Colorado B.S. Thread

4WP had the best price when I ordered mine. I think with free shipping and the 5% off coupon, it came in at right at $1k, with the billet reservoir mounts.

 

Also, what’s with the slow AF Jeep people? Does everyone but me have zero experience off road? Maybe IT’S (just) A JEEP THING.

 

I just checked their website and they have a store in Westminster. I can probably go there in the next couple days.

 

Do you have a budget?

Are you going for a lift? Or just replace stock suspension with something better?

IMO and (short) experience, you cannot go wrong with a FULL Old Man Emu (OME) suspension. I recommend the softer spring rate front OME coils for your 2nd gen with OME Nitrocharger shocks, rear Dakar leaf springs, and OME Nitrocharger rear shocks. You'll like the way it rides. You'll be setup for decent off-roadability. Switch out the rear shackles and/or add an OME extra leaf (for extra load capability) when the time comes, and you can switch out the front coils for lift when the time comes.

You'll love the way it rides. Any Uber customers will like it too.

FWIW.

Last time I priced stuff... it was like $1200-1300 for a 1st gen full OME. But I was doing a lift, and I opted to cry once, so I got new Upper Control Arms at the same time (glad I did), which added $500. If you are not lifting at this time, you don't need the UCA's.

Or just do the Bilstein stuff. But all my research revealed many people that wished they had just done OME and skipped the Billies. I only found one person who wished he had done Billies and not the OME.

HTH.

 

If you go OME, I recommend you check out:

• Cruiser Outfitters in Utah
• Wheeler's Off-road

there are others too (e.g. Headstrong etc)

I was going to order from Cruiser Outfitters (recommended by some guy called @Box Rocket), but at the time they were out of stock, and I thought I was working a schedule issue, so I went with Wheeler's, who were super to work with.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm not looking to do a lift at this time, since I want to have the option of doing Uber rides and I do not plan on getting bigger tires for now.

Are you saying to go for OME instead of the 6112/5160 setup? Or instead of the 5100s? The word "Bilstein" is pretty broad here on TW.

 

Surprised you made it out of the mall parking lot without those mods.

 

My way of thinking about it: The Old Man Emu engineers specialize in off-road "expedition" style suspensions for different vehicles. The Toyota HiLux / Tacoma is one such vehicle. Now you can pick "stock" springs from a spring manufacturer (e.g. diameter of coil, # of coils, spring rate, spring length) and then choose from a number of "stock" shocks (picking from whatever parameters shocks are chosen by -- prolly "damping rate", length etc etc etc). The combination of spring choice and shock choice will get you "close" or "good enough." Or you can go with a company where their engineers have done all the analysis and (purportedly) customized the various components for your specific vehicle. Or you can go with really high end components where all the individual parameters are "customizable." IMO, the first option is Billstein shocks with whomeber's springs (Eibach?). And the individual components may be quite good. The second option is Old Man Emu. The third option (everything is customizable) is King / Fox / Icon etc custom coilovers etc.

If you have the funds to do a full OME from the get go, and you don't want to spend a shitload of time researching everything and fretting over everything, my recommendation is go Full OME and be done with it (i.e. forget about it.) IMO and experience, you will be very happy with the ride and manners. You can do an OME suspension without a lift (or much of a lift -- maybe 1"?)

Call Cruiser Outfitters (http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/) or Wheelers ( ) and explain what you are trying to do, and get quotes on an OME setup. If you are going for NO lift or minimal lift (e.g. 1"), you will not need to worry about things like extended brake lines, front upper control arms (UCA's), differential drops etc etc.

I have not researched the 6112/5160 setup so I cannot give you feedback. On the 5100's or 5100/5120 (or 5140?) setups for the 1st gen trucks, most folks liked the result. But the ones that went on to do full OME liked the OME even better than the Bilstein-only or Bilstein/Eibach (front coils spring). I only found one post where someone did not like full OME and either preferred the Billies, or eventually a custom coilover solution.

I am 99.9+% confident that if you just went full OME, you WILL like the result. A lot.

 

I did look at/test drive a 2005 DC OR that had what looked like the OME shocks on it, not sure which springs but it was lifted 3-4". It was actually quite impressive to drive.

Since Toyota will almost certainly replace the leaf springs, I should be good there for now. It might be ideal for me to get the OME front shocks/springs and just the OME rear shocks with the Toyota leafs.

 

Had full OME on my FJ, 4R, and now my Tacoma. Great setups, never had a problem with any of them.

 

One additional thought... if you're just replacing shocks... then going Bilstein is probably a decent way to go... and you probably get a bit better ride, and a better shock. BUT... if you decide "Hey... my truck is nine years old, going on ten... the springs are shot and I really should replace them as well," then I think the argument for simply going full OME is a lot stronger. Even if you were just doing shocks and replacing rear leafs... I could see an argument for Bilsteins plus whatever rear leaf you decide to get. (Although I read of some folks that had Bilsteins in front with OME Nitrocharger shocks + Dakars in the rear or vice-versa.) However, if you decide you are going to replace your front coil springs, and you are not going to shell out the $$$ for a custom front coilover (i.e. Fox / King / Icon etc)... then I really think you are probably best off if you simply go Full OME at that point.

When replacing rear leaf springs, my "take" on the order of expense and increasing ride quality goes something like:

1. AAL
2. OME Dakar
3. OME Dakar + OME extra leaf (e.g. D43XL)
4. All Pro Expedition leafs
5. Deavers
6. Alcan custom leaf packs

FWIW & HTH

 

I can pick up from foco

 

I can go get a beer in foco

 

I think that is a very good compromise, esp. if you are not going for a lift. The only thing to watch out for... is when you spec the front end and OME rear Nitrochargers with OEM (i.e. factory) springs, make sure you are matching any lift heights. For example if OME rear Nitrocharger shocks with stock springs yields no lift in the back, but the smallest OME spring with Nitrocharger front shocks results in 1" lift in front... that might not be what you want (front higher than rear == "bro lean" which some people like.) HOWEVER... lets for argument sake suppose that the smallest OME front spring + Nitrocharger shock gives 1" front lift, you can probably even out the back with a longer rear leaf spring shackle (I got an extra 1/2" or 1" (I forget which) by going with a 5" All Pro rear shackle). But talking to the folks at Cruiser Outfitters or Wheelers and explaining what you are trying to accomplish is the say to go. They should be able to set you up with the correct setup. You can always come back here and ask "what about this setup?" or post a thread on TW to get feedback. Someone has in all likelihood already done what you are trying to do.

 

Definitely a potential issue there. I don't really want the "bro lean" on my truck lol. It seems like OME is geared toward lifted applications with seldom any mention of a stock height setup. I don't know if they even make a factory height coil spring.

 

FWIW... the would seem to be very active with lots of reports of who has done what trail in what vehicle and how it went. Lots of questions, and it appears to be lots of answers. HTH.

 

Yeah, if you don't want any lift at all, then OME might not be for you. Then the Bilstein 6112/5160's might be your better option. But aren't those shocks really intended to go with a lift as well? For that matter, if you don't want a lift, and you just want Toyota to replace your rear leaf's and then replace worn shocks, OEM stock shocks or Bilstein 5100's might be the better option. Save some $$ too.

 

I will at least go with 5100s. They did a pretty reasonable job on my old '05.

 

not 6112's - posted as oem gen3 which are 4600's.

 

If I had a Lexus, I would have gone to the outlets...