Depo Racing +2 Long travel kit Honest Review

Hello TW, i wanted to start a thread sharing my initial impressions of the Depo racing +2 LT kit. There is not any reviews currently on this kit but there are ppl running it and the ppl i asked about it to before i bought it had nothing but good things to say.

I searched these forums after users made claims it was junk or would break after the first rock it hit or wouldn't hold up. These where ppl that had never run or seen the kit in person. I could not find a single occurrence where a kit similar to this one (allpro) broke. I will say this kit is not for the folks who wanna go fast. There are no bypass mounts and its only +2 in length. I would target this kit more to those that want to run tighter trails and crawl. Which is one reason i bought it. It appeared to be a good budget option and for less than half the price of the allpro kit it was worth a shot since most all other kits are priced fairly close to the allpro one.

I purchased this kit from another user on this forum who had made some improvement that myself was going to make if i purchased the kit directly from depo. This was due to the fact i was going to use it a little harder and didnt know the quality of the uni balls in it. Others had told me they had been running the ones that came in the Kit and they were fine. This way i will be able to change uniballs regularly through DK. Not sure if Depo has replacements or not but im sure they would.

The LCA cup was gusseted


The upper UCA was gusseted


The bushings where changed to DK and Uni balls to FK 1inch from Dk required boring out the uniball cup .005


Heres everything layed out when it showed up.








Upon first inspection everything seemed well made and solid. Arms where heavy and welds look good but not the prettiest Ive ever seen.

I used the DK spec fox coil overs and Currie (allpro) long travel axle shafts. Also the crown extended brake lines from DK.


Heres everything installed.








The initial run was good got me the extra flex i was looking for but found i needed to trim down my bumps a little more.

This past Labor day weekend i was able to really test the suspension how i wanted to. I Ran a pretty tuff trail in very sloppy conditions harder than i normally do to really test the toughness this kit claims.




The whole trail was rough but here are a few extremely hard hit that i got on the control arms. Broke my RCI skid and bent my MC frame brace

https://youtu.be/Q3z-Au_402w





https://youtu.be/imYvfOdT3zg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T06zKg2BTg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj7vfsbrIjY

The lca had 0 dents and just had some of powder coat missing. I can say these arms are def chromoly like they claim and can take a hit as they took many all day long.

My takeaways from this ride are that:

1. This kit works as advertised
2. The structural integrity did not fail after many large hits and skids on the arms.
3. Kit increased wheel travel by 3.5 inches on my personal setup.

I will continue to update this thread as i use the kit to test the longevity of the kit.

Again i understand this kit might not be for everyone but i do think its a good budget option that works as advertised after the first couple of outings. Seems to be a good budget option for ppl wanting to get into LT without spending a ton of $$$ after i sold my mid travel suspension i was only in this complete LT setup for 2k.

Thanks,

Brian

 

Good shot of the ground clearance of the kit. I measured just over 11.5 inches from lowest part on LCA. Im on 315 75 16.

 

The upside of stealing someone else's design is you benefit from their R&D, so there's a good chance the geometry of this kit will work if they coped All Pro properly. Stay away from the high speed stuff and at worst you'll likely have a break down on the trail.

Not sure I'd move my family around on the highway in this though.

 

I can say that its well made from a structural stand point as having it and feeling it in my hands. . As far as the copying is concerned im not really concerned about that as long as it works for my application. I know theres a large group of ppl on here that gets in their feels and gets upset with that type stuff so im going to leave that topic alone. This simply was a thread to show my findings so it could be beneficial to the next person. Like i said before ive run this hard already with no failures and it about as hard as i can on the driver LCA and all it did was knock paint off. I don't know about fast stuff since i live in the south where all that is a foreign language. Ill probably never be going over 5-10mph with this offroad since my truck stays in 4lo. Id never pay what all pro is asking since there are kits that are overbuilt that are in a similar price range. As far as moving ppl around in it im comfortable with it after seeing the kit in person. I wouldn't beilve everything you hear or see online TBH. Thats just my opinion so you can make your own.

 

I'm not slagging the product and I appreciate your efforts to share, I think it's an ok product given it's used appropriately.

