Suspension Thoughts or Comments

[codename607]

I have a question for you all. What is the best suspension for the overlander?

Since I recently purchased a new vehicle that is stock, I can’t decide if I want a lift or I should leave it stock. Outside of looks and needing a lift for bigger tires, what are the true advantages of replacing the stock suspension?

Answering this question for myself I have determined the following…

For overland purposes I would much rather have a setup that rides like a Cadillac. Most of the time I am taking long drives on dirt and bumpy roads. Having something that rides smooth over these kinds of surfaces would be perfect. So why add a stiff riding lift? Seems like stock is the way to go on this one.

Reliability off road? Again stock seems like the way to go. I’ve seen postings of other top brand shocks go bad and need a rebuild in only a few years of use.

Maintenance? Similar to the reliability. Stock shocks have little to no maintenance. So on my trip around the world(the one that will never happen) why would I want to stop to take time and work on my shocks.

I first wanted to add a simple leveling kit to my truck just so I could keep the stock ride. Then I said I would add a really nice setup with King or Icon shocks. After researching them for a while I started to notice that they require maintenance, some reported they are stiffer than the stock ride, and others reported them needing repair.

 

[forty2]

I'm very much in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" camp and rarely deviate (far) from stock suspension. Since I usually travel alone any additional ground clearance or flex gained is often wasted because I am often doing my own cost/benefit analysis with regards to trails being worth my time. I'm reasonably well trained in recovery and did more than my fair share in my youth but my bliss comes in exploring, not recovery. Anyway, there are two places that suspension upgrades make a lot of sense to me. The first is additional load capacity. In my last truck the combination of high loading and old springs necessitated some suspension modification to ensure a decent ride in expo trim. This came at the expense of ride comfort when running light, but more than worth it. The second is remote reservoir shocks. Over long distances on washboarded tracks monotube shocks can get quite hot and lose their damping ability quite drastically. Remote reservoir shocks resist overheating quite well and will be more likely to maintain their damping qualities over the long haul. They do however come with the downside of more points for failure, but I've had pretty good luck in the past.

 

[Tazman]

I agree completely. I leave everything as is until it breaks or does not function as needed, then I upgrade. Saves me money and upgrades my rig over time .

 

[codename607]

Thanks for the feedback guys. The more and more I think about it I am leaning towards staying stock. Great point on the added weight. I recently put a deposit down on a Four Wheel Camper so once I get that the weight is going to be a factor. I was thinking of going with air bags since those seem like the best route.

 

[kmlacroix]

Air bags can help. Ask FWC for advice about how well a stock Taco handles the camper.

 

[tgreening]

I don't imagine a stock Taco will handle a slide in very well at all unless things have changed significantly. Shoot, my semi-ample ******** sitting on the tailgate will send the suspension heading south. As best I can tell payload for a 2016 Tacoma maxes out at about 1,600 lbs. A FWC for it, even with a base weight of about 800 lbs, is probably going to hit about 1200 lbs in a delivered configuration and that will be before you add water, propane, food, clothes, and all the other bits and pieces that seem to get sucked into the equipment black hole that is a camper. Don't forget to add passenger weight, tools, Rover, and anything else you've added to your rig. Bags will help level the load but they aren't going to do much for controlling that extra mass, i.e. sway and bounce.

I'm going to buck the trend here and recommend a lift geared towards your intended load and usage. Unless you intend to get crazy on the height a small lift for a Taco doesn't consist of much more than some new shocks and maybe some springs in the rear. Once you go past 2.5 inches or so it starts to get really complicated (expensive) but I don't see a need for that, for you.

A good lift up to that 2.5 inches can have shocks/components every bit as good and reliable, sometimes more so, than factory. Your new mild lift can be engineered to handle the load you're going to expect it to carry on a daily basis.

Don't load it down so much it's headed to the bump stops and then expect bags to make it up. Those should be used for nothing more than leveling away a bit of squat. If you are marginal without bags your suspension needs addressed. If you're cruising down washboard and a bag blows under a close to maxed suspension you'll be slowing to a relative crawl or bouncing off the bumps non-stop.

I'd go for a mild 1"-2"" lift with good quality shocks/coils up front and in the rear good shocks and leaves engineered for the load you'll be carrying. Bags to level out any mild height differences. I think you'll be much happier doing it ahead of time at your choosing, instead of getting on the road and finding out its something that should have been done before you left.

 

[tanglefoot]

I think those airbags should be all you need for the FWC. I'm also in the "stock as possible" camp.

 

[mbrewer]

I would do a small lift about 1.5 inches front, 3+ rear. A couple inches extra helps protect the undercarriage and helps avoid the need for armor. At the same time you can go heavy on the rear springs and get a smoother ride and skip airbags. The cost is a little more wear on the cv joints.

 

[NODNARB]

I'd say it depends on how much ground you want to cover per hour. The great part about "race" type shocks, is you can valve them to your liking, from Cadillac soft to rattle your teeth out stiff, all for about $20 in shims.


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[ebg18t]

I would suggest calling DownSouth Motorsports. They custom valved my Fox setup and it was awesome. See what they suggest as they do a ton of custom valving for folks.

 

[drobb]

I would suggest calling DownSouth Motorsports. They custom valved my Fox setup and it was awesome. See what they suggest as they do a ton of custom valving for folks.

This

 

[ADVW/Liam]

OME or Bilstien 6112...

After watching hours of video (you tube) of guys spending days in the Australian Outback, having to drive for hours on rough "roads" or going down long trails to get to the next campsite, or even anything resembling a town, I determined that OME is probably the safest way to go for a suspension upgrade for over landing. I believe most, if not all, of the "utes" driven had the OME system. It's not made for desert racing, but that's not what I define as Over Landing. ICON, FOX, and KING also make great systems, but they are more geared for the high speed crowd. Don't misunderstand me, I'd love to have any of those three under my truck, but I cant afford the $3-4,000 for a full suspension kit. If I was doing a LT kit, I'd definitely go with one of them. Bilstien 6112s are new and look promising, but I haven't seen much research on them. What ever you go with, I recommend replacing the UCAs. After I installed my OME kit, I waited about 6 months for the UCAs. I bought ICONs tubular UCAs, and I can tell you, it makes a huge difference.

 

[camodog]

It is basically down to toytec or ome for my 15 4Runner. And honestly it will take a lot of convincing for me to not pick ome. I need to be able to traverse some strenuous CO mtn passes and I want my truck to still behave while on the Tarmac.

 

[Adventurous]

Pardon my disjointed thoughts, but here we go.

The stock suspension on my 2015 Tacoma SR5 was very underwhelming. It felt too soft stock and the rear didn't do well with a topper. Part of going with a lift was to get some suspension rated to carry heavier loads. I went with OME up front and a Dakar leaf pack with ICON shocks out back. I dislike the OME shocks for their poor rebound control, but, they are very much like the stockers in their construction.

That said, you can get stock length aftermarket suspension. I personally felt like there was a huge increase in performance with aftermarket suspension and much appreciate the extra height it gave me for some of the terrain around here.

 

[WillBeck]

I would suggest calling DownSouth Motorsports. They custom valved my Fox setup and it was awesome. See what they suggest as they do a ton of custom valving for folks.

I'm going to x2 this. I have Kings on all four corners, and the ride is unmatched, even by my bosses fancy new Land Rover.

OME, although very very good, is still old twin tube technology. They will not be able to take a sustained beating like Bilstein 5160's, 6112's or a Fox 2.0" kit.

For example, I'd like to see an OME kit do this...

[video]https://youtu.be/-_yjShdbUMI[/video]