Suspension for 2017 Tacoma and FWC Fleet Shell

[lactic]

I have been researching this topic for 2 days straight, read almost every thread on suspension, and I have changed my mind 10 different times!

I have a stock 2017 Tacoma DCLB and I am picking up a FWC Fleet shell next month and I plan on using the Firestone ride Right airbags with the Daystar cradles which I already have. I thought I was going to do the OME HD struts, 886 springs, and HD Dakar leafs but I have concerns about the front strut top out clunk and the limited articulation with the rear struts.

This has led me to the following setup.

Fox Level 2 kit-
2.5 Fox extended front coils (no remote reservoir)
LR UCAs
2.0 Fox rear struts with remote reservior and compression dampening
OME HD Dakar leafs

www.headstrongoffroad.com/store/p193/FOX_Level_2_Kit_w%2F_OME_Dakar_Leaf_Packs_-_05__Tacoma.html

Does anyone have any feedback, suggestions, or recommendations with this or a similar setup with a Tacoma/FWC camper that will stay on the truck approximately 90% of the time?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Scott81621]

I have a 2010 Tacoma DCLB with a Fleet shell and Firestone Airbags. Stock suspension and the truck handles the weight no problem. I can cruse 90 on the highway with no handling issues.

My only other upgrade would be to the stock shocks, BUT I would not want to make my lift any higher, as I think the is detrimental for the handling.

My two cents!

 

[takesiteasy]

We have a 2011 Access cab TRD Off-road and an ATC shell camper. I'm not sure how the 2011 truck compares to the 2017 so this might all be irrelevant.

The truck has the stock TRD Off-road suspension (with the factory extra leaf). We do not have air bags. The truck carries the camper without any issues for the most part. We have had some porposing on a couple of roads but it has not been at all common or enough to cause me to upgrade the suspension. As the shocks near the end of their useful life I am considering some upgrades similar to what you are proposing. I would not be interested in any additional lift other than what is already built into the TRD package, which is 2 inches I believe.

You might consider loading the camper and trying it out with just the air bags and see how it goes before spending a bunch of money on the suspension. You can always do it later if necessary.

 

[James T Kirk]

You can check out what I recently did here

-Kirk Out

 

[rando]

One thing to keep in mind is that with a 1000lb + of camper and gear on board you are not going to be a rock crawling, desert racing machine. Relatively speaking, you will be a lumbering beast. Extended travel and extra articulation are probably less important than longevity and maybe adjustability to dial in the damping for the heavy load. I would go with Scott in that you want to avoid lift - you are going to be top heavy and tippy with the camper, extra lift or squishy long travel suspension will just make this worse.

I have a 2016 Tacoma with a Fleet Flatbed (heavier than a shell) and I have OME Dakars with the extra leaf in the back, OME BP51 shocks and airbags/cradles for fine adjustments. I dialed the front BP-51s down to the lowest preload/lift and still ended up a little higher than I would have liked. I have also had two failures related to the BP-51s in ~10K miles, so I would not fully endorse these. If i were to do this again, I would likely just use the standard stiff OME shocks to save significant money and for higher reliability. The FOX shocks seem to have similar issues with reliability and the need for frequent rebuilds.

 

[nikonron]

I have a 2009 Tacoma access cab, Eagle shell. I'm pretty light on the camper itself but have ARB front bumper w/winch, rear swing away bumper and full skid plates and sliders.I'm running Icon coilovers and OME Dakars w/ extra leaf and sit level and handles fine. No air bags and I don't need them. I'm probably lifted 2 inches.Just did the Maze in Canyonlands, so yes you can do some pretty rough trails. The key is slow and deliberate. I'm a very cautious driver. Ron

 

[ETAV8R]

OME fail far too often.
Since they are standard with all TRD Off-road models and people try to use the trucks stock for off-road travel there are lots of people who have had them fail. Usually from overheating. I personally know of three people in addition to myself that had them fail. These were all trucks carrying camping loads. There have been several recent posts about people wanting to know about options for Tacomas.

