The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

page 8 now I think

 

Okay I used the article you posted in this as your determining factor in going with Bilstein's monotube design over OME's dual tube design to pick which I went with. My question now becomes, other than the larger diameter shock body, Is there a real benifit for the 6112's with the coils that come with them and 5100's with aftermarket coils. In my instance I chose the 5100's set at 0 with the 2.5" eibach coils and I used small top plate spacers to level and get the 3" lift I wanted. I understand the 6112's are height adjustable also but if you move the clips to a higher setting aren't you just preloading the coils like you would with 5100's and stock coils if your using the strut to lift instead of a longer coil to provide lift. Wouldn't preloading the coils negate the benifits you gain with these?

 

after having both 5100/eibach and 6112s I can say the 6112s are miles better than the former. They control body motion much better ( I have no front sway bar), and they damp a hell of a lot better. If you so please you can get higher spring rate could from the 6112s, however unless you have a ton of weight in the front it's not really needed. All coilovers preload the coil to provide lift. There's not really any downside with the 6112s and pre-loading the supplied springs.

5100s are a decent upgrade for the stock suspension. But they were really designed for use with the stock coils on a stock-ish truck. Throw heavy springs on them, heavy ass tires, armor etc... And very quickly they become under damped and pretty ineffective. The slightly softer coil with much better damping of the 6112s provides overall a much better package than the 5100/eibach IMO.

 

Thanks for the response. My goals with the truck are just some simple exploring. No real rock crawling or anything so for now I can't justify the expense of Kings. We just want to take the little camper out and find some cool places to explore and enjoy. perhaps the 6112's are the way for me to go in the future. I'd like to retain the 2.5-3" of lift I have and have no idea what they provide and as long as they function better that's the main goal. I'm happy with what I have for now but understood this was a starting point as I'll also have to upgrade the rear in time as well.

 

@Sloth answered your question quite well.And my experience was virtually the same. The 6112's are a joy in my truck, love them for cruising to destinations and perform outstanding off road. Having run both, I would not recommend 5100 if someone was upgrading from stock. I'd simply steer them to 6112's right off the bat.

 

Took my family in the truck to the local mountains on MLK day. Played around in the pines before hiking Stonewall Peak. A moderate 4 mile round trip hike with lots of elevation gain. I was thoroughly impressed with my youngest. She is now 5. Her agility had improved quite a bit in the last year. The last section of trail to the summit has a lot of dangerous exposure and guard rails are provided for safety. Still sketchy with small kids. Was a lot of fun. I'll try to come back to this post with a picture or two.

 

So when i can, get the 6112's and adjust to the desired height and all is good

 

How are the 6112s and B110s compared to Nitro Chargers? I'm asking because I'm looking at just going with an OME lift, but might want different shocks. It's a DD, that we take on camping trips with some off roading. I think I'm looking for as good a ride as I can get, but I keep about 300lbs in the back at all times with a bit more for travels.

 

This is what he posted that I went by

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-and-adventures.362772/page-47#post-11409628

 

Yep!

Stay away from OME shocks. They are absolute garbage. If I didn't resell mine I'd have burned them with fire. Get the 6112's and enjoy.

 

I appreciate the help. As the truck is set up now it's fine but I understood when I installed the 5100's and 3 leaf in the rear they were just a starting point. As everybody around here seems to be King or Icon crazy for coil overs I have been looking at them but for my usage I'm thinking they may just not be the best option. It seems everybody wants to set theirs up for, hell I don't really know what you would call it rock crawling hard mall crawling, IDK. I suppose that's what interested me in your set up because your usage is similar to what we want to do. It's just my wife and I now and we want to get out, take the truck and the little camper (we call it the ugly box) and go adventure. When i can convert the camper to dual batteries, solar, get hot water and a pottie we plan on going on off grid adventures. I'm lucky to have another member not too far from me that has been into this for years who is another wealth of knowlege. Thanks again, Chris

 

The 6112 setup is a real nice alternative to the King/Fox/Icon route. The key difference being that in theory the 6112 should be maintenance free for a lot longer than the others. The 6112 is not rebuildable and is meant to be replaced as a unit eventually (60-80K miles maybe, I'm guessing). The King/Fox/Icon are meant to be rebuilt fairly frequently, probably 30K at a max for pure highway travel and much less for heavy off-road used. Rebuilding might mean a savings in the long run if the shock bodies don't rust or whatever but the inconvenience level is high since the truck is out of commission while you get the shocks rebuilt.

