to go glass I can give some solid tips/measurements.

 

Has anyone suggested linking it yet?

 

I thought we did after the SAS convo?

 

I’ll link it if you pay hahaha

 

I’m gonna make the decision here soon & keep it quiet till it’s done haha. But going +3.5 is possible, just going to make my drives through Los Angeles 10x more entertaining haha

 

Alright man that's how it starts!

 

Do you really want to have to re do the axles ?

 

Ha this is true.

 

Nope there isn't, but the same dismissive (I don't know if that was your intent but that's how it was perceived) thing can be said, even more easily, for stock width vs a +2 kit. Why drop all that cash just for a little wheel travel and track width? When I measured the actual travel on my TC +2 it was 11.5" mechanical bind to mechanical bind. After limit straps and bumps are set up, as far as I can tell +2 kits don't get close to that 11.5". Why not save the money and put it somewhere else? If someone is intending on getting a LT kit, a +3.5kit is just a couple hundred more, and will provide more options down the road if the person wants to go full LT, cage the bed, or link the rear.........and the only door it closes are to trails like Elephant Hill Loop, Dusy Ershim (I've only heard of 6 2nd tacomas actually do this trail), Pinyon Mountain Trail, and other trails like them. The reality is, most folks will never do trails like these so the extra track width isn't even an issue, but by putting on a +2 kit they will lose out on the additional front end stability that comes with a 3.5, and if they decide to get a serious rear end, will have to sell their +2 at a loss to swap it out to a 3.5 or wider.

No, you really don't. You don't *need* a bad ass rear to go with the front, that's the "racers, internet & social medias" hang up on how trucks should be set up. Theres no rule that says you can't valve the front soft for a plush ride and get full travel out of it to match whatever the rear is at whatever speeds you drive. You might not get "full high speed use" out of it but you'll be able to get some use out of it. If someone with a +2 decides down the road that they want to link their rear or go full SUA and cage the bed then they will have the opposite problem and have a bad ass rear and a +2 kit. IMO its just better to get a 3.5kit and be done with it, even if someone doesn't intend on links or good SUA set up.

I used to look at things like you are with the thinking of "Pfft 3.5 kit without LT rear? what a waste"....But the reality is +2 kits don't offer much over stock and if I didn't already have a +2 kit for a hand-me-down, I would put a +3.5 kit on my new truck regardless of what the end result will be.

People don't need to constantly run their trucks all out to the edge of crashing all the time. There's nothing wrong with utilizing the extra travel to compensate for chop & fucked up terrain and not have to slow down. No one in their camping trucks is smashing through whoops at 80MPH, but if I can use that extra travel to help absorb and soften up ruts and square edges (square edges suck) so I don't have to slow down while I'm cruising, I'll take full advantage of it.


I think one of the issues with +2 kits, is that folks spend all this money on them and then pay to have a shop install them and end up with so much money invested in the whole thing that to sit back and say "Yeah, this probably wasn't a good choice" would cause so much cognitive dissonance their heads would explode....and then compounding the whole issue is they don't even get out and use them much, if at all, so any opinions they have on the subject are moot and worthless.

At the end of the day, if down the road someone changes their mind they can always sell +2 and get a 3.5, but they are going to take a loss on the +2 when they sell it and have to shell out another couple hundred for a 3.5. I've wasted A LOT of money on my truck swapping shit out like that....I'm just trying to help others not make the same mistakes I have.

 

Hmm this is good advice though. Even if you can’t max out a 3.5 kit, it’s nice having options.

 

I have a free set ready

 

Don’t worry, I’m very on board with what you’re saying. You’re 100% right too with travel numbers and whatnot as well - I’ll be making a purchase Monday.

 

Looking forward to seeing what you get.

 

2nd that motion, I vote glass it

 

So much goes into +3.5 that I'm not yet ready for haha. We'll see though.

My girlfriend and I were talking about it for a while yesterday - I had no idea how much attention she was paying to what I was saying until I heard "So you want to go 3.5, get a new bumper, get new axle things, get new fenders, make me wrap the fenders, and then the rear of the truck now can't keep up? What's the point, just go +2 from Total Chaos"

I literally died laughing when she even knew the brand names

 

I applaud your chic for having enough attention to provide credible feedback like that. My girl would have lost her shit about 1/3 into the convo after realizing one part affected the needs of another. She constantly thinks there is a competition between her and my trucks existence in my life. Depending on the arb, could be time to get a baja bumper? If not, you could always just trim the shit out of your fenders in the mean time and see if that look could work for you? What were your original plans with the +2...TC SUA or regular SOA? If your plans for the rear are SOA with a +2, I think you will be missing out but the travel difference is minimal enough that it could work, but with a 3.5 it would feel like ass.