Limit Between Long Travel and Mid Travel

So in my never ending quest to justify spending another 5k after I barely installed a 4K Icon kit I have a question. I've read the sticky threads and have also owned barely streetable vehicles so let's skip that part of the discussion.

With that said I currently have an Icon stage 5 kit on my 2016 Tacoma running 35's. I like the kit but have always dreamed of a super fast desert truck (keep reading). I don't ever have plans to link the rear, extend the rear shocks, etc. the rear I plan on nothing more than the current spring over dakars, hydraulic bumps, and Icon 2.5 shocks; which I might eventually upgrade to the adjustable compression.

I found a few videos that suit the needs of what I'm looking for. I'm sure I could take my current wheel travel and factor in the size bumps I'll be hitting, but let's talk real world.

Where is the point that a mid travel kit run outs and a long travel kit starts. I feel like I'm right on the edge but I'm not sure if I will see a huge increase with long travel. I also do a lot of rock crawling and overlanding with my truck.

Minus the big jump about halfway through
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qfD9R1pWGCw

This one is pretty much smooth dirt roads. Don't bother watching the whole thing
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2OfqJIHsb_Y

Skip to about 5:30 this is about the limit of rough roads I ever see
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2CSSlGKeFu0

What do you think?

 

Without doing the rear suspension you won't gain anything more than a better parked stance by just doing long travel In the front. The rear of these trucks is the weak link, not the front. You'd get more performance gain from doing the rear then the front. Unless you're looking for the look.

 

You can get something like a DMZ spring under with some 12 or 14" double bypasses (Icon if you must) and keep them in the wheel well, and with the Icon double shock thingy in the front you'd probably get what you're looking for. Maybe not quite as good as the videos, but you'll still be able to tear it up in the desert.

 

This is a weird concept to me. Over in the Ford world, my mid travel kit on my Ranger got as much travel as my long travel kit does on my Tacoma. That being said, I can haul balls way better in my Tacoma than my Ranger ever could. I drove my Ranger through the same shit as my Tacoma has been through, but the speed between the two was drastically different.

In my opinion, it's the shocks that are the big difference. If you can get a 3.0" shock under the bed and tune it well, you'll be surprised where your truck can take you. My Ranger had a dinky 2.0 up front with a reservoir and it overheated and faded after like 15 minutes of fun. That shit sucked ass.

 

Thats because 2.0 shocks don't belong on LT trucks

 

And if I did the work to put a 2.5 in there, it's still a mid travel kit with as much travel as the "long travel" kits for toyotas.

 

What mid travel kit are you talking about?

Coot

 

The other thing is this - let's say that last tuck you linked (linked rear end race truck) pulls 16" up front and 24" in the rear.

If you built a 2nd gen Tacoma on it's stock frame / body with 16" front / 24" rear - you still couldn't push it like you can that race truck. It's just not built to survive that. You're going to break things - things not even remotely rated to suspension.

I see a lot of younger dudes on this website try to make a race truck but still daily driver out a Tacoma without actually doing race truck things (caging it front to rear, ditching everything that's not essential). I used to be one of those dudes... Just results in disappointment.

If you want to huck it, buy a first gen, strip a thousand pounds worth of shit off it, and break out the welder. There's a reason that "luxury prerunners" that perform like a race truck but have the amenities of a stock truck cost $100,000+.

 

There are only two companies who make (made) mid travel kits for rangers and they both pull the same travel numbers. I had one on my old ranger, and worked for the company which made the other.

 

That is exactly what i figured out and now have a toyota pickup that is just fun

 

That's beautiful! One day I'll have the skills to build/maintain one...

 

I'm guessing these are stock length shocks in the rear? If you want a significant improvement in the high speed capabilities of you truck, get extended length shocks like 12" and an upgraded shock hoop or mount plus an extended brake line and shackles, it will do wonders! At least max out the current suspension geometry if you don't want links or SUA..

I know this is a first gen pic, but something like this will get you a few more inches of travel and make a world of difference.

 

Most people don't prefer extended shackles on 2nd gens as it puts the springs in negative arch earlier.

 

I was going to do that if I kept building my second gen. I just wanted to run through bumps on pretty well established trails and slow down for big whoops, but have enough up travel to mob when the space / road allowed for it. I was going to work on valving and trying to get the rear to float over stuff as well as possible. I wasn't going to try to go and hit whoops knowing that I would be bucking the rear all over the place. That wasn't the point of my build for that truck and that's why I ended up going with a first gen 4x4 because I am more interested in getting to places I want to explore in a good amount of time rather than bash and jump my truck which would be fun if I had unlimited funds and time. My main thing for the truck is not cutting up the bed since I sleep in there when I camp and keeping water and dust out is bad enough without holes in the bed - I thought of ways to do it, but in the end it was always the easiest idea to just keep the bed in one piece.

Just know that it won't keep up with the max a 13-14" travel front kit can do, but for me that was going to be acceptable for my plans for the truck. You will save money that way and be able to add hydro bumps and bypass shocks if you're interested in being able to tune the rear more easily. I would definitely consider re-doing the shock setup though. No much fab work required if you go with the BAMF kit or TC hoops...

 

Tc Sua, king 2.5x10 double bypasses, and hydro bumps. Fits pretty easy and is pretty plush for the limited travel. 6" of bump - 6" of droop. If I was gonna run mid travel numbers up front and wasn't gonna carry a ton of weight in the rear this would be my setup.

 

@glorifiedwelder that is exactly what I would have done. Looks super clean!

 

The problem with soa is the lack of bump travel. All the droop in the world won't help you when hit the first bump.

 

Tc offers a heavier duty pack, but I've never ridden in a truck running that pack.

 

I was told by them (TC) that I'd want to go with the heavier duty pack only because I had a camper shell and ~300 lbs of gear including the shell making my total weight 3900 lbs in my reg cab when I hit the trails for a camping trip. You might want to hit up deaver directly and ask what they say as well.

 

If you want a solid bolt on SUA rear end, TC is the way to go. How much extra weight are you carrying?