Continuous mods/questions

My 2002 double cab feels so stiff in the front, but the rear seems bouncy. Every time I go up on the mountain, I wince at how much the cab shakes and vibrates. I would like it to be much smoother. Not long ago I got the 2.5 in rough country kit. It was even rougher before the lift. I have highway terrain tires, new front brakes. The shackles were replaced as part of the lift and they replaced some front suspension components that were worn out in order to get the lift on safely. I would like to find a way to make the truck take off-roading easier.

 

You need a proper shock setup. My boss lift from toytec was like that. I’ve since gotten Fox 2.0 shocks with custom valving. My trip to Moab a few weeks ago was FAR better than in the past. So much smoother on rough roads.

Accutune Offroad is who I used. Great guys over there.

Edit: also get a proper set of all terrain tires, and consider airing them down a bit in rough roads. The tire is a part of the suspension too. Let the sidewall soak up some bumps. Airing down doesn’t have to be just for rock crawling. It can really help on washboard.

 

What's your tire pressure? When off-road, lower your PSI to ~20, and that should help dramatically. Just remember to bring a pump with you to fill back up to highway pressure when you get back on the road.

Rough country lifts, are, well... low budget kits, so don't expect much, if any performance gains from them.

For "budget" shocks, there is a severe compromise between off road handling and on road handling. If you do a decent amount of off-roading, the bilstein 5100 series are GREAT shocks, but tend to be a bit rough on the road for some people (hence the compromise). That said, when I installed 5100s on my truck, the ride vastly improved in ALL segments of driving.

If you don't want that compromise, you're going to need to shell out some cash for nicer shocks, and a suspension system better tailored to your specific needs/wants.

 

I guess new tires when needed and airing down. Can’t justify new suspension when some new ones were just put on. Thanks for your recommendations.

 

That should make a bit of a difference for you. I’ve had good luck with Duratrac tires...

 

Airing down is extremely useful. Just sucks without on-board air.

 

Air down the tires when you leave pavement. Better traction and a much, much better ride. Especially if you have heavy load rated tires.

Air down to 20 psi or less and it will be a night and day difference. Better suspension will help too. Get a solid air compressor to air back up with (not one of those cheap ones that plugs into your cig lighter)

 

Those are the ones I’ve been wanting for quite some time. Kinda want to wear these ones to use as backup and have the duratracs

 

duratracs for the win!

 

Just get a portable pump - no need for on-board air.

 

Seems like I've just had bad luck with those. Half the time I'm already annoying the Jeeps and trucks I'm with for airing down at all. So I melted one trying to do all four tires back to back.

Meanwhile some other TW members are saying their Viair $60 pump can do all four tires in 10 minutes.

 

Depends on your tire size. The Viair 80P is a great pump for smaller tires, but if you're running 33's or larger, the 400P is what you'd need.

Whatever you do, don't get those crap ones that plug into the cig lighter - those barely work for car tires. Absolutely you need one that connects direct to the battery.

I briefly considered an OBA setup, but honestly it was more work than it was worth to me. Maybe one day... The portable pump means I can take it to other vehicles, or use it on my RV trailer (my Taco isn't the tow rig), etc...

 

What kind of pump did you have that overheated and crapped out? I had the

$107 viair 88p portable compressor kit (12V, 120 psi, forup to 33" tires)

viair 88p (small one) and it definitely took more than 10 min but I could let 2 or 3 other trucks use it after me and it never gave up.

The 300p is way better/faster if you're looking for a solid compressor

 

I didn't have a viair. I had some chinese one that came in a Dodge 3500 my roommate and I flipped. Looked sort of like the amazonbasics branded one. Now I'm interested in getting the 300p.

 

I love the 300p, got it as a gift for xmas last year and gave my 88p away to another member on here. Still worked well but it took a good half hour to fill up my 33s with it. 300p takes maybe 15min to do all 4 tires from 15psi to 35psi.

 

Watch project farms video, I believe he did a review on which electric car pump is best. They were all tested to failure

 

That’s pretty thicc. I approve. If you guys attach pictures of the pumps and explain what on board air is I would greatly appreciate it.

 

The post above yours tells exactly where you can get the info you're looking for.

Edit: made it easy, here it is.
https://youtu.be/kTpSgUyyBA8

 

I too have a Viair, I have the 88P and it works very well. If you can, step up to the 300P or 400P for a bit more performance and a case. Filling a tire from flat will take a while, but bumping up from 15 to 28 or even 32psi will be just a few minutes a tire.

 

On board air (OBA) is a system of a compressor (or two), tank, and air lines that are integrated and hard mounted to your truck. Typically you have a compressor mounted under the hood, with lines leading to a tank mounted somewhere else, like under the bed, between the frame rails. Then you have a quick release mounted somewhere that is convenient for connecting a flexible air line for inflating tires or other uses.

The air tank is your reservoir, so you can fill your tires MUCH faster than just running a pump by itself. All the pump does is keep the tank filled. OBA systems also allow you to easily run lines for differential lockers (ARB, etc), air horns (lol), power tools, or anything else that's air powered.

It's very convenient since all you have to do is take out your air line and hook it up, but they are generally much more expensive and usually require some fabrication.

https://www.viaircorp.com/oba/oba-heavy

I just use a portable pump (Viair 400P), but I have a 5 gallon 125psi portable tank that I sometimes take with me as well.

If you go with an OBA system, just get the biggest one you can afford/fit in your application. It would be lame to install one of these that's "properly" sized for your current truck, then you end up getting bigger tires, or more air accessories and it ends up being a paper weight.