Bought a slide-in truck camper - suspension upgrades

Nice! Those northern lites are nice camoers. There is one like yours on Craigslist here I think for around $7k. It seems like the timbrens are compressed a fair amount, kind of makes me reconsider running a softer version.



I just finished installing most of my suspension. I'm still waiting on my icon upper control arms, custom rear icon shocks that are 2.5s with CDC valving (also valved 25% stiffer and about 1" longer than the normal rear icons), and the timbrens from all pro.
In front I'm running icon 2.5 extended coilovers with CDC valving and wheelers bump stops. Rear is standard dakar springs, all pro u bolt flip and currently wheelers superbumps.

When the upper control arms come in I'll install the east coast gear supply clamshell bushing, then I need brake lines installed and the front end aligned. Tires are at least a week out.

I adjusted the coilovers for 2.5" of lift and the dakars right now sit about 2.75" higher than factory 4 leaf springs. The dakars seem to ride as nice as the stock leaf springs so far. If not smoother... I didn't install my extra leafs because I thought it would be too harsh but I bet with a couple hundred pounds in the bed they will be fine. Eventually I may just install them and remove the upper overload. Same ride height, higher spring rate.

 

That's a nice truck Brian. Don't forget to get rid of that dung flop spare tire if you are increasing the size of your tires. I believe running one tire an inch smaller than the others for any distance is no bueno.

 

Thanks. I ordered 5 tires, I prefer to have a full matching set and do a five tire rotation.
Now I have to decide if I want to find another matching spare wheel, or buy a different set of wheels and try to make a little money selling the current wheels/tires. If a new/used wheel is going to be $100, and the alternative is selling all five new wheels and tires and buying new wheels for 1100-1200, it isn't too hard for me to justify...

 

Yeah you can definitely buy those 16" off road rims pretty cheap. I'd say its worthwhile picking one up. I like the clean look of stock wheels (when they're nice wheels) over aftermarket stuff. You probably already know but a 265/75r16 just barely fits up under the truck in the spare mount. I don't know if that's the size you ordered.

When will you have your camper?

 

You can fit a 33 up there if you hammer the brackets. I haven't made the jump in size yet, but plenty of people have done it.

There are some great setups here. I really like my airbags, the key to taking the harshness out of the ride offroad when inflated was good shocks. I've been looking at slide in campers for awhile, but tow a trailer for the time being. My good friend rocks an old Six Pack and I love some of the conveniences of his slide in. We use it quite a bit.

 

Will the Northern Lite fit a 2015 TRD DCSB?

 

With a short bed I'd go for a 4wheel camper. They make campers for 5' boxes. http://www.fourwheelcampers.ca/finch.htm

You can put a northern lite in but they are 6'10" so you will have a lot of overhang and your centre of gravity would be behind your back wheels. Not ideal but you could always do it.

 

I used to have a 19' trailer. I like the camper more but they both have their benefits. Best part of the camper for me is almost no effect in fuel economy. Second best is the fact that my ferry ride from Vancouver Island to the mainland doesn't double from 80 to 160. (over 20 feet they charge by the foot).

 

I ordered 255/85r16. Most people fit them with bending or removing the tabs under the frame.
My initial camper order was estimated at 14 weeks which puts me in mid June.

 

What part number did you order for timbrens? There are a couple options for the tacoma, and tons of "spring" options for timbrens.

I have 6.5" between the frame and the timbren mount. So I'm thinking I'll order different timbrens that are just over 5" tall and use spacers. I'm just trying to decide on which weight capacity to use. Probably either the 1800lb or 2800lb version.

Comparison of the wheelers superbump and allpro timbren kit side by side if anyone cares.



I definitely could use just one of the brackets and swap the bump stops. The soft all pro timbren seems softer than the superbumps which was a little surprising. The front superbumps feel amazing over rough terrain, but I haven't tested the rear since I don't have longer rear shocks yet. I'm suspecting the timbrens may actually be a softer bump for the rear but we'll see.

 

Not sure who you were asking but I got the

$270 TORTUN4L Suspension Enhancement System

TORTUN4L which is the HD version. I just finished driving around for a few days on a short trip with the camper and I am pretty happy with the density of the bump stops but the shocks don't have the dampening power to handle the weight very well. Good enough for now but definitely changes coming in the future.

Thanks for the side-by-side comparison. The mounting bracket on my Timbrens actually looks more like the one on your Wheelers'.

