3rd Gen TRD Pro Suspension Experience - Why I am upgrading!

Hello everyone, I just wanted to post about my experience with the premium Fox suspension sold with the TRD Pros, and give some insight to those looking to buy the Pro. This is my first truck and my first off-road rig, so I'm sure many of you may consider this a no-brainer, this post is not for you .

tl;dr - In my opinion the Pro suspension is totally capable of hitting 90-95% of the trails out there. If you want a truck that is super capable with 0 mods, the short wheelbase and suspension of the TRD Pro is really awesome, and I have been super happy with it. I am upgrading because I bought the truck for overlanding and truck camping, and when the truck is fully loaded, the suspension in the back is incredibly squatty. The truck was not made to haul that much weight, and it was tuned from the factory "stock", meaning there is nothing in the bed. So it won't work for me!

I have had the truck for about 15 months now and have put about 22k miles on it. I bought the truck in San Diego, and toyed around a lot in Anza-Borrego and also made a few trips to Joshua Tree (there is a cool 4x4 back road out there). I moved to Denver last year, and have done a few runs in the mountains as well, and the truck's capabilities surprised me as well as some of the other people I was on the trail with.

Here are some photos of me in SoCal:





You can see here there is a nice amount of suspension travel, really sets you up for some good traction (and good pictures). To answer your questions, yes, the first thing I did with this truck was take it off roading! That's why I bought it!

Here are some photos from some of my Denver trips:





As I hope most people can see, the truck is super capable. I have never had rock sliders, or anything other than the stock front skid plate, and at most I've only ever bumped my skid plate a few times on some of those rocks. As some of you noticed, I did put mud tires on the truck vs the factory all terrains. These tires are 265/75-16 which is about 1" taller than the stock 265/70-16 tires. This will give about 1/2" more clearance than stock (not much). I would have went with stock size MTs but this was the smallest size Toyo MT they make.

Why am I upgrading?

This can best be explained by looking at these two pictures:



The top photo is the truck with nothing in the bed, only the weight of the canopy on top. The bottom photo is from my recent overland trip with the bed fully loaded. I have a drawer system, fridge, canopy, roof top tent, bike carrier, beer cooler, etc.. The squat is just too much, and makes the truck look and drive like crap. My hitch and bike carrier scraped like crazy and I bottomed the suspension out a lot.

This issue could be solved a number of different ways, such as just a leaf pack in the rear, or airbags in the rear. I, however, would like the vehicle to be more capable than it already is. More ground clearance, better approach/departure angles, and bigger tires. I am going to be going with the OME BP-51 setup, with 2 extra leafs in the back. Also going to go with the 4Runner TRD Pro 17" wheels, and probably 33" Nitto ATs. I think this will give the truck a much better look, as well as being more capable.

Would I still buy the TRD Pro?

Yes. The suspension isn't the only thing you get with the pro. The heated leather seats are standard, as is premium audio, lane departure warning, active cruise control (2018+), parking sensors, red stitching, sweet shifter knob, go pro mount on the windshield, grille, hood, and those super sweet driver/passenger decals /s. I will also be selling the Pro suspension and 16" TRD Pro wheels with Toyo MTs (again 22k miles) for anyone who is interested. I just need to hit 50 posts before I can post them here, so this will offset the cost of my suspension upgrade.

 

Similar issue with my tundra once I added the habitat and gear. I swapped the rear leafs to icon RXT and I’ve been golden since. It put me back to factory ride height and made an immediately noticeable difference.

The pro suspension is awesome. I don’t plan on replacing that anytime soon.

 

Great looking pics! Good luck with your suspension upgrades.

 

Yes it is, I hope I didn't undersell it for anyone. Great truck and great suspension. I've been super happy until this last trip I made. It was the first trip with everything in the truck.

 

Nice review, Thanks! I’m actually looking to swap out my OR suspension with the pro. I do haul stuff sometimes but am usually running an empty bed.

 

I'll be selling My upgrades will be done August 12th.. Look for a post in the for sale after that.

 

I just might (if the price is right)

 

Sounds pretty crappy. I’ll dispose of it for you once you get the new stuff

 

Thats awesome! How are you liking it? Ever go out with Rising Sun 4x4? Thats the group I usually go out with here. I was mildly active with Tierra Del Sol in San Diego. Its great to get with a group of people.

