Iowa Tacomas (Idiots.Out.Wandering.Around)

@Whelk88 Welcome the wonderful world of Tacomas!! Lots of overwhelming information on TW, but we can help ya out!

FWIW, on my 2nd gen (2015) I went from 3rd gen OEM Off Road take-offs and that was a big improvement in ride quality and a little bit of lift, but that's only if adding the 3rd gen OR front struts on a 2nd gen. I created that thread, surprised how quickly it took off.

Then last year I found a wicked deal on RockAuto on Bilstein 6112's. I couldn't pass it up, bought without the boss's prior approval....ehh, gotta take a risk sometimes. haha At the same time I picked up a set of used (10k miles) OME Dakar Medium leaf springs from a local (Sioux City, NW side of the state) guy that was selling his 3rd gen.

So my current setup is:

Front - 6112's, 5L/4R clip settings, stock UCA's. I'd like to do UCA's, probably SPC's or Mevotech (pretty much the same thing) since they have sealed ball joints that will keep our wonderful road salt/brine out of the ball joint unlike others that use a uniball that is very susceptible to quickly becoming dried out and damaged by our awesome crap they put on the roads in the winter when not properly maintained. Uniballs require quite a bit of regular lubrication in the winter months. For now I'm not too concerned with the UCA's as I don't put many daily miles on my truck (mostly drive my lifted beater subaru outback) and I don't do high speed offroading. I just do slower crawling type stuff when time allow...which hasn't been as often as I'd like. Aftermarket UCA's will allow full down travel to take advantage of your new strut/coilover. I have read others say UCA's also have improved ride quality, don't know personally so I can't comment there. The 6112's are an amazing sturt! They easily outperform anything in their price range and compare to many far more expensive big name coil overs. What I like about the 6112's is that they are "digressively valved". Which means the faster the piston travels, the softer it is. So for bigger bumps it will be smoother and while taking a corner you get less lean since the piston is traveling slower. Your TRD Sport is "progessively valved", which is opposite of digressive. Meaning as the piston speed increase (large bumps at high speeds) the strut has stiffer damping and is more harsh. That's why many people like to put the TRD OR suspension on their TRD Sport as the TRD OR is a digressive setup and greatly improves ride and stability. I also like the 6112's because Bilstein puts tons of R&D into their products for both performance and durability. Since they produce OEM components which prioritize longevity I believe they will last longer than many other options out there. I don't think I have ever seen a 6112 fail, but I haven't really searched too much. I have seen Fox/Icon/King start leaking somewhat regularly. Even though most of those are rebuildable, that means down time on your truck while being rebuilt. Which may or may not be an issue for you.

Rear - OME Dakar Medium leaf springs, Bilstein 5100 B110 shocks, extended brake hose and GM bump stops (pn 15712438). The rear rides much better than when I had the stock leafs and TRD OR shocks, which those shocks were a big improvement over my TRD Sport shocks. The 5100's aren't the best compatibility with the 6112's as far as damping capability. But for the price and the extended travel that I wanted, they fit the bill. There really isn't a perfectly paired rear shock for the 6112's up front. There are some that have tested other rear shocks from both Bilstein and the other big companies. The one that I have seen that is a great match is the Bilstein 8100, but those are around $2k a pair!!! The B110 5100 (16.34" collapsed/27.28" extended) is just an extended length 5100 (14.02 collapsed/22.94" extended) with the same valving/damping ability. As you can see you get 4.34" more down travel! However, there are a couple things you MUST do to use B110's. Extended rear brake hose and extended length bump stops due to the longer collapsed length and you don't want shock to be your bottoming out point. The bump stops I used were the GM ones listed above since they are progressive so it's not like your just hitting a solid poly bump stop. Plus the price is much better than using "performance" bump stops, usually $250. I can get more pictures if you're interested.

This is just a difference of the fully extended B110 on the left and the stock TRD OR shock on the right. The jack is not actually touching the axle BTW.



Here is the best picture of how I installed the bump stop. There is a thread somewhere on here with more details I think. But if you want more info or pics from me, just ask.