Here's a good clip showing what can happen to different types of shocks/struts with no load.

 

[nikonron]

I think you are confusing OME with OEM, big difference. OME is Old Man Emu and OEM is Original equipment manufacture

 

[ETAV8R]

Ah you're correct. Their both yellow lol. The OEM for Tacoma's are the lower end Billy's .
Still upgrading from the TRD Billy's to OME isn't the best solution. Maybe with their new resi system but that took a long time to come to market. Having gone to upgraded Bilstein shocks/struts is working well for me.

In regards to extended travel, I go with the "better to have it and not need it" mindset.

 

[trikebubble]

I have a Tundra, but had the same dilemma as far as suspension went. At the end of the day I went with higher end performance shocks that can deal with the repetitive abuse of washboard and forestry roads, along with heavy duty springs on the front and OME Dakar leaf packs (also have the Dakar add-a-leaf on order but not installed yet) and Firestone airbags / Daystar cradles. I did not want to rely solely on airbags to deal with the added weight, more to have them there to assist with the added weight, and provide a level of adjustability for changing extra weight loads. I went with a mid-travel suspension lift set-up for added clearance and articulation off-road, without lifting the truck too high as to make it unstable in the environments where we plan of off-roading.

On the way home through the mountains with the new camper last weekend, the Dakar leaf packs handled the dry weight of the camper without really relying on the airbags at all. The truck barely squatted at all with the camper on it. I had about 20psi in the bags, just as a precaution. Once I add the extra Dakar leaf to the mix and knowing I have the airbags as a supplemental load bearing part, I am pretty confident my set-yup will work for me as I need it to.

 

[SWE]

I highly recommend Boise spring works to custom build a set of back springs based upon the load you are going to carry. I tried airbags and they were a joke compared to a good set of custom springs. They are also reasonably priced and you they can build it to your truck dimensions without them seeing your truck. I had them shipped in and took them to a shop for install. I typically run my FWC on the truck or a leer camper shell. Without the weight they are stiff, but I have no reason to take off the FWC now that I found a long term solution for the added weight.

My 2015 taco has a 2.5 inch lift on the front (adjustable Bilstein's) and Boise Spring Works built in a 2.5 inch lift on the back so it sits level. I run 285 BFG's on my 2015 taco. It is ready to go anywhere and rides like a dream. I also had to find some Bilsteins shocks for the back as the OME's bottomed out, but in all it is a very reasonably priced suspension upgrade that should last a long time. I stuck with a 2.5 inch lift as the service manager at Toyota told me not to go over 2.5 as it will start to screw with the long term wear on the drive train. Even with the 285's and a loaded truck, it has plenty of power and will stop just fine.

 

[acmedave]

OME fail far too often.
Since they are standard with all TRD Off-road models and people try to use the trucks stock for off-road travel there are lots of people who have had them fail. Usually from overheating. I personally know of three people in addition to myself that had them fail. These were all trucks carrying camping loads. There have been several recent posts about people wanting to know about options for Tacomas.

Here's a good clip showing what can happen to different types of shocks/struts with no load.

 

[park]

I must be lucky. I've been running my 09 Tacoma with a FWC Fleet on it for well over 100,000 miles. All stock except for air bags/upgraded tires and I've had zero problems. And no, it doesn't sit in Starbuck's parking lot. I've run it from the Arctic Circle to the tip of Baja and lots of points in between. Granted, when off-road I don't beat the piss out of it but I don't hesitate in taking it anywhere either. I just don't see dumping a ton of money in a major suspension overhaul. I came across a guy with the same truck/camper set up as mine in Baja a few months ago and you would have thought he was going to run the Dakar with the damn thing. He hadn't been anywhere in Baja that I hadn't already been. I guess if money is no object, you want to look the part and you're into having all the fancy stuff then go for it. I'll use my funds for gas, beer, and sardines while roaming about on another adventure.

