Overland suspension?

[Asada_Taco49]

Hello i don’t know if this is the right spot to post this but I’m in the market for a suspension kit 2-2.5 reservoir coil over kit, I don’t plan to extreme rock crawl mostly flats, fire trails and camp, don’t want to get a overkill suspension, I have a 2019 Tacoma TRD OR with alu cab canopy and a drawer system my truck is gonna end up being pretty heavy, I’m leaning more into OME pb51 does anyone have this set up?

 

[UFChamp]

I do, but it's pretty brand new. Not as heavy in the rear as you are, just sliders and roll n lock right now. I can say that it seems initially to be a HUGE upgrade to stock. Steep learning curve for the adjustments. Enormous range of adjustment to how it performs. I've loved it so far. It's fairly adjustable to allow you to run lots of weight or stock. I got mine from Marie at headstrong offroad. She has great advice.

 

[Asada_Taco49]

I do, but it's pretty brand new. Not as heavy in the rear as you are, just sliders and roll n lock right now. I can say that it seems initially to be a HUGE upgrade to stock. Steep learning curve for the adjustments. Enormous range of adjustment to how it performs. I've loved it so far. It's fairly adjustable to allow you to run lots of weight or stock. I got mine from Marie at headstrong offroad. She has great advice.

Thanks bro keep me updated, I keep hearing the plastic guards fall off

 

[UFChamp]

Has only been about three weeks so I can't speak to that. They are on there pretty tight, but I could see how they could get rattled off. At worst this would be an annoyance as there are not really any guards on any other shock of similar build, so I'd guess you could go without them if it becomes an issue. BTW adjusting the coils for your load in the front can prove difficult for a shop that doesn't know what they are doing.... just saying. Mine did, kind of... Hodokaguy's build was a great resource for me with my taco on Tacomaworld forums. Not sure if he had one here...

 

[diabetiktaco]

Hello i don’t know if this is the right spot to post this but I’m in the market for a suspension kit 2-2.5 reservoir coil over kit, I don’t plan to extreme rock crawl mostly flats, fire trails and camp, don’t want to get a overkill suspension, I have a 2019 Tacoma TRD OR with alu cab canopy and a drawer system my truck is gonna end up being pretty heavy, I’m leaning more into OME pb51 does anyone have this set up?

BP51 is likely overkill. I have OME 885 front springs, 90021 front shocks, HD dakars, and OME rear shocks. I've got a RTT, awning, fridge, gear, etc and truck sits at the height it should (2.75" higher). It's about 1500 all in cost v. 3000+ for the BP51's.

 

[Asada_Taco49]

BP51 is likely overkill. I have OME 885 front springs, 90021 front shocks, HD dakars, and OME rear shocks. I've got a RTT, awning, fridge, gear, etc and truck sits at the height it should (2.75" higher). It's about 1500 all in cost v. 3000+ for the BP51's.

Thanks for the feedback, smooth ride?, I’ll look into this set up

 

[diabetiktaco]

Thanks for the feedback, smooth ride?, I’ll look into this set up

It's smooth w/ the weight. I would imagine that with no weight in the back it would be jittery.

 

[Maverick9110E]

Lol have fun. I've been racking my brain and wallet over this for months with my F150. Initially was going to go full King suspension, 2.5's with resivors and hydraulic bump stops. I've now talked myself down to the Fox stage 1 kit which is 2.0's and a set of SPC UCA's. The reality is most of the roads your talking about and will see most of the time a lightly modified VW bus could do without a problem. I've come to realize I was dumping money into an unnecessary amou t of upgraded suspension when a simple upgrade makes much more sense. If money was no option, I'd still go for the setup, but as a DD and overlanding rig? A small upgrade from stock will do almost anything you ask it.

Just my $0.02 from racking my own brain for months on end.