I disagree with your feeling it and seeing it approach to determining quality though. You can't see and feel quality metal, but more importantly, a welds quality isn't solely told by it's appearance, especially once coated. Take for example all those cool colors you see when folks tig without backup gas, those would fail inspection in my line of work for contamination purposes.

 

Thank you, I agree that you cant feel the quality to a point but there's not really a way to determine the quality until its used and i feel with the stress Ive already put on it and the product in my hands it feel and performed solid. Like i said i will continue to update this thread as i use the product and give honest feed back. If it fails i will share that as well. But as of now it feels and compares to some other arms Ive seen and felt in real life (DK TC etc)


My uncle owes a machine shop where they do metal hardness testing all day long. I'm thinking about taking the arms over there to get some numbers from that on a hardness test. .

 

Just got back from a 500 mile road trip. Kit road great on road and on the forest back roads road better than I thought would going about 20-35mph down washboard roads. Met a guy this weekend who adapted the kit to his 4Runner and said he absolutely pushed this kit on depo Uni and he’s jumped it and so far so good.

 

Makes me want to sell of my suspensions I've got gathered up and starting piecing together front LT

 

A really have nothing bad to say about the kit for my intended uses. I’m just trying to give honest feedback as I use it. For the price it can’t be beat in my opinion. But longevity has yet to be seen but I can tell by holding it it feels very solid

 

My use would just be forest roads and 2 tracks, nothing crazy

 

It honestly would be perfect for that.

 

Here’s 4Runner insta lol.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Chfys6DJsm8/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

 

Update:

Another trip in the books. Went to windrock park in TN. Did some pretty moderate wheeling (need driveshaft fixed and don't have spare +2 cv for anything crazy yet) Overall i was extremely happy with the way the truck road off road this weekend. Had a good bit of LCA hits that just chipped paint. So far so good. I will say my PC on one UCA arm is chipping already but not a big deal to me. Ill just paint over it. I put about another 700 miles on the kit and its going strong. So far ive put about 1500 miles on kit and its holding up just fine. About 100-150 being off road use. Here a pic and some vid of it in use. Unlike most ppl on TW i wont say something without context or proof to show for it.








https://youtu.be/DPtTkJ-Zr6w
https://youtu.be/9ql-IM7mNq8
https://youtu.be/89aCPnNhBoM

 

Just updating this thread. Put about 4k ish miles on the kit now and still running great. Only annoying thing is the squeaky bushings but that's to be expected with any kit that uses poly urethane bushings. Still extemely impress with this kit for the money and is a great economical option for overland/ camping vehicle or moderate trail riding.

 

Just returned from another 1k mile trip on the Depo kit. Still functioning perfectly. Been on for about 5k miles of use now and i can say its performed just like they claim it does. Ive been happy with this budget kit. Again i live in the southeast where this thing sees mud and dirt and stays in 4lo so i don't know about high speed off road abuse. I can say Ive seen this kit jumped before on a 4runner multiple times and its held up on that guys rig. All in All complete kit with Shocks and axles cost me after selling my mid travel stuff around 2k which any other kit on the market going to be at least double that price. I know i know cry once buy once but ive seen nothing so far to make me regret my purchase for my intended use. Hope this helps someone.

 

you have convinced me these arms are good for the money. being in canada ive done out the cost after shipping and import fees these arms are almost a 1/4 the cost of other kits. i am happy to add my own gussets and change out uniballs at this price.

 

yeah I think they are a good value. Well made in my opinion. Looks to be robo welded but hasn’t broke on my truck so seems to be strong. After it’s all said and done I’m glad I went this route and I’m happy with how it turned out, plus if I ever do have issu s I isn’t like I’m a ton of money into the kit I could just buy a new kit since I already have the axles and extensions etc.

 

awesome reviews with videos.

what size tire are you running. looking at 37s and like all kits, it says needs over fenders, but i have trouble believing you need over fenders.

 

Hey man thanks! Just trying to be transparent with ppl and cut through the bs of the anti Chinese stuff crowd. I'm running 35's. I def have good wheel poke but i don't really care. I cut 2.25 inches out of my fender and took the flares off. 37's just going to require more cutting. If your in a state that requires wheels not poke out from vehicle youll probably need fenders with 37's.

 

Any 3rd gens running this kit?