7wt
Expedition Leader
It shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone that the Northeast is tough truck parts and coilovers are no exception. After almost five years of trusty service, it was time to replace my Donahoes with something that would work a bit better in the harsh weather environments we see. The Donahoes worked great for the uses they were designed for, namely high speed big bump travel with the added ability to add some preload to the coils to help carry extra weight in the form of bumpers and winches. The problem is, I don’t need either of those things. I would be better off with a suspension that emphasizes flex and durability. Besides, race truck parts are for race trucks.
I started looking for other solutions and naturally concentrated on the Old Man Emu stuff because they seemed to fit the bill for what I needed. However a few things irked me. More than a few reviews mentioned how they sagged or couldn't handle extra weight up front over time. Also there was the trim packer issue, some guys were needing to add trim packers to regain the hight lost after use. This didn’t sound like an install and forget solution so I held off making the order.
Then I came across Vermejo's rig article in Toyota Owner's mag. His truck uses the Sonoran Steel suspension system. After pestering him for his thoughts, I was encouraged by his feedback. So I called Steve at Sonoran for tech advice. His solution seemed to be perfect for me so I ordered them.
The Sonoran Steel coil assembly uses Bilstein 5100 ride hight adjustable shocks and Toyota Tundra TRD coils with some house bits Steve produces. The Tundra coils on paper seem like a perfect solution. The coil rate is softer than the Donahoes by a good amount, 650lbs verses something like the mid 500’s (I forgot the exact number). This alone should help my truck achieve the most out of it’s meager front travel. Also since the Tundra coils were designed to hold up a V8, I knew they would be able to carry the extra weight of a bumper and winch if I decide to add them later. The other benefit is the Bilsteins are sealed and will hold up to the weather. I have had Bilstein rear shocks on my truck in one way or the other since I bought it so I felt comfortable with their shocks. The last detail was that the coil assemble came completely assembled. This was important to me because I no longer had the stock Toyota top plate and other bits since I replaced those pieces with the Donahoes.
After driving it around for a week I can honestly say I made a great decision. The ride is a lot softer but still firm, it's like Lexus made a light truck. It also tightened up the front with all the little creaks and clunks completely gone. While I have not had a chance to stretch it's legs offroad, I did go down a washed out gravel road and it certainly seems like I have more up travel. Time will completely tell but so far it looks very promising.
The following pics highlight the install.
Here is what I was dealing with. Pretty gross and in need of some TLC.
Old shock out, hit the area with a wore brush and a quick shot of Rustoleum to freshen it up.
Two of the old, one of the new.
Bolted in and ready to go. Simple and clean looks good!
Back on all fours. I picked up almost an inch of lift.
The CV angle looks good.
Eww, nasty! You should see how rough these things look. The grade 8 hardware that holds them in the shock bucket are completely corroded. The aluminum top plate has all sorts of layers of salt and corrosion caked on, some comes off and some doesn't. The lower bushings are rusted completely and the finish on the coils has flaked off in some spots and rusted up. The driver side must be completely empty of juice judging on how much crap is in the lower spring bucket.
I started looking for other solutions and naturally concentrated on the Old Man Emu stuff because they seemed to fit the bill for what I needed. However a few things irked me. More than a few reviews mentioned how they sagged or couldn't handle extra weight up front over time. Also there was the trim packer issue, some guys were needing to add trim packers to regain the hight lost after use. This didn’t sound like an install and forget solution so I held off making the order.
Then I came across Vermejo's rig article in Toyota Owner's mag. His truck uses the Sonoran Steel suspension system. After pestering him for his thoughts, I was encouraged by his feedback. So I called Steve at Sonoran for tech advice. His solution seemed to be perfect for me so I ordered them.
The Sonoran Steel coil assembly uses Bilstein 5100 ride hight adjustable shocks and Toyota Tundra TRD coils with some house bits Steve produces. The Tundra coils on paper seem like a perfect solution. The coil rate is softer than the Donahoes by a good amount, 650lbs verses something like the mid 500’s (I forgot the exact number). This alone should help my truck achieve the most out of it’s meager front travel. Also since the Tundra coils were designed to hold up a V8, I knew they would be able to carry the extra weight of a bumper and winch if I decide to add them later. The other benefit is the Bilsteins are sealed and will hold up to the weather. I have had Bilstein rear shocks on my truck in one way or the other since I bought it so I felt comfortable with their shocks. The last detail was that the coil assemble came completely assembled. This was important to me because I no longer had the stock Toyota top plate and other bits since I replaced those pieces with the Donahoes.
After driving it around for a week I can honestly say I made a great decision. The ride is a lot softer but still firm, it's like Lexus made a light truck. It also tightened up the front with all the little creaks and clunks completely gone. While I have not had a chance to stretch it's legs offroad, I did go down a washed out gravel road and it certainly seems like I have more up travel. Time will completely tell but so far it looks very promising.
The following pics highlight the install.
Here is what I was dealing with. Pretty gross and in need of some TLC.
Old shock out, hit the area with a wore brush and a quick shot of Rustoleum to freshen it up.
Two of the old, one of the new.
Bolted in and ready to go. Simple and clean looks good!
Back on all fours. I picked up almost an inch of lift.
The CV angle looks good.
Eww, nasty! You should see how rough these things look. The grade 8 hardware that holds them in the shock bucket are completely corroded. The aluminum top plate has all sorts of layers of salt and corrosion caked on, some comes off and some doesn't. The lower bushings are rusted completely and the finish on the coils has flaked off in some spots and rusted up. The driver side must be completely empty of juice judging on how much crap is in the lower spring bucket.
However my issue wasn't so much with the valving or shock dynamics rather the rubbing. We then tried them on a 96' Tacoma with the same exact results a pronounced 'clank' as the coilover smacked the frame when the a-arm extended to full droop. Could likely have been addressed with a limiting strap but at the time the Nitrocharger Sports were just showing up to the US so I wanted to give those a go. Fixed my clank, my height and I like the ride. I wouldn't be opposed to another trial with the Bilsteins as I use them on lots of other Land Cruiser applications (SOA conversions for example) but I just don't have a reason to move things around.
