Suspension recommendation for a Toyota Tacoma

[LTZ]

Hello All,

I have a 1995 Toyota Tacoma Xtra Cab 4x4. I just purchased a 2000 FWC Eagle. My truck has 243K miles on the original suspension with the exception of changing the shocks, as per Toyota specifications. The camper will be on my vehicle 24-7. I live in Colorado and plan on spending a lot of time in the back country and traveling on highways.

What is the recommended suspension upgrade?

What inverter and battery isolator do you suggest? I will be charging a macbook computer, Iphone, and inflating an air mattress.

Where do you suggest I purchase these items?

I appreciate your responses!

 

[Overland Hadley]

I would recommend looking at Timbrens for you suspension needs.

 

[Cort]

Hello LTZ,

I have a 2001 Tacoma and here is what I ended up doing.

replaced the stock front coils with OME 881 coil set from Old Man Emu (EMU)
I opted for Bilstein 5100's on all four corners...This was a compromise I did not have enough money to spend more on shocks. I initially, installed Ride Rite Air bags but soon found out due to the type of driving that I do that the air bag brackets were not strong enough. I pulled them off and had them boxed out and decided that I did not want to rely on them but only use them for leveling. I had Deaver Suspension build me a custom 10 leaf pack for the rear end. Finally I run load range E tires.

I know this sounds like a lot of mods but really it is not that bad (all said and done around $3,000 with tires) and I am extremely happy with the results. I did do a lot of the labor myself. I bought all of my suspension components from Wheelers Offroad with the exception of the Deaver Leaf Spring Pack. Deaver designed the pack for my specific needs and I drove to their shop in Riverside CA to have them installed.

When I did the suspension mods on my truck it had 180,000 hard miles so the difference was amazing. If you are going to leave the camper on the truck all the time I would strongly recommend having a custom leaf spring set built for your truck....you could skip the airbags or timbrems then and save yourself some money.

You are going to get lots of different recomendations on suspensions mods and all of them have there plusses and minus....I went through this same process a year ago and the best thing I can recommend is to take everyones suggestions and research them as much as possible. I have a couple threads on WTW that helped me finally decide what I wanted. Here they are

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/3131/

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/3651/

you will see a bunch of different recommendations from folks in the first thread and you will see where I ended up.

you will likely need to change some things up to make it specific for your year truck (not sure how similar it is to my 01 Taco).

Feel free to drop me a message if you have any questions or want anymore specifics.

Good Luck,

Cort

 

[BSS]

At 245K, you need new leaf springs anyways. Timbrens or bags will be like putting a band aid on a broken arm. The mods Cort suggests are also what I'd recommend. Gen 1 Tacomas are very weak when it comes to actually hauling a load. With all new springs, shocks, E tires, and maybe a swaybar, you'll be running just like new.

As far as inverters, you'll need to calculate what your demand is going to be first, then go from there. If you're plugging expensive electronics into your camper, however, you'll need a pure sine inverter to avoid damage.

The best deal going (for house batteries), IMO - are the 6V golf cart batts at Costco. They are manufactured by Johnson Control, and are white with a red top. 220ah capacity and only around $80 ea. Two of these wired in series will give you more than enough power to camp a week or more without needing recharging. I don't know the discharge curves or anything off the top of my head, but when I was doing my research they were VERY comparable to the Trojan T105, (at about 40% of the cost) which as you know are pretty much the gold standard of deep cycle batteries.

 

[LTZ]

Cort and BSS,

Your information is much appreciated!

Thanks,

 

[LTZ]

I ended up buying the Timbrens due to lack of funds for the full on suspension. Upon attaching the Timbrens, the space between the bottom of the "spring" and the plate were not within the specifications. I called Timbren and they sent me spacers, studs, and shorter springs at no charge! Excellent customer service......

Thanks, for all of your advice!