Here are the bump stops I used -

$31 15712438 BUMPER 7.535

https://www.amazon.com/General-Moto...al+Motors&rnid=2528832011&s=automotive&sr=1-1



I know this is a lot of info, so if you have any questions.....please ask! This is by no means a be-all end-all break down, just a guide from my experiences. I have also see REALLY good things about the Eibach suspension as well. I would personally trust that as much as Bilstein. Also if anyone is near Sioux City and want to hang out or want a hand doing something to their truck, let me know. I've got tons of tools and was a Toyota Tech before working full time as an aircraft tech in the USAF, which I'm still doing.

 

Oh, here is a good before and after on my truck. The before is actually lifted about 3/4" in the front because of the 3rd gen TRD OR suspension.

 

Sweet truck

 

Thank you! It's been my attainable dream truck for quite some time and slowly making it my own. I'll have it forever unless the next generation Tacoma blows it out of the water. When I would do test drives or PDI's at Toyota of Des Moines I knew I wanted one (quit there 2009 and been full time USAF ANG since). It wasn't until late 2016 I could actually afford one. At that time I was comparing the 3rd gen to the 2nd gen. This one popped up for a great price with low miles and I snagged it up! Wasn't sure about Pyrite Mica when I first got it. But now I love it and don't see many on my side of the state.

 

Are you on Vors?

 

Nope, the are FN Wheels Six Shooters 17x9 (discontinued width, only 8" wide now) . Picked them up used locally (all 5 for $600, then sold the tires that were on them and ended up only spending $150 total). They were black and scuffed a little from trail rash. But that didn't bother me since I'm going to do the same likely, not on purpose of course.

I didn't like the black since EVERYONE has black wheels and I don't want nice wheels to look like every other black wheel from 30ft away, no point in spending good money on wheels if you can't tell! haha Anyways, I gave Plasti-Dip a try. Got Gold/Bronze from DipYourCar.com and went to it! I've never bother to prep well with dip before, this time I did and shows! They've been dipped for about 2 years now with no peeling and no fade! I'm really impressed!

 

I've been thinking about Vors VE37s (rebranded blems) and PC'ing them Blue to match what I currently got going on. Going from +30 offset to 0 will be nice for clearance. I got about ~1" from the coils to my 255s and I plan on going 285s next time around... I only asked because they look pretty similar.

 

I did look into those, I like them too! I love the blue idea. I like the Volk’s in blue on silver, grey and white ones that I’ve seen. I just could never justify the cost for Volk’s, especially knowing I’m likely going to scratch them at some point. Lol

Mine are 5.0 backspacing 0 offset. I love the Goodyear Duratracs, only Goodyear I don’t hate. But I think my next tire is going to be the 33x10.50r17 Kenda Klever RT. A local has them on his Tacoma and he’s been pretty impressed. He’s been through a ton of AT tires in his 250k+ miles.

 

Also, just took a photo of the bump stop set up for anyone interested.

 

Spotted at Dimensional Brewing in Dubuque on Friday. You on here?

 

I haven’t run into that one out in these parts.

 

Officially retired the Taco from DD duty. She had a long run but frame rot is making her unsafe. Going to keep her off the road/trail until I can get the frame fixed.

My T4r is my "new" DD.

 

Well I went with the Dobinsons kit, are there any good shops around the Quad Cities to have it installed?

 

Not that I’ve heard of. I did mine myself.

I just went off this video

 

Did you ever get your pro suspension put on?

 

Had some physical ailments and then the cold weather that prevented me from getting to it. But it might be on my list to get done this week though. Thankfully I haven’t put many miles on the last 6 months, so the stock suspension hasn’t had a chance to bother me

 

I’ve put 5000 miles on mine since I put it on in September lol feels like i hardly drive any more.

Gonna start racking them up here soon getting people tuned.

 

Yea, I’ll be getting some miles put on this spring and summer again, so definitely want to get that done and update the tune/TSB.

 

But the trade-off is you can't put a price on smiles per gallon

 

Should be a fairly easy DIY job to install them. Just have a good shop do the allignment after. If it were my truck and I wasn't up to doing it myself I'd look around for a buddy that knows a thing or two and is willing to help. I'd offer to help you do it but I'm working on building a new garage. Otherwise there's a few shops that come to mind. My favorite used to be DK 4 Wheel but last I checked they're permanently closed. Spot Truck Specialties is another option. QC Auto Service in Moline had a good reputation last I checked.