 

[Asada_Taco49]

Lol have fun. I've been racking my brain and wallet over this for months with my F150. Initially was going to go full King suspension, 2.5's with resivors and hydraulic bump stops. I've now talked myself down to the Fox stage 1 kit which is 2.0's and a set of SPC UCA's. The reality is most of the roads your talking about and will see most of the time a lightly modified VW bus could do without a problem. I've come to realize I was dumping money into an unnecessary amou t of upgraded suspension when a simple upgrade makes much more sense. If money was no option, I'd still go for the setup, but as a DD and overlanding rig? A small upgrade from stock will do almost anything you ask it.

Just my $0.02 from racking my own brain for months on end.

Yes I’ve been racking my brain for a while I was thinking stage 4 kings then decided stage 3 fox and now ome pb51 my Tacoma is not a DD I drive a company truck to work and back home, Tacoma sees fun time on the weekend unfortunately, I don’t wanna dump money on unnecessary suspension, I’m not gonna do any extreme rock crawl or race down the desert, little by little I’m narrowing down I gave myself 5 months to decide lol

 

[Maverick9110E]

Lol I've got about the same timeline. I saw Elka made a lot of Toyota options to.. don't know a ton about them but it comes up a lot on the tundra forums. My biggest thing I've come away with is definitely get progressive not digressive unless you want the fire roads and low speed stuff to rattle your teeth out. Filthy Motorsports has some great YouTube vids if you haven't seen them already.

 

[Asada_Taco49]

Lol I've got about the same timeline. I saw Elka made a lot of Toyota options to.. don't know a ton about them but it comes up a lot on the tundra forums. My biggest thing I've come away with is definitely get progressive not digressive unless you want the fire roads and low speed stuff to rattle your teeth out. Filthy Motorsports has some great YouTube vids if you haven't seen them already.

I saw the elka at the expo last month I’ve never heard of them till that day..idk i like the color lol but I gotta look more into them

 

[UFChamp]

@diabetiktaco is right on about 51's being probably overkill, his setup would ride better than stock and do what most people want from it. I would say there are only two things that the 51's do differently in my research, which is similar to kings and icons, is that you can adjust the spring preload for adding weight, and change the damping on the fly. If you don't need those two things, then even bilstein 5100's will work well.
I do plan on adding weight soon but not yet, next year (hopefully) leitner rack etc, and rear bumper with tire swing, so 51's fit that part, and I have been mountain biking since I was 12, and all of our bikes use shocks with lots of adjustability built in, so BP-51's ability to adjust was a big draw for me personally. FWIW.
Marie from Headstrong gave me great advice if you do get OME Dakars and are going to add weight down the road, buy the HD leafpack, unbolt on arrival, take out the third leaf from the top and reassemble. It was easy, but now I have a medium leaf pack and the 'add a leaf' for when I get my bumper etc.

 

[diabetiktaco]

Here's a reference point. Top is 885's, 5100s, stock leafs with deaver AAL. Same exact weight in both pics. Bottom pic is the new setup. Now, with a 130LB roofnest RTT on it and fully loaded for spring it sits at the same height. The right is slightly harder but nothing really noticeable. Plus old suspension had about 70k on it.

 

[smritte]

If you want to set up suspension properly, buying off the shelf is hit or miss. Imagine buying shoes without actually knowing the size.
Springs and shocks are based on several factors. If you contact one of the manufactures, they will probably ask for front and rear vehicle weight, accessories, how your going to drive (dirt, rocks, street....) and how high you want it.

My suspensions start with calculating weight, finding a spring that match's then matching a shock to that. Then tuning if I have an adjustable shock. Some of the companies have a good idea what your weight is and what certain accessories weigh. Most can get you a spring and shock that's real close to what you need.

I tried OME for a year. I choose the correct spring but their shocks were valved way too stiff. I ended up scrapping the whole set and called Dobinson. They had a nice match for my weight and driving. Total Chaos is in Corona. I have a bunch of friends who run their stuff and they will talk to you. King at least use to talk to you but its been a long time since I've called them. I no longer race or rock crawl, I want nice squishy, comfy suspension and some performance when I need it.