 

[Overland Hadley]

I ended up buying the Timbrens due to lack of funds for the full on suspension. Upon attaching the Timbrens, the space between the bottom of the "spring" and the plate were not within the specifications. I called Timbren and they sent me spacers, studs, and shorter springs at no charge! Excellent customer service......

Thanks, for all of your advice!




Where did you purchase the Timbrens from?

 

[LTZ]

Where did you purchase the Timbrens from?



I purchased them from Wheelers Off Road. I ended up emailing Timbren to remedy the spacer situation. Wheelers was extremely helpful but, I didn`t want to go through the middle man because I was in a hurry to get on the road from Cali to Colorado.

 

[Argonaut20]

Check with Toyota, but if your truck is in warranty and it "bottoms out" with a load on it, Toyota will install the heavier springs for you. At least this is the way it used to work.

 

[Tradmonkey]

To upgrade a 2001 Taco, I too went with a custom leaf pack, but from National Spring Company. I opted for the slightly softer Rancho 9000 adjustable shocks rather than the Bilstiens, and the adjustability is nice - stiffen it up for handling on the highway, and soften it for the off-road. Out the door with installation, I paid just under $1400. The handling & performance is amazing. I logged some pretty challenging offroading in Anza Borrego over the New Year's holiday (Canyon Sin Nombre to Fish Creek via the Arroyo Seco Del Diablo Dropoff, and through Ocotillo Wells via the "Crossover Trail") and everything performed marvelously.

Now I need to address the front end. It's not too bad, but a bit soft (both spring and shock) for my liking.

 

[redwoodrambler]

am on the verge of getting the new eagle for my taco prerunner 2004 w/about 105,000 mi and running fine...

am a music festival, state/county park camping freak....not off road boondocking.

being a simple minimalist and not very mechanical, what suspension upgrades would be practical but not overkill?

and what about airbags vrs progressive springs?

figure about 1100 lbs fully loaded...plan on leaving it on about half the year...don't want to hurt my baby

redwoodrambler

 

[Cort]

With that weight and the amount of time you plan on leaving it on the truck you can't get away with just airbags or timbrems. With just the airbags you would be asking for trouble (if you had one fail you would be up **it creek without a paddle). Take a look a the mods that I did. While my truck is off road capable I did not set it up as a super Taco 4X4....I built my setup to be able to handle forest service roads and BLM roads at speed and without worry and still be able to use it as my daily driver. You could get a spring that is a bit more progressive than mine, which would probable suit your needs.

feel free to contact me,

Cort

 

[Overland Hadley]

am on the verge of getting the new eagle for my taco prerunner 2004 w/about 105,000 mi and running fine...

am a music festival, state/county park camping freak....not off road boondocking.

being a simple minimalist and not very mechanical, what suspension upgrades would be practical but not overkill?

and what about airbags vrs progressive springs?

figure about 1100 lbs fully loaded...plan on leaving it on about half the year...don't want to hurt my baby

redwoodrambler


Timbrens.

 

[DLN]

For your type of use I'd go with something like Super Springs (will only come into play with the camper on) and air bags to level and adjust ride with camper on or off. Personally I'd never depend on air bags alone. With a spring upgrade and bags if a bag fails you can still function without damaging the truck's too soft stock leaf pack. I had good results with the add-a-leaf, air bags, and heavy duty shocks on my Tacoma. When we sold the camper I had to have the leaf removed so Super Springs would have been a better initial choice. Now pulling the trailer the bags and heavy shocks come in very handy.

 

[redwoodrambler]

much thanks to Cort, Overland and DLN for the food for thought....am still ruminating
gracias guys...

redwoodrambler

 

[Harvey hound]

I have a 2000 Tacoma and I installed an add-a-leaf to the rear along with some Timbrens and new Bilstien shocks. In the front I added a 1.5 inch aluminum spacer to even the truck out and give it a slight lift. I am extremely satisfied with the Timbrens as they are pretty much maintenance free and extremely easy to install and would highly recommend them.