2002 Tacoma suspension Advice.

Long time Lurker finally going to make some improvements onmy 2002 Tacoma. I bought this truck lastyear with 76K on it and really like the truck. It’s a little small on the inside but I have a Tundra that I use forfamily trips. This is my Fishing/Campingrig/ Daily Driver. Wife drives theTundra and hates this truck go figure…



In an effort to improve handling I started looking atreplacing the shocks. Right now there isa lot of roll and dives into corners. It is super soft and just feels like shit.



I started looking at the Old man EMU setup with 881’s and DakarLeaf pack in the rear. I went to FourWheel Parts and it came out to 960 with tax for the setup. This is disassembled. I decided on 881’s because I don’t have theextra weight of a ARB bumper yet. YET! The guy told me I would need to do a diff drop if I went with the 882’s now. After some research it doesn’t look like that’s a bad/expensive option.



Option 2 to refresh the suspension I was looking at the 5100’swith stock springs (if mine are not too tired) I found a set from Down South on ebay for 339 shipped front andRear. I then looked at my rear leafs tosee if they too were not spent and merited replacement. They look almost inverted at this point. Ihave a camper shell and a Titan Rod Vault on it now and shouldn’t be more than200 pounds total. So when I add the Darkleaf packs to the mix I believe they are about 400 I’m getting close to the OME setup as far as price.

If the rear leafs are supposed to look like that I was thinkingI could add a shackle kit to raise it up in the back some also. I had read that using the 5100 shocks on the back without any lift in the rear would cause them to blow if it bottoms out.



I’m trying to get the most bang for my buck, I don’t see myself doing any heavy wheeling. I have too many hobbies at this point and frankly don't have the money to blow repairing broken stuff. I just want the truck to perform well and handle well on the road and pull my Small boat to the river



Option 3. I looked atthe fox setup that others have posted and while they look nice its more than Iwant to bite off at this point. I may be able to be swayed otherwise.



Advice is welcome, if you are in or around Colorado springs and have any of these setups I’d love to come check them out first hand before investing The truck has pretty new tires and I like my MPG so they will stay for the time being. Next set I'll go a little bigger and more aggressive.



Thanks,

Jeff

 

OME Dakar Leaf springs or Air Bags

 

So the rears are overly "flat"

 

Don't waste your time with 5100s.

Get the OME 881 and Dakar setup with nitrocharger shocks. You can still get a decent alignment out of the 881s (enough caster) with getting aftermarket UCAs (Light Racing or some type of uniball).

You will need an extended rear brake line, a brake proportioning valve (BPV) relocation bracket, and likely an extended exhaust hanger.

 

My friend just did OME Full set up with a rig just like yours with Camper He loves it

 

What springs did he go with?

 

Are extended brakeline required with the OME setup?

 

I Know he did the full OME kit with springs in the front & in the rear with ARB OME Dakars CSO46R leaf springs with the camper sits level... You will need the full OME Kit(4) shocks (2) springs (4) U-Bolts & (2) OME Daker leaf springs

 

Different people have different results.

My 01 Xcab did. At full droop (rear driver side hanging, and passenger stuffed in the wheel well), my OEM rubber brake line was pulled straight form fitting to fitting.

Aftermarket extended brake lines (good ones) are braided stainless on the outside, which also helps braking power by reducing rubber line flex caused by internal line pressure.

You can either wait and see and do your own droop test, or just do it if you just bought the truck and are not sure when the last brake service with fluid change was performed. You may want to knock it all out at the same time.

 

I'll look into it. I don't see myself wheeling too much but I'd like to be prepared worst case.

 

Yeah, I don't like the idea of having an achilles heel on my truck. Especially with brakes in mountains.