Help! Need suspension advice. '12 Tacoma

[djm68]

Hello,

I need some help figuring out what suspension to invest in for my 2012 OR AC 4x4. I am not new to suspension in general, but new to truck suspension -- so far, I've only setup track car suspension. I am a bit out of my element with trucks and have and hard time understanding what is actually necessary for my usage.

My truck is basically stock save for 265/75/16 BFG K02s and my GFC camper. I will do a light weight interior build out and from what I've estimated, I should be able to keep the truck under the max GVWR.

My use case:
I've done a few camping trips tossing things in the back in bins, Dometic fridge, portable battery + solar. I will be taking longer trips in the not too distant future; I would have headed to Baja for a few weeks this winter, but unlikely now with COVID19, so Mojave or Anza Borengo is the likely destination for the holidays.

In roughly 2 years, I will have a 45 day 'sabbatical' from work. My intent, at the moment, is likely to spend the entire time in Baja, maybe cross over into mainland Mexico as well. I've already spent two weeks in Baja with my truck equipped with a Snugtop hi-liner -- was an amazing trip -- but I needed more space, hence the GFC. If the 45 day trip goes well, there is a non-zero chance I might take off a year (or 2?) and travel around North and South America, in stages as needed.

I'd like the mods I start doing now to be usable for my near term trips, but also work for much longer, likely more rugged trip -- like driving from NorCal to Argentina. I am not planning to seek out 'wheeling' adventures and rock crawling, but I am sure to encounter difficult roads and rough trails. I am not opposed to investing up-front in 'better' suspension, but if it is not needed, I'd be quite happy to stick to rear leaf replacement, new front coils and Bilstein 5100's if that would do. If something more 'advanced' such as coilovers is called for, I am open to that.

Suggestions on where to start?

Thanks,
DJM

 

[DaveInDenver]

You already have coil-overs, don't get too wrapped up about the term. It just means the coil spring is fitted over the shock body.

Are you doing anything else modification, like bumpers, sliders, etc.? Do you want any lift or happen to want to avoid lift at all cost?

The problem is you need better capacity in the rear and finding heavy duty Tacoma packs that don't also give you lift is difficult, just not a common thing. You could add a small Add-A-Leaf pack to compensate for the weight but I suspect you'll find you need to end up with some front lift too to balance the stance rake.

It's a very common thing to use 5100 front shocks with coil that meets your weight needs (probably about 500 or 550 lb/in at most) set to ride with about an inch of rake with a set of add-a-leafs and 5100 rear shocks. You also can't go wrong just putting a full Old Man Emu kit on. Wouldn't be super expensive and is a well known upgrade.

 

[djm68]

You already have coil-overs, don't get too wrapped up about the term. It just means the coil spring is fitted over the shock body.

Are you doing anything else modification, like bumpers, sliders, etc.? Do you want any lift or happen to want to avoid lift at all cost?

The problem is you need better capacity in the rear and finding heavy duty Tacoma packs that don't also give you lift is difficult, just not a common thing. You could add a small Add-A-Leaf pack to compensate for the weight but I suspect you'll find you need to end up with some front lift too to balance the stance rake.

It's a very common thing to use 5100 front shocks with coil that meets your weight needs (probably about 500 or 550 lb/in at most) set to ride with about an inch of rake with a set of add-a-leafs and 5100 rear shocks. You also can't go wrong just putting a full Old Man Emu kit on. Wouldn't be super expensive and is a well known upgrade.

Thanks for your reply.

In my experience, a shock with a fixed spring perch is a 'strut'; I am not necessarily wrapped up in terminology, simply using terms familiar to me coming from a car background, but I do understand your point. EDIT: did not realize the Taco had a dual a-arm front setup, thought it was a strut arrangement.

To address your specific questions:

Uncertain on bumpers or sliders; beyond the added weight what impact would these have on suspension choice?

With regards to a lift, I've accepted that I will end up with a bit of a lift, but I am trying to keep this to a minimum: 1" - 2".

I read mixed reviews on Old Man Emu rear springs for the Tacoma, but I'll do further research. I've heard quite a bit of good feedback about Deaver springs, but they are significantly more expensive.

Cheers,
DJM

 

[tacollie]

Tacomas have dual a-arm suspension with a coilover as the shock/spring. Struts usually act as the spindle and upper a-arm.

OME leafs are a good option in my experience. They have overload springs which makes them less ideal in high some high speed applications. I ran the medium duty OME springs on my 09' Tacoma with our Flippac and had ~2" of lift. It rode and handled great. I ran Bilstein 5100s, Icon 2.5, and Toytec Boss 2.0 shocks front and rear. I will never buy a Bilstein 5100 again. They had a bouncy ride and only lasted 25k miles. I actually had 2 sets in under 50 miles. I replaced them with the icons.The icons handled corners better and rode horrible. I replaced them with the boss 2.0s. Those where the best shocks I put on the truck. I sold the truck to a friend who was a Subaru guy and he can't believe how it eats wash board.

You could start with the medium duty OME and add a leaf down the road if you need more capacity. Shocks are subjective. Try to find some trucks to ride in.