10" or 12" shocks cons/pros?

So I called deaver directly today. From the looks of it they don’t really make sua that would support weight over 600 lbs. so something is way off I’m calling the shop to clarify this crap. Thank you all that pointed in the right direction. Next question would be if sua is out how do we work around heavier weight and get better up travel numbers ? What options should one start looking at ?

 

linking your truck. lol. Again, SUA is ideally not intended for weight.

 

But wait... I thought “custom parts!?”

You don’t. You stick with SOA, have a custom built leaf pack for your desired weight/ride height, and do a relocation with a 12 or 14” smooth body shock with adjusters like EVERYONE is doing right now.

 

Seems simple enough. So besically with the set up you’re talking about it’s not much performance gain except for a bit more travel and lift from stock :/ any point to even go with hydraulic bumps at this point ?

From the looks of it I’m going to be blowinf up someone’s (specifically shop that quoted this job) phone tomorrow with lots of questions sounds like. Wtf. Guy at deaver was like if I make a leaf under pack that supports 800-1000 lbs it will be dragging on the ground maybe I missed something but this does not add up at this point and if I’m spending that sort of money I certainly not in a position to keep throwing more bags of cash getting it to work

 

It sucks not knowing who to trust since there's so many bullshitters in shops and on the internet. Good on you for following through with what I recommended and calling Deaver. You got the same response that I read someone else got. I wish I could remember where it was to reference it but can't for the life of me remember.

Also I know it can be time consuming to check the folks who are giving you advice. You've actually gotten advice from several guys who have been around for a long time and have a damn good idea what they are talking about. @glorifiedwelder does suspension installs as a side hustle and @desertjunkie760, is starting to do it too. When @glorifiedwelder was giving you advice I don't think he knew you had a heavy ass truck, I'd bet my pay check he would have told you SUA isn't a good option for heavy ass trucks. I can't speak for some of the others but they all sound like they have a clue too. Myself, I've done a lot of research on here over the years, have dumped gag inducing amount of money in my truck and do the work myself installing and fixing broken shit, when it comes to "does everything, sucks at everything trucks" I've got a bit of experience.

I wish when I was starting out with truck mods someone would have told me to follow folks who do what I intend on doing and see how they set up their trucks and live in the same geographic region. I specifically mention geographic region since different areas have different areas to offroad nearby and often folks trucks will reflect that. Also to pay attention to how hard they are on their trucks, how often they use them, and if they installed the parts themselves. There are a lot of clowns on Instagram that try to put on a good show, but in reality they paid someone to put on their parts, use their trucks 2 times a year, and have no idea how any of their parts work, and don't know how to fix shit if they break something. If you want to make good choices you'll have to figure out who the fakers and wannabes are and not put any stock in what they say. I had to figure this out on my own, sometimes looking like an asshat along the way.

 

No doubt. I think what really led me to believe it's possible is several factors. first of all was a conversation with Total Chaos owner. Guy has a fairly heavy set up with go fast running SUA and when they say it's possible I was like hm... ok well these guys know their stuff obviously. I will be calling the owner tomorrow and asking point blank how much wait and what sort of leaf pack he has there and how it's doing. Secondly I almost bought a truck that has a pretty similar stuff I was shooting for with give or take 200 lbs difference maybe I even test drove it and it seemed just fine, obviously I didn't have a chance to drive it off road or really push but there weren't anything that jumped at me saying this is wrong set up, here is a link: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/at-overland-habitat.543964/
before he sold the habitat (exact same thing I have)
Thirdly the shop that I'm working with knows I have a heavy-ish set up, again not sure if 1k lbs on the rear is classified as heavy but I assume it is. And when we were talking about different options it sounded like once again SUA was the way to go...
All that said I was like g this seems like it actually can work lol truth be told somewhere I'm still hoping that it still might but if Deaver says 500 lbs is all you get than hell I might be reshaping those packs every 500 miles

You know I don't mind working on my own stuff and fixing things here and there but at some point I figured some things should be left out to the "experts" you want to trust people especially when you're spending a ton of money and saying this is what I have make the best out of it. Its pretty sad that you have to literally question decisions and doubt someone expertise. If I was on the other end Id be annoyed and fee disrespected if someone did it to me and questioned my expert opinion. Id probably just tell them to go somewhere else. At the same time if they wanted something out of me that I simply know is not achievable I would flat out tell that to their face.
I am just a bit ocd sometimesI do like to really take care of my equipment and not abuse it. I'd use it but never push it to its limit, frankly after almost rolling my jeep off the cliff hanger I'm not sure if I want to push my equipment anymore. I also believe in having more than one may need be it the suspension armor/recovery etc rather than constantly braking something or having something that is somewhat reliable and will get you home. I did talk to glorified welder almost booked a job with him but it didn't work out he was too busy at the time and seemed like he wasn't all that interested in the job or the $. I'm pretty sure i've explained what my set up was and I believe he even sent me a photo of a job he did for a buddy of his with a camper and spring under conversion though but it's been a while so don't quote me on that at this point there are just way too many opinions in the pot

btw nice photos! I think my rock crawling days are behind me though. Looks like moab or Utah area? Also that road with sun set and aspenlooks like sierras or rockies ?

