OME 885 terrible off road ride

I'm still in the 5100/885X fan club after almost 9,000 miles. They are firm, but not so much that they ride rough. Plain and simple, there is nothing that will lift a truck 2-1/2" to 3" and NOT alter the ride somewhat. There are shocks that will give a decent ride over bumps at high speeds....But low speed bumps will ALWAYS feel like a bump....It's just that simple.

If a person doesn't like a truck that rides like a truck, he/she MIGHT want to get a car....

 

Had the 5100/885 combo out wheeling last weekend in some sandy trails. I was able to get the rear end to clunk once, but not the front. I was impressed with the amount of travel and how smooth the ups and downs were over whoops. On a lark i took multiple speed bumps at around 20 mph and they hardly upset the truck. I've never been able to do that with a stock suspension. I'm satisfied.

 

So Im back from doing some trail driving near Mammoth Lakes, (not full off-roading). It definitely does the thud. But It still doesn't bother me enough. I have the travel I wanted. Like others have said, its a truck.
Having said that, I may have steered clear of the OME front strut setup, if I known this before I pulled the trigger. But Im happy with the rear setup. Also I feel like I got what I paid for. When the time comes, I will replace the fronts with FOX or ICON. But that will be a while.

 

Anyone going with 5100s should read this

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-you-are-not-using-all-the-suspension.400276/

 

Ok, I got to do some tinkering on the garage queen. Added 1.25 spidertrax, did the sway bar delete, added a 1/2 inch spacer on top of the 5100\885x and did the diff drop from toytec just to see what it did. Ordered a cbi moab 2.0 and 8k warn winch, thats why I added the 1/2 inch. Removed front mudflaps and had to do some minor fender flare trimming for no rub. Once the bumper gets here I imagine the ride will be better with the added weight.

 

Even the King 2.5's out of box have too little rebound control and they give that hard top out clunk. Which is the issue. Too much spring rate and not enough rebound control. But this is easily solved with a few shims and bleed port screws if you have adjustable shocks

 

Do you know what your valving stack is? Maybe they've made a some changes to their valving spec's

 

So what is a "good" off road ride supposed to feel like?

 

If your passenger isn't uncontrollably giggling while bombing down the trail, then your shocks need tuning

 

This thread popped up in my alerts, so I thought I'd add some thoughts on my experiences.

I've got about 30,000 miles on my 885/5100 combo. I added top plate spacers for the full 3" lift and SPC UCAs for caster adjustment. The ride is pleasant.

The 885s are a little softer than my stock springs were with 5100s at the 1.75" setting. Without spacers, the 885s gave the exact same lift as the preloaded stock coils.

There are 2 things to consider with 5100s. 1) they are a budget shock absorber. For the price, they are a fantastic shock. 2) they have digressive valving. This means you'll feel the soft hits and little bumps, but bigger hits and high speed washboard are really smooth (for the money spent).

Also, having good bump stops that are properly spaced for your setup is crucial to both the performance and longevity of your suspension.

Don't forget that the appropriate tire set to the right pressure for your use plays a HUGE role in performance too.

When you mod your truck, you're building a system. One change will make a difference, but it's the combined effects from many mods that really make a rig function for its intended use.

 

Been reading a lot of this thread & the problems/complaints seem very basic to me.

1. BUMPSTOPS. If you lift your truck and ever off road - I highly recommend getting beefier bumpstops, both front and rear. You’d be surprised at how big of a difference larger and more progressive bump stops can make. Even if you just do a spacer lift you’d benefit from a more comfortable ride with aftermarket bump stops.

2. 5100 SETTINGS. If you put an OME coil on a 5100 shock, it had better be at the lowest/no lift clip setting. Do not put a LIFT COIL on a LIFTED spring perch on a low end 5100 shock, also don’t complain that your light duty OME coil rides poorly after your 200lb steel bumper was installed. It wasn’t designed for that weight. Swap that coil out for a heavier duty coil for your application.

3. Do your math. Make sure you get shocks with the longest extended measurements for your price range & supporting bits. In this case we have seen that the OME shocks are not as long as 5100’s. So... guess which one has more down travel? So many folks put the remote resi Bilstein shocks on the rear but don’t realize that the simple b110 or 5125 Bilstein shocks are actually longer & will provide better flex/droop/articulation. That’s right. OME nitrocharger and even Bilstein RR rear shocks limit your rear travel when compared to the humble 5125.

4. UCA. Aftermarket UCA will ensure the alignment is dialed regardless of lift height and tire size and will also help with articulation, particularly down travel improvements in many cases... factory UCA can actually come into contact with factory coils especially with spacer lifts.

5. SPACERS. The only spacer that should be used on a shock that will allow great and reliable and proper shock performance is a strut TOP spacer and as small of one as you can use. This is not a spacer lift, but rather can help eliminate the Toyota lean that Tacoma’s and 4runners have without adding the negative effects of traditional spacer lifts.

6. TIRES. Higher ply tires/higher load range tires are stiffer. Make sure you know this. Tires make a massive difference on off road and on road feel and stiffness. Always air down to an appropriate level when off road IMO.

 

From what i have seen personally, some of the people complaining of excessing OME topping out clunck have overtightened the center nut on the front strut and squished the top bushing to nothing. If you loosen that nut off to where the bushing is still able to provide dampening (use locktite or locking nut obviously) the clunking noise will improve a lot as the bushing can compress some during topping out the of the strut. I had a 2010 taco with 886 coils, topped out loud with the strut overtightened. Even with an arb bumper had to air down just to drive gravel roads. Switched to 887s, and no topping out noise. Currently on a 2017 with 887s but no ARB bumper, and also no topping out noise. And I shamelessly bomb over speedbump at all kinds of speeds. Back off the nut and see if it improves

 

884s with Bilstein 5100s and 2" add a leaf in the back. No clunk, rides like a dream compared to stock.

 

Just installed 885’s on fresh 5100’s (set to 0 of course) paired with some total chaos UCA. Rides like a dream. (I had a spacer lift before from the previous owner). No complaints. Planted, compliant, not a single clunk or odd noise, even after hitting speed bumps at speed. Rides really really great!

 

What about flex or climbing on rocks?