Suspension Advice on my 2013 Tacoma

Hey guys,

I wanted to get a word of advice.
From those of you who have done your suspension for actual purpose built driving.

I’m looking to build my tacoma to be able to Camp but lightly rockcrawl and enjoy the desert as well.

I’m really torn as far as suspension goes.

from running upper control arms to just running coilovers for lift, to ordering a full icon or king kit, or parting it together

I’ve also been looking at the bilstein 6100 series which are 3.0’s.

Those of you with these trucks, have you noticed the reservoirs are really actually needed? I’d like to have fun in the desert but it’s also not a long travel truck...

and obviously budget is important. Just trying to see which route is best as I’m running pretty bad with my new tires, but i also don’t wanna go cheap and then have to upgrade again. Any advice and input would be awesome

 

95% of the people on here with reservoirs will never use them for what they are made for. Looks like your suspension will come down to how much “overland” shit you will be loading your truck down with. Sounds like all you need is Bilstein 6112 or maybe even 5100s.

 

Hey what’s up Matt.

Do you have a comfortable budget that you’re working with?

One thing that sucks to do is buy a set up with the intention of doing certain things, only to realize that you want to do more because you’re enjoying your truck so much, but your set up is limiting you because you bought something that was super budget friendly. If you think there is a possibility you may end up getting more into wheeling and wanting to explore more hard to reach places, then you may want to get something slightly beyond what might suit you now.

A few of the pros of the big dog coilovers and shocks is that they’re rebuildable, more easily tune-able, and probably going to out last most of the stuff on the lower end of the budget.

I’ve seen it time and time again where people purchase something on the lower end of the spectrum, wheel it for 6 months and then realize they want better stuff



King Coilovers, rear shocks, some TC UCA’s, and some better leaf springs like Dakar’s or the Icon RXT pack would be a great set up for your needs in my opinion. Top end of the budget probably but just my opinion. Quality will pay for itself

 

Like the dude above me said, the 6112’s might be a good option as well. I just know so many people that get into wheeling and realize that they end up becoming limited by their suspension or lack thereof. But if you know that you’re not going to get too aggressive and will stay pretty tame with your build, then maybe something like the 6112’s would be a good option up front

 

I have the 6112-5160 setup and it has been great for my light off-roading. I do, however, want to be able to do more and I’m the person that would rather have an overkill suspension setup and have peace of mind that it won’t fail me. I am 2wd so I’m not 100% sure about the rock crawling but if your mainly just going to be driving on dirt to get to a campsite or doing light things like fire roads then the bilsteins are perfect. That was me at first and now I want to go faster and do some more Prerunner stuff so I will likely be doing a mid-travel setup one piece at a time. Like others have said before me, it’s better to buy once and cry about it than regret your decisions and end up spending even more money. Just my .02, it all depends on what ur final goal is with your build and how hard you want to hit the dirt

 

I started building my truck for the same purpose as you. Camping etc. After endless hours on TW, I ended up listening to guys like @Shmellmopwho , and went with ADS w/clickers and Deavers to handle all the weight." Buy once, Cry once"

 

Don’t forget that pretty much everyone on here loves spending other people’s money for them. Don’t spend what you don’t have.

 

Great piece of advice. OP don’t go beyond your means but all I’m saying is, in my opinion, buy the best of what is in your comfortable budget. Suspension is not something you want to skimp out on

 

You are correct. But....I did see the "King" word in his post

 

By the way @BlessdApparel1 if you need anyone to install it all I can help. I’m in socal. I’ll save you some money over a big shop. I also know someone down in Vista who does suspension work that could hook you up too. If you don’t plan on doing the work yourself.

 

@BlessdApparel1 You've been asking questions about suspension for 2 years, but have you ever taken a ride in a Tacoma with an upgraded suspension? Lots of people think their setup "rides like a Caddy" but that because 1. It's better than stock because most setups are better than stock and 2. They've never ridden in a Cadillac.

Salesmen will usually push the most expensive thing you can afford. Owners will try to sell you on they have because they want to justify their purchase.

What you need depends wildly on your use case. If it's staying on pavement, throw some spacers on and slow down for intersections. If you don't want to have to slow down, 5100s, longer springs and an AAL. If you want to lightly rock crawl, some OME Nitrochargers and a replacement leaf pack. If you want to cruise desert trails, a coil over in your favorite color because Icon, Fox, King, ADS are all pretty close and valving matters more than the sticker on the side. If you want to bomb through Ocotillo, a long travel setup.

Each of those options rises in price from a few hundred to several thousand. Based on your post history I can't tell if you are a competent mechanic or if you'd have to pay someone to install. There are locals that will take your money to do it, take your money to help, take your beer or just watch you struggle depending on who you ask.

But instead of asking the same question that you have asked at least 3 times, join some of the local threads and ask the people that use the trails you want to do what they use. Join a trail run and see where your truck is lacking, my stock Sport will leave other people that don't trust their equipment as much in the dust. The information you need is all here but it's worth what you pay for it and the ones spoon feeding you might not be the ones you need to listen to.

