All-Pro Long Travel Review

Please read this first: You are about to read an honest review of an Allpro offroad product. This has been my experience. I did not come here to lie or to scare anyone off from buying Allpro products. The conclusion you come to after reading this review is entirely yours.


Hello everyone. When it comes to the 2nd gen tacomas, there are a lot of products to choose from. When it comes to long travel, there are a few options. I chose Allpro LT due to the good reviews I had heard of it. I like the tubular design of the control arms. Looks decent and strong enough to hold up to the stresses of use.

Kit installed June 2, 2012.

Well they are beefy control arms thats for sure.

The axles and HD steering are big as well.

The install was fairly simple. No modifications needed to get this stuff in, aside from having push out the LCA tabs. The control arms seemed a little too wide, but they did fit after a BFH was brought into the equation.

During the install:


Back on its wheels again:


First text of the articulation. A huge jump over the factory suspension!


After I even'd out the front and by lifting it up a little, it soaks up bumps well. I don't have anywhere around here to jump the truck around here. Only some bumpy roads to test the suspension. And lots of flexy trails to test the suspension.

The steering feels nimble. The trucks handles very well on the road with this suspension. Driving it is a breeze. Can corner hard! And it feels like you've got complete control.

Fast forward to a few October. 8000Km (5000 miles). HD steering is worn out.
-The outer heims on the HD steering are completely screwed from roughly 7000km highway driving, and 1000km offroad.

Still waiting on warranty from allpro to this day.

I replaced the HD steering with factory Toyota tie rods with a tie rod spacer. The have far outlasted the allpro "Heavy Duty" steering.

-At the same time as I replaced the "HD" steering, I noticed slight play in my upper uniballs. I kept an eye on this, thinking it may be normal. These shouldn't be worn out after 5000 miles?

17000KM (10560 Miles)
12.16.2012 Broken my RF axle shaft.
-After a lot of contraversy, Allpro did Warranty this AND the other side. They say limit straps are not needed with this kit. I beg to differ but can't seem to get my point across. The axles were rubbing on the tulip of the CV joint. The shocks are internally limited but they are not limited enough. On full droop it was rubbing. Causing the shaft to fail. Thank you very much to allpro, for warrantying these. Limit straps are required however. Or as allpro suggested, "clearance" my CV. I am not particularly fond of. I will use limit straps. I don't want to weaken my CV's.

Well fast forward to now. 19000KM (11,000 Miles)
-Both upper uniballs are SCREWED. The right lower unsafe to drive on, and the left lower has a bunch of play as well. I am hoping allpro will warranty these. This is way to early for such strong parts to wear out. I have been washing them religiously after wheeling too. They do not have dirt or mud in them for more than a few hours.

-I have also noticed my front springs have sagged, and the ride height has dropped again in the front. Guess I need to crank up the springs again.


Overall:
I am very dissapointed with this kit. When I spent over 4500 on this suspension, I was expecting to get a good quality kit. Almost every moving part has failed. I am impressed with the articulation it offers, but if I could do it again, no way would I buy this kit again. I can't believe I am having so much trouble. I take good care of this truck, and of the parts I install. I stay up to date with the maintenance. Unfortunately I am not confident with Allpro parts anymore, contrary to the good reviews I have heard about this kit.

TL;DR
1 star is very poor, 5 stars is great.

Articulation ****
Reliability/Long lasting *
Vendor customer service ***
Ease of install ****

Again, I am not trying to bash All-pro offroad. This is my honest experience with their product.

 

great write up man! sucks that you had these problems, looks like the wear and tear items wore out really fast "uniballs/heims'. hope all get's fixed!!

 

Have you not seen Stacy's truck from AP? Big tires, and their bumper. I don't believe those are the cause for his issues. Another member had the AP kit and never had an issue as the OP states.

 

Sucks u been having issuses. In my limited knowledge I would contribute the spring to bumper as well. Maybe get a higher rate spring. The uniballs and heims, are they all pros or a different maker that the use? Maybe try a different brand. The axle, well that's just bs!

Hit up mxpatriot, Chase. He has this kit and a plate bumper(think he has a tube bumper now), he may have had some of those issues or not

 

Just as an FYI Jamie isn't a Shade Tree Mechanic. He knows his stuff very well.


Even if he is a flaming homo who enjoys sausage more than a drunk German at OctoberFest.

 

Thanks

 

Surprised the uniballs are wearing out so quickly. Similar uniballs are used in LT and non-LT UCAs from multiple vendors. Ask All-Pro what FK part number they are using for the uniballs. Then we can cross-reference against the FK catalog and determine the type of steel used, surface treatment, etc.

Not surprised about the HD steering rod ends. You would need Aurora stainless ones there, but they are expensive ($300 for a set of four). Alternatively, Deeza makes a regreaseable, balljoint-type tie rod end, Part # LET630, that's slightly beefier than OEM. Cheap, too, at $32 for a pair at Rock Auto.

EDIT: The Deeza part meant for 2003-2009 4Runners apparently doesn't fit the Taco.

