1997 Toyota Tacoma Suspension Upgrade for FWC Eagle.

[joseph.hinker]

Hello, I have a 97 Tacoma Extended Cab V6 and an 80s FWC Grandby shortened to the dimensions of a FWC Eagle. Upgrades to my suspension are essential to make the truck safer and allow me to access places that are not on pavement.
Will also be getting E rated tires. Camper will be on truck full time. I am guesstimating that i will be at least 1200 pounds with camper,gear, etc.


I have done some research and what I am came up with so far is:

Leaf Spring : Old Man Emu Dakar springs + Old Man Emu AAL
Front Coils: Old Man Emu 881

https://www.toyteclifts.com/ome-9504tac-old-man-emu-tacoma-suspension-95-04-tacoma.html

Is this a good setup or is there something better?

 

[tacollie]

If the camper is going to be on there full time I would have Alcan build a spring pack to handle the weight. If you go Dakars you will need airbags. I would also do the Tundra brake upgrade.

 

[joseph.hinker]

If the camper is going to be on there full time I would have Alcan build a spring pack to handle the weight. If you go Dakars you will need airbags. I would also do the Tundra brake upgrade.

thanks for the help . Going to look into Alcan . The big brakes are already on my list of upgrades .

 

[nickw]

Hello, I have a 97 Tacoma Extended Cab V6 and an 80s FWC Grandby shortened to the dimensions of a FWC Eagle. Upgrades to my suspension are essential to make the truck safer and allow me to access places that are not on pavement.
Will also be getting E rated tires. Camper will be on truck full time. I am guesstimating that i will be at least 1200 pounds with camper,gear, etc.


I have done some research and what I am came up with so far is:

Leaf Spring : Old Man Emu Dakar springs + Old Man Emu AAL
Front Coils: Old Man Emu 881

https://www.toyteclifts.com/ome-9504tac-old-man-emu-tacoma-suspension-95-04-tacoma.html

Is this a good setup or is there something better?

What is the payload capacity of your rig? The FWC's I've seen for Tacomas are in the 1200-1300 dry weight, fully built out not including gear or people. I'm guessing you are closer to 1500lbs +.

 

[tacollie]

What is the payload capacity of your rig? The FWC's I've seen for Tacomas are in the 1200-1300 dry weight, fully built out not including gear or people. I'm guessing you are closer to 1500lbs +.

That Tacoma should be around 1680lbs. My buddy just sold a FWC Finch that was 840 dry. They can get heavy fast. OP should definitely weigh his truck.

 

[nickw]

That Tacoma should be around 1680lbs. My buddy just sold a FWC Finch that was 840 dry. They can get heavy fast. OP should definitely weigh his truck.

That 840 must not include a fully built out model including stove, fridge, couch, batteries, etc?

 

[joseph.hinker]

What is the payload capacity of your rig? The FWC's I've seen for Tacomas are in the 1200-1300 dry weight, fully built out not including gear or people. I'm guessing you are closer to 1500lbs +.

Payload is around 1600. My FWC is complete stripped and being rebuild. So I will be able to keep the weight hopefully lower then factory.

 

[tacollie]

That 840 must not include a fully built out model including stove, fridge, couch, batteries, etc?

It had everything. They were a lot smaller than the current campers. Super small and cramped. It had a fridge, stove, furnace, dual batteries, and you can still close the tail gate on a 6' bed. The Finch was much smaller than the current offerings.

Payload is around 1600. My FWC is complete stripped and being rebuild. So I will be able to keep the weight hopefully lower then factory.

You can shed some weight but it adds up fast. Either way it'll be great.

 

[DaveInDenver]

If you go Dakars you will need airbags.

I run OME packs with an extra leaf added with a significantly lighter camper and it's slightly over sprung. I'd feel fine running my packs with an FWC as they are 7 total now, 5 main + 2 overload on a 2nd gen Taco, not trivial difference, the shackles are inverted and tend to make the rear rising rate.

But agree, I'd add helper overloads for off road, either air bags or something like Timbrens or Sumo springs instead of bump stops. I'd also suggest doing that with Alcans or any springs. Building all leaf springs for max weight will be hyper-stiff lightly loaded and travel limit you. One advantage IMO of OME CS046R is they're like other OME and use two progressive overload springs that work pretty well.