Call or e-mail the manufacture's and see what they offer.

 

[MOAK]

I’ve been running OME suspensions for a very long time. 2850 J springs with 60070L shocks in my front and 2864 springs with 60071 shocks in the rear. My cruzer scales out at 7,000 lb loaded and our trailer weighs 1,000 lbs. loaded. Are the shocks a bit tight? Heck ya, and you’ll really appreciate that when you’re cruising along at 70 mph with side winds of 30 mph plus. Or trucking down a narrow crooked mountain pass. Or if you need to make a quick emergency maneuver. My cruzer hugs the corners and stays nice and tight in heavy winds.. My first set of shocks lasted well over 100,000 miles. I say that cause I swapped em out at 80,000 miles and they were still in perfect functional condition, I just figured it to be a PM before our 10,000 mile trip last fall. OME and Toyota is a perfect fit every time. Case closed. Oh BTW, those BP51 are a dream, that’s about it. Unless you have tons of expendable income, or if you are planning on shipping your rig to Africa or Australia and partaking in some very long range off pavement driving, then those bp51 shocks are overkill here in the states. Good luck with your decision.

 

[LostWoods]

My personal opinion is that BP51 are highly overrated. The 51 in the name comes from the 51mm bore - 2 inches - which means means they are similar to the Fox/King 2.0 in piston diameter. Unfortunately, they also have a 19mm (3/4") shaft like the Fox 2.5 so you are getting a reduced fluid capacity by comparison. The others in a 2.0 have a 5/8 shaft by comparison which is more than sufficient for moderate use.

For me, Fox and King are the gold standard in the US for a reason. You can do the 2.0's for something comparable to OME at a lower price or upgrade to 2.5's for a lifetime purchase that will just require periodic rebuilds (vs replacement when you wear out the OMEs). If you want rear springs, Deaver expedition or Icon's pack are both more flexible than OME.

 

[Asada_Taco49]

Thanks everyone for helping narrow things down, bp51 are really starting to sound overkill for I plan to do with my rig, I’ll contact manufacturers and see what they have to offer

 

[Asada_Taco49]

Quick update just got a quote in Bilstein 6112 front, Bilstein 5100 rear, ome HD leaf pack and bump stop installed at 2500$ what you guys think of the Bilstein 6112? I can maybe get everything and install it for 2k

 

[Zappe]

Quick update just got a quote in Bilstein 6112 front, Bilstein 5100 rear, ome HD leaf pack and bump stop installed at 2500$ what you guys think of the Bilstein 6112? I can maybe get everything and install it for 2k

That’s what I had installed on my 4th gen 4Runner a few months ago. Have gone out on a few trail rides and couldn’t be happier. I don’t have a bunch of extra exterior gear weight, just my tool bag, recovery boards, cooler, compressor, etc.
There are differential drop spacers, didn’t spring for new UCA’s now and using stock front springs with 156K on it. They did install a left front spring top spacer to level the sag on the driver side. The rear Toytec suspension bump stops are great and definitely hit quite a few times bouncing around off road.

I’m not experienced with different suspension setups but very happy with my Bilstiens over stock and gained about 2”. Could maybe get another .5” if I replaced the UCAs.

 

[yeos]

I have had the BP-51s on my 2011 Tacoma for the past three years with mixed results. The suspension works great off-road, especially at higher speeds on lengthy washboard roads and the compression and rebound adjustments actually make a difference. The bad is that they are known to leak and the lower bearings seize up. I have had both happen to me, within six months of each other. Luckily ARB stood by their product and replaced the bearings the first time and then replaced the coilovers with new ones when they started to leak. It also helps that I live 20 minutes from their North American distribution center. It is a great suspension system that has had its early issues, but like others have said they are overkill for most. I have Dobinsons basic twin tube shock and spring setup for my new build on a Lexus GX470 and they have served me well so far on the same type of tracks I took my Tacoma on.