I ended up going the Icon route but my truck is very low mileage dedicated to off roading and camping. I think the 6112 setup @Crom has documented so well here is a much better general solution that is probably close or even indistinguishable from a Fox/King/Icon for typical camping off road use, more convenient to maintain and still vastly superior to OME Nitrochargers which being a twin tube design are handicapped from the start.

 

Glad you were able to get out of town even if only for a day. Hope all is well.

 

Sound like you have a good plan. I always advise, don't sweat what others are doing and build your truck to do whatever you ask of it, and you'll be better off.

Really good info, Ken. One other difference in typical racing shocks vs the 6112's is racing shocks use a spherical bearing in the lower shock mount. Bilstein designed their 6112 shock to emulate stock, and use a synthetic rubber bushing. I point this out because synthetic rubber bushing will never make noise. The spherical bearing however can be the source of noise. It can be subject to corrosion / contamination which leads to squeaks.

Because of my selective sound sensitivity syndrome, I can't tolerate race truck noises for extended periods of time. If I hear suspension noises, or any noises, it will cause an obsession to make the noise go away.

Thank you Bruce. We're slowly getting back to normal.

My two kids playing on a fallen tree, Jan 2018, Paso Pacheco campground​

 

I'm the same way. Lately it's taking me longer and longer to "address" noise issues, but I get to it eventually. The good thing about chasing noises down often is that you start to recognize them immediately:
"creak"- bushing
"crooooaak"- uniball
"clunk, pa-ting!"- LCA alignment cams

and a new one for me:
"eerie, eee, eeeire"- leaf spring bracket isolating pads.

One of my favorites though is:
"sssssshhhhhh, thwop, bing!"- a rock came flying out of the tread of my tires after a trip off-road. It then hits either the wheel well or catches the tube of one of my sliders. Usually happens immediately after hitting pavement for the first time on my way home. I miss that sound...

 

Trail Toys UHMWPE Gas Tank Skid

This showed up recently. I hope to crawl under the truck and get it installed very soon. Some modifications are necessary for Off-Road model trucks, I don't fully understand what's required yet, but will soon enough. Installation Instructions here, Addendum here My 7-year old kid got on the creeper and assisted with checking fitment, looks good. Kids also took turns jumping off the roof rack into my arms, a fun exhilarating new game they like to do. I'm sure the neighbors really liked that, so does my back.



Thanks to @SMKYTXN for product, look forward to install.

 

My 5100's have sagged like crazy. I have a front skid and 275's with them on 5100's. Won't be putting them back on. I like the way they performed while they were new but after some off-roading and time, they've sagged down quite a bit. Will probably be going with some 885x's here shortly.

 

The only modification needed for an offroad is drilling four holes in the skid for the bolts on the gas tank straps. Well, that and removing your stock skid. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

That's my thinking as well

 

Same story with mine. Used jack initially to hold and align plate as I did the install solo. Needed to crank it a bit to flatten things out to get nuts on more easily.

That's awesome! They drove Racetrack when it was in some of the worst condition ever. Not surprised at all that a twin tube shock would fail on that. Melted boots a sign of all the heat involved. Wish they showed a close up of the one that actually structurally failed.

For reference I actually have Icons - 2.5 extended travel in the front without RRs and 2.0 with RRs in the back. I got the RRs on the rear specifically to avoid the issues Edmunds had! But even without the RRs a mono tube design will handle and shed heat way better than a twin tube.

I like Crom's setup because it is a good middle ground with the mono tube benefits without the shorter maintenance interval of Icon/Fox/King.