Suspension input

Looking at replacing all four corners. It is my daily work/ hunting pickup but my only truck. Looking for a smooth plush suspension setup mostly for rough offroad travel. I am budget minded but am contemplating a few options. The truck is stock height with 32x11.5-15 Tires. For the rear I am looking at Rancho 9000xl, eibach, icon, toytech or 5100 bilstein. On the front, I'm looking a leveling strut, Rancho readylift, eibach, N3, or bilstein. Anyone have any experience on these products?

 

Welcome to TW Kyle

 

Welcome Kyle;

this is a topic that is freshly created each and every day so please bare with some of the responses.

The most common, budget minded, yet great bang for the buck setup is Bilstein 5100's all around.

Keep in mind, the valving will be slightly stiffer, which yields better off-road control. I say this because you stated you want "plush suspension".

Better suspension options exist, but that just depends on how far you wish to stretch your wallet.

One thing you could always do is let a little bit of air out your tires; this will soften things up quite a bit.

 

As mentioned Bilstein 5100s are the go to around here. Worth looking at the OME 881 or 883 (depending on weight of the truck) springs up front vs a spacer. You can also look at OME Nitrochargers in the rear with a Dakar pack or an add a leaf depending on the condition of your current leaf springs.

Link to get an idea of how it would look etc. -

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/old-man-emu-setups-on-1st-gen.141055/

 

Well I've got shocks and struts ordered. I got the fox 2.0 rear shock, they have over 7"of shock travel and compatible with 0 to 3" of lift. Factory shock is only 4.5". Up front I ordered the eibach strut and spring package with adjustable height for leveling. Once they're on I'll provide some feedback.

 

Shocks; our trucks don't use struts.

Are you upgrading your rear springs at all? You may want to compare your collapsed shock length with that of what your truck requires while on the bumpstops. Being that your rears are meant for a lifted vehicle means that naturally, they'll have both a longer collapsed and extended length.

With that being said, Fox 2.0 are a good deal stiffer than even the Bilstein 5100s I mentioned earlier so be mindful of that.

 

Just did mine and I’m very happy with OME ride and all I did was the add a leaf in the rear.Truck rides a lot taller and a lot smoother.I think it’s hard to beat the OME kit.I called ToyTech and told them what I had and they were very helpful in helping me decide what to order.Get Upper Control Arms and get extended brake lines.These SPCs have my truck aligned very nicely and I didn’t get extended brake lines and had to zip tie my lines to my control arms until I get extended lines so everything fits with 10mm bolts instead of black ties

 

I’m looking to do the full OME kit soon here as well. On Wheelers there’s a few options for the extended brake lines where there can be 1,2, or 3 kit lines. How many do I need? Or will that depend on something else?

 

I know a lot of the general tacoma world population rags on new guys for posting up suspension threads, but I always go through and read them. I’m always learning something new. It was very overwhelming when I was trying to figure out what to get for my first gen, having never lifted a vehicle. I think I did alright, but given what I know now, I probably would have bit the bullet and done Kings.

 

You just need a small amount of slack more on your front brakes

 

It happens, but it needs to be done sometimes because until we take our vehicles out enough times and put it through its paces, we won't know what will benefit us the most.

I went straight to Fox 2.5 only a few months of ownership just to buy King 2.5 6-8 months later

 

Welcome @Kylestaco! My truck is also my daily driver. I have the full OME suspension lift kit with 883 front coils (I have an ARB bumper) Nitrocharger shocks, Dakar leaf springs, AAL, and SPC UCA installed.

I'm not a fan of the stock rear leaf springs/front coils and wasn't happy about the worn out shocks or the poor handling & performance. I went all out on the suspension upgrades after owning my truck for 20 years.

 

this listen to him

 

Up front with the eibach I am not using stock coils. I ordered the lighter eibach 600lb coils. I dont have anything mounted up front. As for the rear, I ordered fox, received the package today from autoanything and there was only one shock in the box. So after I get this straightened out I'm also returning them. I kind of jumped the gun on purchasing them, and after researching some more. They're not what I'm looking for. But not I'm looking toward the rancho rs9000xl adjustable. I dont wheel the truck, it's my work pickup and hunting rig. But my focus is a smooth ride for my hunting grounds. Central oregon area around christmas valley. Lava rock and dirt with some ridiculous washboard gravel roads mixed in there. I haven't seen much on nice riding leads. Anyone have experience there?

 

i used to have the rs9000xl adjustable in the rear. It was on a low setting and definitely felt plush. If that’s what you’re going for and aren’t going to wheel too hard, id go with these in the back and rancho quicklift adjustable coilovers up front and set all four to a low setting. Inexpensive too.

 

Well lots of options out there for sure. IMHO it sounds like the OME suspension would fit your needs/desires.
My rig second day out on Schafer canyon rd, Canyonlands:

and after the first stage of my upgrade:


I can’t comment on the Nitrocharger shocks as I went with Bilstein 5100 and OME 883- ARB bumper and winch in the future-up front then added them on the rear a year later during the second stage of the suspension upgrade. I carry a fair bit of weight and drive a lot on gravel roads, so I went with the OME Dakar exp leaf pack with the AAL, and greaseable rear shackles:

Added the extended rear brake line while getting the rear wheel cylinders replaced. Then found the old Ranchos (no idea what model very rusted) to be limited-upper-out and went with the 5125s aft:



I personally don’t have any experience with the Ranchos, but I think you will like how the OME springs ride, maybe the adjustable Ranchos would make a good combo.

How the truck looks now with about 300# on board- after about 3-4 yrs with this suspension configuration:

 

I decided with bilstean 4600's at all corners. Good, simple, and really improved the ride quality. I just kept my front springs and had a shop compress them. This is what I would recommend if you wanna keep stock height without breaking the piggy bank

 

Whatever you choose, washboard is a hard one to tackle. I've heard that a digressive shock like the Icon's will perform better here. But whatever you choose, be sure to air down your tires a bit and let the sidewall help take the edge off sharp impacts

 

I had a set of ome nitro charger sport shocks with stock springs as my first suspension upgrade about 6 years ago. Those shocks were awesome! Made hauling ass down dirt roads feel like nothing. I have 5100’s now and the ride is more stiff, but I also have 650# springs in the front for my bull bar/winch and Allpro expedition springs in the rear.

 

how did the rear shocks go on easy? work out