 

HD steering is still there in the LT product page: The beefy steel tubing is a lot stronger than OEM tie rods for bashing over rocks. However, as a DD and exposed to road salt, the rod ends don't seem to last long.

I don't think bumper and tires are to blame, considering the target market for the All-Pro LT kit.

 

I've had my AP LT for a few years now and I have experienced some of the same issues you have.

The heims on the tie rods are, IMHO, of poor quality. They wore out way too fast and All Pro wants an arm and a leg for new ones. I purchased similar rod ends from polyperformance.com for much cheaper. One of the major faults of the "HD steering" is when used with their LT, there is no wheel stop. Your steering rack becomes the wheel stop and I have chunks of metal missing from mine due to contact with the inner rod end.

I have not replaced the uniballs on my UCA and LCA, although I plan on doing so when I return from deployment. Mine have an acceptable amount of play in them given the miles (50,000+) and abuse on them.

All Pro needs to fire their powder coater. My LCA's have flaked majorly (I continually touch them up with spray paint) and my rear bumper's powder coating can be peeled off by hand. It's paper thin.

Coil springs have sagged badly on the Fox coil overs I purchased from AP. I originally had an All Pro plate bumper with a smittybilt xrc8 winch with synthetic line. With that set up I broke the frame mounts off the truck. Here is a link to a thread with details and pictures - http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...mp-truck-plate-bumper-broken-frame-mount.html. I plan on replacing the coil springs with 18'' 600 pound springs.

Customer service has been top notch, I will say. Throughout the purchase of sliders, bumpers, and the suspension All Pro has always done right by me, including overnight shipping a skid plate that was left out of a pile of parts I picked up in person.

I have been pleased with the kits performance so far. I wish it had a mount for a secondary bypass shock, but then again I tend to use the kit outside of it's primary intended use (rock crawling / trails) more than most. I have rock crawled, flexed, articulated, jumped, and blitzed whoops with the kit without issues. I have had front end hits that have broken motor mounts, bent spindles, broken headlight mounts, and broken bumper mounts but the kit has held up strong.

If I could do it again, I'd get the TC +2'' kit (wasn't out when I was in the market and I didn't know better at the time to look for things like a secondary bypass mount).

 

I talked to allpro about my failed uniballs and they said I have to talk to the plcs I bought the long travel from. Since I didn't order it directly from ap. more delays more delays. Still have a front end unsafe for the road. I'm hoping to get warranty on these since they failed so quickly, but I'm not holding my breath. I just need a properly functioning vehicle. Is that too much to ask for? C'mon.

 

I would replace them out of pocket, then continue to try to get replacements under warranty (for a back up set) or get reimbursed

 

Sarah??

 

Regarding the heims and uniballs it seems some manufacturers still utilize chrome. Chrome is harder then stainless but as all of us know in the salt belt don't last but one winter. For about 2 years I have been telling people to avoid any chrome heims or uniballs if they will begetting them wet or salty. For the desert guys the chrome balls seem to last forever. Not sure if Ap is using chrome, but it sounds like they are.

My TC UCA uniballs did not even last 6 months. After numerous complaints they are now using FK stainless balls.

Glad to see OP giving a well written review. I wish I could be as unbiased in my own reviews. Maybe if the chrome is the issue AP can start using some stainless in their builds after getting some customer feedback.

 

Thank you for the input. I believe they are chrome. These uniballs wore out before they saw their first winter though. The ones I'm getting are dual Teflon lined or something along the lines of that. Hopefully they last longer.

 

Were the balls pitted at all? I never even though the Teflon liners were the cause. I just assumed the chrome rusted out on mine (you could see pitting) and that in turn destroyed the Teflon liners. Hmmm....food for thought.

Either way I have 3 times the miles and age on my FK balls with no play whatsoever.

 

Update: still waiting on warranty uniballs and steering heims. Only been like 9 months.

Have 33,000km on this kit now. One of my rear shocks is leaking. Walker Evans supplied by Allpro.

The kit performed well in moab.

 

Thanks for the honest review. If you could have done differently, would a mid-travel kit suffice with the proper mod's? Or would you have just gone with a different brand and stuck with the LT?

 

Lol you left me negative rep?


I should update this thread too.

Lately it has been working well for me. I put the tie rod extenders in, and have been on factory tie rods for months now. No more steering issues. Very thing seems to be holding up well. I made a flap to protect the upper uniball, and it seems to be making the difference. The upper uniballs are holding up great. The coilovers are still pretty soft for the front end, but may be fine with a factory front bumper. I ground out my inner cvs to help with the axle rubbing issue, and it has helped, but the axles still rub a little bit. Doesn't seem to be enough to break another one, which is nice.


As of lately, I'm satisfied with this kit. Just needs to come with limit straps!

Sorry if this new review has confused you xjfella!

 

any pics of the flap/cover you made for the upper uniball? i just bought a used allpro kit that im going to install soon and don't want to deal with worn out uniballs in 2 months.

 

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