I'll be sure to post a follow up with the lift kit fully installed, settings, and weight in the back as well.

 

Great write-up, glad to hear and see what they are capable of out of the box. My plan is to swap out the OR suspension with the Pro Fox shocks as after hitting some trails I don't need anything more than the height the OR suspension provides. The Fox shocks will suffice along with some 265x70x17 A/T tires for my needs.

 

This ^

Replace the leaf pack. Keep the suspension.

Or whoever buys it. Replace the leaf pack. Run the suspension.

 

Great suggestion

 

Yeah I'm really happy I got a decent amount of life out of them. I got to experience what the truck was capable of and had a lot of time to think about whether I wanted to replace them or not.

 

I’d be interested in the suspension.

 

I will tag you when I make the post. Thanks for the interest

 

Great write up. I am considering upgrading my pro’s suspension as I have added weight and don’t like the squatted look in the rear and I have a front bumper/winch ordered. The only hesitation is, how’s the ride quality? As I do 90% hwy driving and only Offroad/overland maybe once a month. How do you like aftermarket suspension and how does it compare to the pro’s suspension.

 

@Jonbark0404 Thank you very much. Since I’ve made this post I have actually traded trucks to a 2020 TRD Off Road, so I can give you a few comparisons between Pro and Off Road, and between Pro and the OME BP-51 setup I have.

For starts though, the reason I didn’t just upgrade the Pro suspension is because I actually decided #1 that I wanted a long bed and #2 I didn’t want to rip the fox suspension out of the pro and potentially devalue the truck. You will never get your money back for suspension when selling the truck, so I decided a new truck was better for me. If you know for sure the short bed is the one for you then no worries, upgrade away.

So my experience between the TRD OR and the TRD Pro suspension was that the Pro suspension was actually much softer and therefore much less comfortable on highway. I didn’t do enough off road driving to really compare the OR to the Pro.

For the OME BP-51s I would say they are much much better both on and off highway. They ride incredibly comfortably on highway with much much less body roll, and much less jarring from acceleration/deceleration. The looks are great, the clearance is much better, the truck looks way more aggressive and is way more capable. If you want a system that you can just plug-and-play right out of the box, I think the OME setup is pretty great, and that was one of the biggest reasons I bought them. They also have a 36k mile warranty. If my truck was somehow blown up or destroyed the lift would be one of the first things back on the truck. I love it.

That said, you might also just consider bigger springs in the back. I got the OME HD leaf pack which will handle the increased weight you have just fine. You could also get airbags, which I considered.

Another consideration for the lift though, my gas mileage has suffered.If you mostly do highway driving then this might be a bigger deal for you, but for me it was worth the trade off for the capability. I have 33” tires and a 3” lift and I get 12-14 mpg on the highway (not kidding, not exaggerating).. At 70 I get about 14 and at 80 I get 12. So that is something to consider as it was about a 3-4 mpg drop from the Pro (I got 16-18 mpg highway in the Pro).

For before and after pics of the lift you can see some photos in my build thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/day1player’s-cement-build.642672/

 

Thank you for your feedback. I love the long bed with the shell on. I am surprised with you saying the Pro was to soft and not as comfortable on hwy. And, the mpg suck. Thought the stock 17-18 mpg were bad, well since just adding the sliders, roof rack, wheels and tires. I average around 14-14.7 mpg. I wouldn't mind it as much if at least it had a bigger fuel tank haha.

I have been kicking around the idea of ordering Fox 2.5 dsc from Accutune. But man, they are hefty price. I know I am not going to recoup my money if/when I were to sell. But have new bumper and winch on order as well. So my main reason for upgrading is carrying the extra weight. I will check out the OME BP-51s

 

Yeah it sounds like an upgrade might be the best option. You never know what you will want to add next lol. Aux batteries, solar, shower, lights.. It my never end

 

No Joke.. ... Yeah I will get the Pro, it is decked out. I won't want to change anything......Sliders, roof rack, light bar, bed cover, wheels, tires, awning, bumper, winch, . Snowballs quick