 

[Karlton]

I picked my Hawk up from the distributor in Boise, ID, which happens to be Boise Spring Works! They did a custom rear leaf spring upgrade for my 2007 Tundra TRD, which handles the load of the Hawk with no issues. I had considered airbags and upgraded bump-stops (e.g., Timbrens) before going with the spring upgrade. It was a simple choice for me as Boise was doing the install, and the springs ran about $400.

 

[badtoytrd]

One thing to keep in mind is that with a 1000lb + of camper and gear on board you are not going to be a rock crawling, desert racing machine. Relatively speaking, you will be a lumbering beast. Extended travel and extra articulation are probably less important than longevity and maybe adjustability to dial in the damping for the heavy load. I would go with Scott in that you want to avoid lift - you are going to be top heavy and tippy with the camper, extra lift or squishy long travel suspension will just make this worse.
I have a 2016 Tacoma with a Fleet Flatbed (heavier than a shell) and I have OME Dakars with the extra leaf in the back, OME BP51 shocks and airbags/cradles for fine adjustments. I dialed the front BP-51s down to the lowest preload/lift and still ended up a little higher than I would have liked. I have also had two failures related to the BP-51s in ~10K miles, so I would not fully endorse these. If i were to do this again, I would likely just use the standard stiff OME shocks to save significant money and for higher reliability. The FOX shocks seem to have similar issues with reliability and the need for frequent rebuilds.

Can you tell us what issues you had with the BP51s? I am looking to upgrade my OME HD and this is the first I've heard anything negative about them.

 

[rando]

I had a leak in the hose between the reservoir and the shock body and bolt in the mounting bracket that extends the rear axel shock mount shear. Both of these failures happened with less than 10k miles. I have read of others with leaks.

 

[badtoytrd]

I had a leak in the hose between the reservoir and the shock body and bolt in the mounting bracket that extends the rear axel shock mount shear. Both of these failures happened with less than 10k miles. I have read of others with leaks.

Good to know. I am in need of new shocks and was gonna go that route but now I think I'm just gonna go with Nitrocharger Sports. Apples to Oranges but a lot cheaper and possibly more reliable.

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

I've ran Old Man Emu on 5 different Toyota's with probably close to 100k of OFF road miles, with not a single failure. I STRONGLY recommend them for the type of stuff we do.

Each truck is different, so i wont give specific suggestions, except.... Whatever you do, if you really are set on replacing your UCA, do NOT replace them with anything that uses anything other than a stock style balljoint. The Heim's and the orbital ball are insanely noisy after a short time and require an obscene amount of maintenance if you dont like creeking and all sorts of weird noises from your suspension.

Again, i have over 100k OFF road on 5 trucks, personally, ive never changed the UCA, and would never change them ever. People get sucked into that rabbit hole, thinking they need them and very often, you see them selling them a year later to go back to stock

My .02

 

[James T Kirk]

I removed the OME AAL from my OME HD leaf pack. It was just too stiff a ride when the camper was off. And the rake was out of control. OME 887 coils in the front with Bilstein 5100's all around.

The HD Dakar's do just fine without anything else. Selling the AAL along with my stock leaf pack off of a 2017 Tacoma.

-Kirk Out

 

[badtoytrd]

I've ran Old Man Emu on 5 different Toyota's with probably close to 100k of OFF road miles, with not a single failure. I STRONGLY recommend them for the type of stuff we do.

Each truck is different, so i wont give specific suggestions, except.... Whatever you do, if you really are set on replacing your UCA, do NOT replace them with anything that uses anything other than a stock style balljoint. The Heim's and the orbital ball are insanely noisy after a short time and require an obscene amount of maintenance if you dont like creeking and all sorts of weird noises from your suspension.

Again, i have over 100k OFF road on 5 trucks, personally, ive never changed the UCA, and would never change them ever. People get sucked into that rabbit hole, thinking they need them and very often, you see them selling them a year later to go back to stock

My .02

Great info!