 

What are we considering “heavy loads?” Trucks with camping setups, GFC or similar, with SUA have been mentioned but those setups only weigh in at 350ish lbs which is not a ton of extra weight.

I understand once you add camper with steel rear bumper, swingout, spare 35, fridge, batteries, etc can really add up in weight to exceed SUA limits but are all of the trucks exemplified setup like this? If you’re just running a GFC and rear bumper with minimal additions you could theoretically stay under SUA limits, no?

 

DUDE listen, you are questioning the expert opinion that is given to you. I know the owner Jeff from Deaver personally and he definitely knows what he is talking about. Deaver has been open for many years helping many different companies out with getting specific specifications toward their application. There is a reason why TC, Archive Garage, Camburg, DMZ, etc uses Deaver. Because they make quality products that work and PERFORM AMAZING. These guys on TW are telling you no that you can't take your kitchen sink along with all your other camping gear to and throw it on an SUA it is not what an SUA is designed for. I will save you some time and tell you that Pat’s white Tacoma from Total Chaos is running a Deaver U539/540. Only reason as to why I know this is because I uses my resources of their website where they have all their builds on what they have done. https://www.chaosfab.com/2016-Toyota-Tacoma-Double-Cab-Long-Bed-4WD

 

Do it for the mother f*cking gram

 

I don't know man not sure that is really possible to stay under SUI limits if they are at 500-600 lbs. A bone dry/bare min set up will be right at or over it. Simple math an average steel bumper is about 200-250 lbs with a swing out arm, a spare another 85-90 lbs, most campers 350lbs give or take. That right there is already over the 500 lbs that Deaver says they usually cap off at. Mind you this is a bone dry with just the bare bones no fridge no spare fuel cans, no water, no interior storage nothing else.... throw your recovery gear some food a cooler and fire wood you just added another 100 lbs or so. A fridge with slider that's easily another 80 lbs. I crunched my numbers a bit and I was trying to go as light as I could with as little as I needed and I'm right under 1000 lbs empty. On a hind side I could have gone with alu bumper but 100 lbs wouldn't' have saved the day at this point anyway lol. Fun conversations fellas

 

That’s actually not the pack pat is running. He’s running a prototype for what became the u539/540 pack. It’s actually a little stiffer with more carrying capacity than what the current u539/u540 pack is. It’s over sprung for his weight, but I still doubt it’s a 1000lb pack

 

My apologies, I thought it was the same pack

 

Easy there Sea-biscuit. I'm not, nor have I been, in disagreeance with you. Not sure why you quoted my post here. I'm just throwing ideas out for the sake of the conversation.

My main point being that the vehicles being referenced may have these setups but lack the practicality. I'm sure there are trucks that are setup in this very configuration but the question is how well do they preform. I have met Pat on numerous occasions and spent many a time with him over the phone but I wouldn't say we are on a first name basis and I surely don't have his personal number if you get what I'm saying. Additionally, I've never wheeled with him so for all I know his white 3rd gen is purely for display, marketing, videos and he wheels a clapped out pre-gen solid axle and drives a Lambo to work.

 

This the b-100s add quite a bit compared to the ome shocks. I was gonna go this route with some HD hangers. But will be having a shock relocate kit and 12in smoothies w/ hangers also swapping HD for regular dakars.
Sick and tired of 3 wheel action on a curb.

 

Do yourself a favor and avoid the ome leaf springs. Go with a u402 pack and you can thank me later.

 

Already been rocking the ome for over a year and swapping with another member. I’d go that route but broke as a joke. I will be putting new inserts and bushings to alleviate the squeaks.

 

You will be VERY pleased with the b110. They are SO MUCH longer than 90% of the other shocks out there. I rarely ever 3-wheel. It’s an absolutely killer combo and doesn’t break the bank. Not even my front tires were lifting in the pics below.

 

And also for reference. OME nitrocharger shocks AND bp51 shocks are all VERY short. OME specifically designed them to limit travel before any tugging on brake lines occurred so that any customer could install the shocks/coilovers and not need worry about other supporting modifications (like brake line extensions). You want travel? Look at this shock length thread I made.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2nd-gen-rear-shock-options-with-lengths.584583/

 

Notate the collapsed length on the longer shocks and remember that not everything has to do with down travel.

With a longer stroke shock comes a longer shock body that may limit up travel.