OME BP-51

Any input or experience with this kit? Looking at purchasing

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ome-bp-51-install-report-and-height-adjustment.476085/unread

 

Thanks! I literally created the thread and didn't even pay attention to the trending post

 

My thoughts on the kit (albeit my experience is with the 4Runner kit and not the Tacoma kit). It's a quality kit and you could do worse. For the money though, I would buy a King/ADS/Fox kit with some quality rear springs (I use the Dakar rear springs). I was thoroughly impressed with my BP-51 kit on my 4Runner up until I installed my Kings on my Tacoma. Now I wish I has done Kings on my 4Runner as well.

 

Hmm, this is good to know.

 

So I'll add a couple things (pros and cons):

Pros:
- I live in Utah where they use slat/brine on the roads, I'm told the BP-15 shocks will do good in my area, better than stock Fox/ADS/Kings for corrosion resistance (I've only had the BP-51s since June and the Kings since November so I can't really speak to long term results)
- The remote reservoir brackets were nicer than the Kings (can't speak to the ADS of Fox brackets) but Kings are just basic sheet metal brackets and the reservoir gets clamped in place with some heavy duty hose clamps (it's more than sufficient, but the BP-51 brackets are machined brackets.
- Compression and rebound easily adjustable

Cons:
- I've got about 1000 miles on my BP-51 kit and it appears I may have a leaky fitting on one of my rear shocks. (This seems to be a common problem)
- I've got a pretty good clunk in the front of my 4Runner, I've double checked all bolts to make sure things are tight. I'm replacing swaybar bushing and links today hoping it's them but I fear it may be the shocks that are clunking. (early BP-51s had a clunk that OME corrected, my shocks were shipped from ARB in June so they should be the "fixed' version)
- The nice machined reservoir brackets I mentioned above are a total pain in the ass to bolt the reservoirs in to.
- The ride from my "stock" (no special tuning on them) Kings is much nicer than the ride on my BP-51 even with being able to adjust both compression and rebound.

 

How old are they? I heard there was some clunking issue when they were first on the market a couple years ago but that was supposed to have been fixed.


The adjust ability is what drew me to them, well plus I've had great luck with ARB in the past. But you say the Kings ride better? I've got a camper shell and RTT so I am constantly adding subtracting weight, that's why I thought the ability to adjust on the fly would be better.....

 

I editted the post to add the age apparently as you were replying . They have ~1000 miles on them, I bought them in June and the shop I bought them from moves a ton of ARB product so they didn't have them in stock and had to bring them in from ARB at that time so they should be the newest version of them.

I did get the adjustable Kings for similar reasons you mentioned. The thing to consider, especially in the rear but applies to the front as well, is the spring you use is influenced by the weight more than the valving. So being able to adjust the rebound (that's what the adjustable Kings, Fox and ADS are missing) isn't going to make a big difference when you add weigh, getting the right spring with be a better solution. You could also look at something like air bags, timbrens, or something like that to help keep your heavier loads level. The shock will only help control things which you can do with the compression on the adjustable shocks. Fox even has their DSC shocks so you can adjust the high and low speed compression for offroad vs highway kind of stuff.

 

You know, I've been thinking about my truck suspension like I think about my mountain bike suspension, changing compression and rebound with changes in rider/gear weight is super important, but that's not really a fair comparison as the bike is using and air spring to support the weight vs the coil/leaf spring of the truck. So the adjustable Kings you can adjust the compression or the rebound? I thought it was rebound.

I'm running heavy Dakars so not sure I'll need air bags right now unless I really load down the bed.

 

I'm only aware of the BP-51 that have a rebound adjustment. All the others that are adjustable are for compression.