An alternative is to flip the overloads. OME installs them curved down so they engage the leafs when they've already gone negative but if you flip them they'd engage sooner and might not need helpers at all with an AAL.

 

[joseph.hinker]

I run OME packs with an extra leaf added with a significantly lighter camper and it's slightly over sprung. I'd feel fine running my packs with an FWC as they are 7 total now, 5 main + 2 overload on a 2nd gen Taco, not trivial difference, the shackles are inverted and tend to make the rear rising rate.

But agree, I'd add helper overloads for off road, either air bags or something like Timbrens or Sumo springs instead of bump stops. I'd also suggest doing that with Alcans or any springs. Building all leaf springs for max weight will be hyper-stiff lightly loaded and travel limit you. One advantage IMO of OME CS046R is they're like other OME and use two progressive overload springs that work pretty well.

An alternative is to flip the overloads. OME installs them curved down so they engage the leafs when they've already gone negative but if you flip them they'd engage sooner and might not need helpers at all with an AAL.

View attachment 555377

So you are running a Dakar pack + 2 extra leafs?

 

[DaveInDenver]

So you are running a Dakar pack + 2 extra leafs?

My packs are OME CS047R with one D29XL added, total of 8 leafs now (they are 5+2 originally, that was a mistake in my original post).

Mine now have 4 full length: top with eyes, second with partial wrap at the forward side, two full length (the D29XL and original that looked the same), 2 shorter progressives and 2 thick overloads.

 

[tacollie]

I run OME packs with an extra leaf added with a significantly lighter camper and it's slightly over sprung. I'd feel fine running my packs with an FWC as they are 7 total now, 5 main + 2 overload on a 2nd gen Taco, not trivial difference, the shackles are inverted and tend to make the rear rising rate.

But agree, I'd add helper overloads for off road, either air bags or something like Timbrens or Sumo springs instead of bump stops. I'd also suggest doing that with Alcans or any springs. Building all leaf springs for max weight will be hyper-stiff lightly loaded and travel limit you. One advantage IMO of OME CS046R is they're like other OME and use two progressive overload springs that work pretty well.

An alternative is to flip the overloads. OME installs them curved down so they engage the leafs when they've already gone negative but if you flip them they'd engage sooner and might not need helpers at all with an AAL.

View attachment 555377

The Dakars with 2 aal maybe a good option. The OP can tune the pack. I recommended Alcans since the camper is going to be permanent. Alcan can build the pack with less lift if the op wants to keep the height low. If the camper was on and off I would do Dakars with bags.

 

[BajaSurfRig]

@joseph.hinker I would recommend a custom leaf pack and timbren's.

I had a first gen Tacoma with a heavy cabover camper on it with dakar heavies and two of their add a leafs.

The springs sagged quickly and the truck spent most of it's time riding on the timbrens (which actually worked surprisingly well).

DSC_0154 by Matt Sawyer, on Flickr

You might want to look into spreading out the load where the front frame mounts connect with the bed.

The sheetmetal at my bed supports cracked and I had some plates fabbed with larger surface area to spread the load out further across the sheetmetal.

Also it wouldn't be a bad idea to get frame stiffener's welded onto your frame at the rear similar to what I had:

DSC_0867 by Matt Sawyer, on Flickr

First gen Tacoma's are tough little trucks that can take an absolute beating, but they do need a little extra TLC to do that over their payload.

You might want to replace rear wheel bearings per-emptively as well.

Buenas Suerte!!

 

[joseph.hinker]

My packs are OME CS047R with one D29XL added, total of 8 leafs now (they are 5+2 originally, that was a mistake in my original post).

Mine now have 4 full length: top with eyes, second with partial wrap at the forward side, two full length (the D29XL and original that looked the same), 2 shorter progressives and 2 thick overloads.

Thank you for explaining further.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Thank you for explaining further.

I have one less AAL than what @BajaSurfRig is showing (but I weigh less) but he's otherwise done what I suggested stacking leafs and putting in the Timbren helpers until they hold up the weight. If you go with Alcans you'd get the same thing just without having to tear apart brand new packs. In the end it's just about getting enough layers of spring steel.