1st gen suspension upgrade options?

Im looking for a suspension upgrade for my 2004 DC 4x4 and I briefly fantasized about long travel before I realized it was far out of my budget for now. I checked out the mid travel bs thread and they are talking about 3-linking rears and 15-16" of travel these days so thats no more help than the long travel section.

what are some options for a functional suspension upgrade that wont break the bank? Price is flexible so if a little more money gets me a lot more performance then im definitely listening. i want more wheel travel and a smooth ride on and off road, not really concerned with how much "lift" i get.

the OME kit seems legit for $1150 for full setup front and rear - says 1.75" of added ride height but doesn't mention wheel travel numbers although im sure the are modest.

total chaos and camburg offer a bunch of products and kits, and I know the UCA's are a good upgrade for 600-700 bucks but I honestly get lost browsing those sites trying to figure out which parts are compatible with what and if what they are selling is everything i need or just a portion of the kit. any help breaking things down to layman terms would be great...

PS: i know i should make some calls to these companies and get some more info on my own and I plan to do so but i tend to trust you guys to steer me right as opposed to someone who wants to sell their product so again any help would be appreciated.

edit: to ask my question more directly - the OME is the full setup i can get for $1200. what can I get for like 3-3.5k and how much better can I expect it to be than the OME setup??

 

For your '04 Tacoma you can do a Camburg mid travel kit starting at $1,650. We have a few of the FOX coilover kits and our Camburg coilover kits that include our 1" Uniball UCA, 2.0 or 2.5 coilover and a rear shock. I suggest our Camburg 2.5 kit because it sounds like that fits right into your description. You will get more wheel travel with our coilovers because they are specifically designed to compliment the uniball UCAs. With this kit you will be getting about 2.5 in of lift in the front and 10 in of wheel travel. This is all bolt on to stock location and will replace your weaker factory parts. With this you will not need fiberglass fenders or really any other kind of modifying or fabricating. For the Tacomas, honestly you do not have to do very much suspension wise to improve the functionality and ride quality! Throw on some coilovers and an uniball upper arm and it will make trail riding and daily driving a lot smoother. I have heard that the FOX and King coilovers can be too stiff for a DD, but our coilovers are built to provide a plush ride on and off the road. We also offer a Tacoma World Discount and you can also purchase from one of our dealers that are able to mark down the price. Let me know if you have any questions and I would be happy to help you out

 

thanks for the response kay, your info was great. much appreciated my friend.

 

@KayStrait I also had a few questions about "mid travel." I've been up and down this site and what I'm looking for can't seem to be found. The build-your-mid-travel kit from Down South offers everything except the lower control arms. You'd be getting the rear leafs, rear shocks, the front shocks, uppers, and a 4by if you have that...why don't we necessarily need lower control arms. I'm looking for a straight bolt on kit that has everything plus the lower control arms. I'm running an '04 Prerunner DC. Any and all help would be appreciated. Would replacing the lower control arm mess with the steering or brakes? Also, what do aftermarket spindles do?

 

As I mentioned above ^^ we offer the bolt on mid travel coilover kit for your Tacoma that would include UCA, coilovers, rear shocks and you can include rear a leaf spring as well. We do not offer a stock lower control arm that pairs with our upper arm. We do have the long travel set up that would provide you with all new uppers and lowers and will be about 3.5" wider per side. You will need to run fiberglass with the L/T Kit. We only offer a lift spindle for the 05+ 2WD Tacomas.

 

Have you seen my rear end build thread? Seems like its what you want. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...el-rear-end-build.372720/page-2#post-10267102