Gen 3 Tacoma, technical Suspension Advice needed.... Please

[CactusHugr]

2017 DCSB Tacoma TRD Off Road

This is to be used as a daily driver, plus a weekend warrior. I've had the heavy duty truck and the light duty Jeep in the past, and decided I'm tired of everything involved in 2 vehicles, and just need one for everything.

So.... compromise is to be expected, but yet I aim to minimize in every way possible!

So the Tacoma will be driven daily, for the most part, with about 260-280lbs of payload in the cab (myself included, with some gear and my son), and daily with between 300-400lbs in the back (topper/shell, bedslide, and some standard gear boxes).

The Tacoma will be driven on the weekends with another several hundred pounds (water, food, tents, extra gear, etc), and will be driven a combo of road/highway, washboard desert roads, and rock crawling trails.

The Tacoma will be driven occasionally (once per month) pulling a small camping trailer, with the same several hundred pounds payload cab and back of the truck.

I will be buying an aluminum bumper, aluminum rocker slides, and possibly (not right away) a rear bumper with swing out (aluminum also). A winch will go on the front.

HOWEVER - I wont' be buying all of this right away, given the holiday season is upon us already....

So, the big question here...


What is the highest quality suspension system offering a true (gen 3, remember) 2-3" lift (no more than 3") front and rear, which will ride very compliant and nice over rough city roads and not squeak/creek like crazy in the grocery store parking lots, while still maintaining good off-road compliance down long washboard roads, and keeping max droop and articulation over rock crawling trails, yet handle the occasional heavy load and trailer weight even long term (up and down pacific coast several times per year)?

I'm not rich, but I can and will pay for the suspension that allows the best possible geometry and droop and compliance and performance.... but I hesitate to trust the sales pitch of OME, ICON, and BP until a solid real-world understanding is had regarding ride quality and longevity.

I live in a suburb of Phoenix, and will drive inner city and freeway about 60-70% of the time. However, the rock crawling and washboards are pretty common occurrence for us as well.

Any advice and honest review of systems (pros/cons, your likes and dislikes, and what you would do different) are seriously appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Anathollo]

There's a million threads on all your questions already. Do your due diligence and research all of them. Read through members build threads on here as well. There are also a bunch of good ones here. http://www.toyotaoff-road.com/forums/tacoma-offroad-builds.12/

As for what you need.

Icon/Fox/Kings will all work for your applications. I personally am running a full Icon Omega suspension and love it.

Front: Go with Camburg 1.25" uniball upper control arms. They have a bit more articulation than the total chaos UCA's. Aluminum front bumper is fine as you'll rarely hit it.

Rear bumper- Don't go with aluminum. If you ever rock crawl, the only thing you'll hit/drag is the rear bumper. I drag my butt everywhere on the trails with my high clearance bumper. I would also go with steel sliders as well so you can use them as a pivot point when crawling.

Go with OME Dakar rear leafs for the rear. You probably don't need the overload leaf. Don't get one of those "Add a leaf" packages that are popular because all you're doing is adding a leaf to the garbage leaf pack that comes with the truck (I know from experience). Instead get the full replacement leaf pack.

You'll need to get a stainless steel extended brake line kit for the truck as well if you're going to lift it. That way you don't tear your rubber OEM brake lines.