Nate's build

I don't have mine strapped. I've considered spacing the top of the strut like others have to allow the shock to ride more in the middle of the stroke, which would theoretically allow it to ride even smoother. If you were to space the top, then that's when a limiting strap would be needed. The way Jerry has the mounts set up now, there isn't any binding at full drop so the limiting factor is the strut itself. When I had the struts raised too high, there was very little down travel and the shocks would hit their full down travel extension with a harsh bang which bugged the hell out of me. I just had to drop them a bit and it went away.

I know n0rth has his strapped because he spaced the top about 1" I believe. styfu510 had his strapped because he was running 10" ORI's which allowed more down travel which I believe would bind either the CV's or ball joints on the LCA's. I think BradyT88 was going to strap his but don't know where he's at with his at the moment. If I find a reason to strap them I may go through with it, but in the mean time that'll stay in the "maybe" pile of things to do.

Nate

Edit: I'm sure you guys have read through these threads, but for those that haven't, here is some info on the ORI's
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/bay-area-metal-fabrication/291806-ori-struts-experience.html

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/bay-area-metal-fabrication/256976-ori-struts-available-bamf.html

 

PM me when the time nears and if you haven't already got them, we'll try and link up so you can check them out.

Nate

 

First of all thanks so much!!

Yeahhhh this gives me so much anxiety over them. I'm just trying to accomplish something that is soft and actually travels. My current setup sucks. It has no downtravel cuz all it is is a longer coil with preload. Additionally its so damn stiff it doesn't stuff up into the wheel well while crawling. This results in a very off camber situation all the time as I'm sure you know.

So I want long travel so I can retain a lift height but still have downtravel and uptravel. The foxes seemed great for quick adjustments like you said. I could have it stiffer so it actually handles on the road, and then click them over to soft so I have flex off road.

ORIs seems great but I worry about pumping them up. If I pump them up to 3" of lift aren't I gonna be so stiff? And then how can I adjust them to be softer/harder without it affecting the lift? It seems that everybody running them has a lot of trouble with adjustment and $190 dollars to fill them each time seems scary

I'm a crawler not a desert racer... however that doesn't mean that I don't wanna sometimes drive fast on bumpy roads. I'm just a little worried about everything not being perfect for the money... sorry for the whining hahaha

 

I can get full articulation up and down with the ORI's which helps keep the tires on the ground. From my understanding, with the Fox DSC, you set your setting for high speed stuff weather it be off road or street driving. Then the other "low speed" adjuster is for slower crawling adjustments. Meaning they are both set for how you like them in each situation and you can leave them set, hence the Dual Speed Compression. No need to adjust when changing driving situations unless desired.

With the ORI's there are two settings to be set. First is the "lower chamber" which is for compression and rebound. This will control how easy they articulate. With lower pressure it will ride like a boat and be super soft but will have lots of body roll. Raise the pressure and it will stiffen them up. I believe they recommend starting at 80-90 in the lowers and go up from there. I think I'm at 130 in the lowers.

Then there is the "upper chamber". This will control your ride height/"spring rate". Raise the pressure and the truck lifts. By adjusting both of these independently of each other will get you the ride you desire. It's not $190 a fill. Once you have the tank, regulator and a means to fill the shocks(fill kit), you can do it as many times as you'd like. I've emptied and filled my shocks countless times and still have Nitrogen left in the tank.

Like you, I really wanted them for slow crawling but now that they are on, I find myself wanting to go faster and faster because they do handle the high speed stuff pretty well. I have to remind myself I'm not a Long travel truck and slow it down before I start breaking stuff.

Hope that clears things up a bit.

Nate

 

You explained this better than I could to him lol. Now shut up and order some Dakota

 

That cleared up everything!! It all makes sense now! Whew! Ok... now I wanna order some. I didn't quite understand the dual chambers. Its perfect. I can adjust to 3" of height... maybe even more and still be squishy as hell if I so desire. Got it

Ok so now... couldn't I in theory buy some now and put on limit straps, then when I can afford LT just switch em over? I should probably get a 10" though, you reckon?

 

Well, if your raise it TOO much, you wont have any down travel, or not enough. That in itself will make for a pretty stiff ride. It's about finding a balance of desired lift and ride performance for whatever you find yourself driving in.

I believe you can run 10" strapped now and run LT with them as well down the road. I would suggest talking to Jerry at BAMF about that. I'm not so in tune with the long travel stuff how how that setup would work. I believe that's what sytfu510 had planned when he got the 10" ORI's but I'm not sure what he is running now. Might want to ask him how they worked out for him as well.

Nate

 

Yeah that makes sense... Still think they're worth it though.

Perfect I'll hit both of them up! Thanks!!

 

Wow! Nice build! how are the ORIs so far??

 

They are doing good so far. I will say that the only thing that bothers me is the inconsistent ride height. One day it'll settle where I want it then the next couple days it'll sit lower. Then days later it goes back to normal. I'm sure it has to do with the atmospherics with change in temperature or whatever but it does bother me. Other than that, they ride smooth and do everything I want them to off road from some dirt back roads and slow crawling stuff.

On that note, I need to update this build. The truck has come a long way since I last updated it. Earlier today I was updating the first post to list things by category. I'll try and load up some photos on the days I'm not working on it or standing by for parts to come in.

 

The truck is even further along?!?!????

 

Yeah man. I've been slaving away at it with the time off during the holidays and all last month. Been putting in some hours with it. Not really much to show for it since it's mostly all wiring stuff. The kind of stuff that gets hidden under crap and is never to be seen but is also very tedious and time consuming. I'll get some progress pics up shortly.

Also went camping and wheelin' a few times. Things broke... then I fixed them. One thing I've learned about working on vehicles, is that it's always SOMETHING.

 

WOOHOO I feel ya on that kind of stuff. Can't wait

 

This was something I came up with on paint a while back when trying to plan out my wiring. It's evolved from this version slightly but the gist of it remains the same.


Since it's an access cab, space is very limited so I'm trying to maximize unused space. Took off the back panel and put some Dynamat on first to try and quiet things up.




Finally got auxiliary battery in and some wiring done. It'll all be tucked behind the rear panel without any interference or clearance issues and not show any exposed wires

 

All that crap will be color coded to look fancy and avoid a rats nest of wires running in every which direction. Here I'm just test fitting the switches from OTRATTW in the over head sunglasses holder. The switches may get moved around since I don't have all that crap yet but are there for future expansion.

The front eyeglass holder will also get a set of switches for compressor, air locker and possibly winch controls. Have not figured out the exact layout yet.


Screw you SPOD! I like making my own stuff and that's why I went this route. Plus I have lots of modularity on how I can set things up. I know Skygear offers his relay box which is pretty nice and would probably make it easier, but I like the satisfaction of doing it myself.


I've since realized I'll need to make a minor adjustment with the lower LED lighting on the SPDT switches and how the power to them is jumped. Will address that later

 

damn

 

Holy clean!! damn you now I'm even more self conscious about my wiring hahaha

 

That is so clean!!!!

It should have been a PITA, right? but that's the way wiring should be done!!!

 

This build

 

Thanks guys! The wiring really isn't that bad. I enjoy doing it. What I DON'T enjoy is not having all the right terminals, wires ect. and having to go out and get it or wait for an online order to come in. That really slows down the flow and progress of it all. Then you are waiting on one thing to be finished before starting the next stage.

Like I said before, I can get pretty anal with this with this stuff. I guess being a Marine makes you pay attention to the details but I like when it turns out looking good or like it came that way from the factory.