I don't have what I would call "a lot" of trail time with the new suspension. It's mostly been road driving, but here are my impressions so far. I was coming from a set of well used stock springs that were very soft and well past their prime. The truck had axle wrap from the soft springs even when just driving around town.
With the OME stuff, the axle wrap went away. At first the OME Dakar springs combined with the Sport shocks felt VERY stiff in the rear. I think that "feel" was exaggerated coming from the soft stock springs. However, right off the bat the front 882s and Sport shocks felt very good. The ride and control was so much better in the front, and body roll was reduced dramatically. The rear springs are starting to break in now and the "stiff" feeling ride is getting pretty comfortable. So bottom line is...I'm really happy with the OME suspension, and especially here in Utah where the road are salted in the winter, the OME front coils etc will hold up far better than coilovers of other Brands that would get absolutely hammered through the winter months and probably need to be rebuilt each season.
Now for my impressions on the trail. This is the first IFS truck I've had. I've had a built FJ40, a built '85 flatbed Toyota Pickup, a built and SAS '93 Pickup, and my FZJ80, all with solid axles. I've really enjoyed each of those trucks, but when it came to higher speed stuff, my FZJ80 was the best of the bunch due to the coil suspension. There was a dramatic difference in the FZJ80 on highspeed rocky fire roads, and washboard tracks when compared to all the leaf sprung trucks. And the leaf sprung trucks had good suspensions stuff on them, like custom Alcan springs and Bilstien shocks etc. It was just MUCH nicer in the 80 with the OME coil springs. Now the Tacoma with the OME suspension, I feel that same dramatic difference again. As nice as I thought the FZJ80 was, the Tacoma is that much nicer again. It may not be the rockcrawler my other trucks have been because of the IFS, but I'll tell you what it feels so "at home" bombing down those rough and washboarded roads. For me that's perfect because my intention with this Tacoma has never been to have another rockcrawler. the plan has always been to have something that can handle moderately difficult trails but is used primarily for longer trips that include mostly the type of roads I just described.
An important note is that the "stiff" on road feel that I had experienced was virtually non-existent on the trail. To me the suspension felt just right on the trail and I felt more in control of the truck at higher speeds than I have with any of my other trucks. And in spite of the IFS, I was pleased with the amount of flex I was able to get in the rocks. Granted most of the flex is coming from the rear springs, but that's what you get with the IFS.
There's my psuedo-review. I'll take this opportunity to say thanks again to Kurt Williams at Cruiser Outfitters for the help with the OME suspension. I pestered him repeatedly on the phone before purchasing and his knowledge and experience was very helpful. I don't think there is anyone as knowledgeble about the OME suspension as Kurt is, especially when it comes to the Tacomas.
couple other observations....
Currently the truck sits about .5" high in the front. The 882 springs are designed for a truck with a winch and bumper (which I don't have yet) and I'm also using a 20mm spacer. I like the current height in the front, and as I mentioned I'm extremely pleased with the front suspension setup. I realize that I'll lose a little height when I had a bumper and winch. But that's fine.
With the rear of the truck just barely lower than the front, I have been considering some options. I need to see how the truck sits/rides when it's loaded with a complete load of gear etc. Right now I'm happy with the spring rate and load capacity and I won't be loaded heavily that often so I've been hesitant to use an AAL in the rear to give a little more height because I don't want an overly stiff rear end the majority of the time when the truck is unloaded. I think I'd rather have the rear of the truck slightly too soft when fully loaded than too stiff otherwise. So my other line of thinking is to use a slightly longer rear shackle to lift the rear of the truck a small amount to get it either level, or slightly higher than the front. That way when loaded it will sit close to level or maybe a little low but won't be too stiff when unloaded.
I'm still undecided which way to go, and I need more "seat time" in the truck before I make a final decision.
