Introduction

[dcwn.45]

Hi all,
I'm David
I'm new to this forum.
I've had 2 Toyotas in the past, an 87 pickup with 33" mud terrains
And an FJ 60with 31's , custom front bumper, and a few minor mods ( coolest truck ever!)
Many years and trucks have passed and I now am the proud owner of a 2013 Tacoma trd off road dcsb w 38000 miles on it!
It already has an arb front bumper w 8000 lb warn winch.
I'm going to mod the suspension
I'm looking for a bit more load capacity and travel is more important than lift
I'm not going to run big tires, it has 265/70/16 on now and I'm not going to go much taller.
I've been looking at the OME stuff and it looks good, I would get the heavy spring/shock set because of the winch bumper ,probably try the add a leaf and see if I like it.
Is it a big help to also get upper control arms, and if so, which ones?


I'll get better pics,I promise, not sure why the one is upside down

 

[tonkaman]

You are going to love having a Tacoma, they are excellent trucks!

OME is definitely the way to go if your looking for practical utility use and long lasting performance. With minimal lift you shouldn't need upper control arms but if you go full 3" you will want them to bring the geometry of the ball joints back inline.

I'd highly recommend you check out Light Racings Specialty Products upper control arms. They are much beefier, keep a ball joint instead of a uniball, and the ball joint is oversized with full adjustability for camber and caster. It will get your alignments perfect again.

 

[DaVikes]

You don't really "need" uca's at 2 or 2.5" lift. My truck also has an ARB and a winch, and came with an OME setup, which yielded about 2.5" of lift. It always tracked pretty well and and I never had it aligned. I just replaced the tired out OME setup at 75k with Bilstein 6112's. The truck now has about 2" lift in front, and still has factory uca's. The alignment numbers are "poor" as compared to Toyota specs, but the truck still tracks down the road just fine. No wander. It may take more time to get aligned, as the tech has a challenge to get the caster as high as possible.

 

[dcwn.45]

Thanks for the replies,
So far the truck is great!
I pulled my cargo trailer 1200 miles last week ( I don't need to do that a lot,but occasionally I need to tow around 2000 lbs, so I'm probably not going to go with much bigger tires)
I want a little lift and and a bit more carrrying capacity.
So far I'm leaning toward a OME kit, I'll probably do the rear u bolt flip at the same time
It's going to be a great daily driver and adventure truck!

 

[Kiriesh]

Hi all,
I'm David
I'm new to this forum.
I've had 2 Toyotas in the past, an 87 pickup with 33" mud terrains
And an FJ 60with 31's , custom front bumper, and a few minor mods ( coolest truck ever!)
Many years and trucks have passed and I now am the proud owner of a 2013 Tacoma trd off road dcsb w 38000 miles on it!

Wow talk about low mileage! I'm nearly there on my 2015 already! Looks great OP you'll love it. If you do tow a lot but don't want to get super beefy leaf springs for the rest of the time I (as well as many others on this forum) have had great luck with my firestone ride rites.

 

[dcwn.45]

Well, I just ordered an OME kit😎,
The heavy spring/shock front and AAL rear.
I'm going to see how it is and add UCA's later if needed.
I'm told that they can be installed without removing the coil overs.
I've done suspensions before and this looks easier than most.
The toytec ubolt flip kit seems way overpriced,
Is there a better option?
Seems like the time to do it is when doing the AAL

 

[redthies]

Why do you need a u-bolt flip? Doing a lot of rock crawling? I think I'd put my money elsewhere.

It looks cold in your pics. Like North Dakota cold!

 

[dcwn.45]

You are correct,I live in Mn, I traded my 2012 Ram 2500 w/plow on the Tacoma.
I found the truck in Duluth,at a dealer, and I did better on the trade up north.
I got it on a Friday, then had to travel 600 miles over to ND for work.
It's maiden voyage was to Watford City ND.

I don't feel compelled to do a u bolt flip,but if it's cheap to do, I'd do it while I have the leaf springs out already

 

[dcwn.45]

Well,
My OME suspension is scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday 😁
I'm hoping to get the install done by this weekend
I'm pretty sure I will go with 265/75/16 tires on the stock aluminum rims,
They seem to average just under 32", and there's a lot of options that aren't E rated.
I may go with the BFG mud terrain, I like those tires a lot!
Wish me luck with the install, it doesn't seem too bad, and I've had some experience, but it's been a while.
Loving this forum, lots of great information.

 

[dcwn.45]

I'm starting to get a few bits sorted out.
I fabricated a gas can mount for inside the bed




I grabbed a scrap of diamond plate and bent it up
The brake at work is not the kind with fingers so I had to improvise a bit
I welded it up and mounted it under the storage cubby on the drivers side using the existing bolts
A few days ago I fabricated a mount for a shovel and hi lift and that prompted me to get a rebuild kit for my old jack.
That prompted me to blast and repaint before doing that


My OME suspension came 😎😎
I may have to take a personal day tomorrow and do the install 🤔

 

[dcwn.45]

Well I got my OME suspension installed today 
Took about 6 hours
Gave me the advertised lift, pretty easy install,
Best of all the ride is fantastic!
I'm at the alignment shop now, hoping that they can get it in spec.

 

[dcwn.45]

Got alignment done, specs out perfectly 👏
I put about 60 miles on and I'm very happy.
I elected to try it without the sway bar, and I'm thinking it's good with out, it's pretty easy to put I t back in if I decide to,but I'm liking it this way.
Now I really want new tires!

 

[dcwn.45]

I finished my gas can mount,
I adjusted the base to sit flat and made a support so when I strap the can in it sits vertical
It just barely fits under the tonneau cover so it needs to be just so.
The paint was dry on my Hi lift so I stuck it in the mount.
All the bed mount stuff went in the rail or factory holes so I haven't had to drill into anything yet. 😎
I'm tempted by the new Yakima RTT, looks like my 20% off at REI would make it a great deal,
I'm pretty sure I can make a bed rack to support it 🤔

 

[dcwn.45]

Did a little tinkering today,
Got my Yakima roof rack fit, and fabbed up a bracket to relocate the trailer wiring connector


I wish the plug was in the step of the bumper, but this is more protected than stock.
Maybe there is a new bumper in this build down the road.

 

[dumprat]

I took one of my licence plate lights out and put the trailer plug there.