 

I come from a background of pre runners and my last build was a 99 Cherokee. Fully caged, long armed etc. though it was built for different purposes and this truck is something i want to keep relatively clean but i want to be able to crawl if necessary, and if i go out to king of the hammers etc, be able to go semi fast through the desert as well. Ocotillo Wells is my typical weekend desert season area but there’s an abundance of crawling trails by me as well.

i typically do all the work myself and with friends. I have asked a few times before but it always seemed like brand preference etc

now that I’m serious about it i really just looking for good honest opinions and experiences or maybe people who have tried different things etc.

i know a suspension upgrade i will do no matter what i run is hydraulic bumps all the way around and preferably maybe a bypass in the rear with deavers or something, but I’m curious on these trucks, is the reservoir necessary? Especially for more slow speed crawling stuff... and if i do’s get reservoirs, do the DSC asjusters actually make a difference?

this truck is my daily besides my harley so i don’t want to go to overboard but 33’s at least will be a must and i need more ground clearance...

 

This is so rad thank you! I’m in Carlsbad and I’m always up for fab shops etc. though mechanically i do my own work, i do not know how to weld or fabricate

 

You have a sport so open diffs right now. Do you plan to add a locker? Crawling is much harder in an open/open truck, especially one that you care about appearance, this isn't a shitbox that you can thrash and then throw a few bucks at to fix.

What's your budget? I just bought a set of deavers for my truck and they were $1000, to run 33s you should be pushing a 3" lift which means UCAs, another $500-1000. A set of coil overs $1500, another $500 or so for adjusters. Rears depending on make can break $1000, especially if you try to match the fronts. Hydro bumps, $600 a set.

Why do you want hydraulic bumps all around? That's more a gofasty thing. Why a bypass shock in the rear? Not a common addition to bolt on rear Tacoma setup. Your ideas are a bit scattered and not all of them make sense for a 2nd gen Tacoma that you want to keep a daily driver.

Check out some build threads of the people that wheel in this area, mine is linked in my signature. @desertjunkie760 also hates his truck and is mean to it. @eccracer104 is nicer to his but it gets used. @christyle sold his Tacoma but it was built beforehand.

 

I do have a sport, i will be locking the differentials. I will lock the front first and then do the back, ive always run lunchbox lockers but because i want on board air i may just run ARBs eventually. It won’t always be a daily, as i got this truck for such a steal I’ll end up buying something else and holding on to it.

currently I’ve been sitting at about3500-4k in suspension. I’m just torn. Like the icon kits look awesome, but I’m not sure about the digressive valving and the ride quality over like Kings etc. i do like with icon that you can slowly upgrade what you have with their products to get it where you want.
I will be doing bumpers front and rear and some other things as well but even with 285’s the truck sits so low ground clearance is an issue, and rather than buying something temporarily for a bit more clearance and not to rub, i rather spend the money the first time.

luckily i learned to wheel in a 2wd then had my 86 4runner and my built xj after that so I’m no stranger to crawling but currently the truck is so low it makes it much more interesting

 

expedetion leafs, OME shocks and springs, SPC UCAs. 1500 bucks and you are good to go. don't spend a bunch ofmoney or do anything over the top. put 100k on that set up on my last tacoma. loved it and enjoyed having the extra money inmy pocket.

 

right on brother. If you need rock sliders in the future hit me up.

 

what are you doing up at 1:47?!

 

Hey Matt,

I'm with @hoarder23 on this where the best way to answer your questions is to ask yourself what you are actually going to be doing with this rig. Lot's of people will give you confirmation bias to justify their decisions.

Reading this thread, I can definitely tell you're a Jeep guy. Most people don't run lockers in the front of these trucks because of the additional stress it puts on the CVs. You have to be extremely cautious of when you engage a front locker to not cause damage unlike a Jeep where front/rear lockers are ran almost full time. For this reason, I can't suggest a lunch box either. If you get a front locker, get something you have 100% on or off. A lunchbox will cause you to go through CVs on the reg. Most of the time, people will hold off on the front locker and use the 1k for something more practical. I'm not saying fronts aren't out there. They are usually only used by the guys who are REALLY getting into the technical trails.

Yes, these trucks lack a lot of clearance. Bigger tires and lift will help with this but if you plan on playing in the rocks you'll need armor. No other way around it really. You can adjust the ride height with aftermarket coil overs but their are limitations in the front suspension that will only allow you to gain so much while keeping a decent ride. Nothing you can really do without going LT or other extremes.

Icons are a great option and typically well reviewed by people who are concerned about on road characteristics. King/Fox/ADS are other good options and typically more popular in the off road market. Fox/King obviously for their racing heritage.

Really though your ideas are scattered. Ask yourself what the actual expected use of your truck is, be honest, before you start looking into hydro bumps and bypasses. Attend some local meets and ride in other trucks with different setups. There's no need to spend 4k on suspension if $400 Bilsteins will work. Unless that's just what you want to do and you have the money to splurge.

If that's the case, there are some local SoCal guys who will gladly help you spend it. @Shmellmopwho does installs and fab work up north a bit and I do installs and moderate welding applications (gussets) further south in San Diego.

 

Well today i pulled the trigger on a stage 4 icon kit. I didn’t get the aluminum upper arms cause i really didn’t see the point in an extra almost 1k yes the Heims are nice but not really that necessary.

I’ve kinda pictured the route I’m gonna go now and have a few more things planned. Rock sliders will be on the same time as the lift, I’ll be doing an arb compressor with an arb locker as well, i am going to hold off on the front though in every vehicle I’ve always done the front locker first.
I’m super excited to see what this thing will do but I’m also not going to beat it up like i did my long arm Cherokee, so it should be interesting adjustment at first. I have a few more plans for the back end as well and then i will begin to outfit it for what i want.
Here are a few of my caged jeep i wish i never sold.