 

Yeah there are a couple different timbren options for Tacomas so that answers my question.
I'm guessing that the wheelers superbump bracket was a timbren bracket or copied. Designed to work with the U bolts in the factory location. I drilled the plates to match the all pro u bolt plate. The timbrens from allpro compress easier (by hand or foot) than the superbumps, but I believe are only 1000lb rating.

I just order new timbren springs. Went with a535-55. They are 5-1/8" tall 1800lb springs with 3-1/8" max deflection. I have 6.5" spacing from frame to bracket so I ordered 1/2" spacers too.

The timbrens in your kit are 1500lb rating but but only 2-1/4" max deflection, with 65 durometer rubber. So the timbrens I ordrered have a higher load rating, but in theory would be softer (lower durometer rating) and would have more "travel". Unfortunately im still probably 2 months out but I'll let you know how it works.

 

Well as I recently posted, the shocks don't dampen for shit with the camper on and I've held out as long as I can. I need a smoother suspension for my wife because a 5 minute ride is too much for her neck to handle (Late Stage Lyme Disease). It's either improve the suspension on the truck, or buy a 1991 Chevy Caprice Classic. (Which was my second car when I was 18 by the way) but I'm not a good enough mechanic to buy a domestic vehicle.

Josh at Wheelers has been amazing helping me figure this out and is hooking me up with an OME kit. Original Nitrochargers all around for a softer ride than the new Sport ones, 884's for 2" of lift with no risk of needing UCA's, and Dakars. It will sit with some rake unloaded but pretty level (maybe still some rake) with the camper loaded on. If I find it too stiff or too much rake I will remove the 3rd leaf or the upper OL depending on what I need.

I'm going to tackle it solo in my garage, one corner at a time, and hope for the best. Updates and maybe a couple " help me" posts to follow.

For interested Canadians, I am having it sent to Seawings in Blaine Washington, then picking it up from them at their office at the Victoria airport. I walk it through customs myself. Seawings will charge 85 bucks for shipping the 170 lb package from Blaine to Victoria and no brokerage fees. All I will pay at customs is GST PST and 6.5% duty on Australian made goods. (around 250 bucks) This is saving me around 300 in shipping plus who knows how much for brokerage fees.

 

That's one hell of a camper! Very nice setup OP!

 

Thanks. One of the best purchases I've ever made. Those fibreglass units have minimal upkeep, never leak, and hold their value better than a dollar bill.

 

Thanks. That's a good tip about greasing the cams and bolts. Those components are all foreign to me as I've never gone past the brake callipers. Never had the need to. The downside to owning a Tacoma. You don't learn much about fixing vehicles unless you're modding them.

 

Nice!

 

Newest upgrade to deal with the camper:

OME original NitroCharger shocks all around. 884's and full Dakar pack with 3 degree shim. I haven't put the camper on yet but man this setup rides smooth. Feels like I'm in a canoe compared to the TRD Sport suspension. Even without much weight in the back over the Dakars they are smooth. I am hoping they don't sag more than an inch or inch and a half with 750 lbs in the back. I like the slight rake and don't want her to squat with the camper on.

 

Alignment turned out well today (eventually). I have read a lot of comments about getting custom specs but they told me if I did that and drove away and it wandered or rode poorly they weren't able to help me. With stock numbers they will keep tweaking until I'm happy so I went with stock specs.

Once the tech figured out how to use his own equipment properly he was able to get all specs dead centre of the stock range. It handles well and tracks dead straight but I notice that steering requires a little more force now to hold a turn. No problem - will get used to it. Probably a good thing. The caster is probably higher than I'm used to pre-lift, and the truck's trying harder to straighten itself out.

Don't pay any attention to the pre-alignment numbers. That's just the mess I left behind after pulling the cam bolts during install. I knew it was going to be way off.

 

Camper installed. Handles way looser than with the stock suspension but that's great. It's likely because it isn't bottomed out on the bumpstops and there's actually room for the suspension to flex. My previous set up had all the downward travel of a go-cart suspension at an amusement park. It's pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. These shocks just soak up all the sharp bumps that I used to feel with the 4600's.

I get a noticeable clunk when I flex the front end (entering an uphill sloped driveway at an angle) and I think it must be my sway bar. The same thing happened with my stock suspension.

Sway bar is tight and properly torqued down. Bushings look good but may be shot. Shouldn't be in a 2 yr old truck. Any thought on this? I thought about removing the sway bar to see if the sound goes away. I'm not to keen on driving around with the camper and no sway bar though.