Just got my GFC installed on a stock 2023 Tacoma OR DCLB. I’ve read a ton of posts about needing suspension upgrades and sagging but have no idea what I should get. I’m not planning on doing any serious off-roading (maybe a little bit might come up). What’s the ideal upgrade?
While it would be helpful to know your overall weight when camping and what type of off-roading may come up, you’re only looking at around 250- 275lbs of additional weight, which means your stock suspension will handle the load just fine.
If you start increasing weight, adding a leaf or upgrading your leaf springs would be a good first option before looking into other suspension platforms.
A similar topic was posted the other day, and granted they’re a TRD Pro owner, we would still suggest stock until you truly need (or want) the upgrade.
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With two people and gear probably adding another 300-350lbs when camping. Thanks for linking that other topic! so I could just add a leaf to the stock suspension? Any recommendations for which?
Some of that comes down to brand preference and price point, but to name a few options with both add-a-leaf and full leaf pack upgrades, check these out:
You could also look at Old Man Emu, but a few notable sources mentioned more squeaking compared to other brands. Hopefully anyone w/ OME leafs can add to that commentary. As for me, I run the Dobinsons MRR + 3-Way, and I’ve been pretty impressed with the leaf springs.
I put SumoSprings on my access cab SR5 as a short term solution until I work towards doing a full kit for a lift and additional load capacity. With camper, gear, food, and water I’m at roughly at 600 lbs of static load. I found that to be enough to result in a bit of a squatted stance on stock suspension.
Blue SumoSprings bring the loaded truck back to level when loaded. Unloaded it sits with just about 1/4-1/2" airgap between the frame and the SumoSpring. Loaded ride quality feels much less wallow-y in the travel over bumps. Unloaded ride quality decreased a bit and is a tad stiff, but I think an OK compromise for now.
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+1 on Icon suspension upgrade. I did their stage 3 lift with full RXT leaf pack and I love the overall performance and responsiveness. I wanted a ~2” lift all around and got the front right there and the rear a bit higher.
Got back the rake, no worries loading the bed with a ton of stuff either. The factory suspension on my ‘18 OR DCSB held up fine, but the camper leveled it out. You could do an add-a-leaf to support the camper in the rear as a much more economical option.
+1 for Sumo Springs (@aeevard). Simple to install and help with heavy loads and bottoming out. That being said I recently put in an Icon Add a Leaf kit in and am very happy with it so far. The truck no longer sits directly on the Sumo Springs.
Do you also add anything to the front to keep it level?
There are a few different solutions to the squeaking on OME/Dakar’s. I believe the easiest was using factory bushings. There is a bunch of info on Tacomaworld. The biggest gripe most people have, in my experience, is that they sag easier/quicker than competitors.
I’ve been running the OME leaf since 2014. It’s the older leaf pack so not sure this review is relevant but mine have been great.
Initially I ran them with the 3rd leaf removed (I guess that the equivalent of the current medium duty pack). In 2021 I added the 3rd leaf back because my truck has gained some weight over the years.
I’ll be refreshing my suspension in the next 2 or 3 years and will install hammer hangers and a fresh leaf pack at that point but could likely get much more use out of the dakars still…they haven’t flattened out much and I have used them pretty hard over the years.
If I were the OP and not wanting to lift the vehicle or wheel I’d look into airbags or timberin bumps.
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All around upgrade with Bilstein 5160’s in the rear, and Bilstein 6112’s up front.
The 6112/5160’s would also be my recommendation for the cheapest “performance” suspension upgrade
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I have a generation two 2014 Tacoma double cab, and I had at least 3 inches of sag after I installed the camper. Once I put gear and camping stuff inside, it dropped another inch. I had heavy duty leaf springs installed, and that fixed it. I don’t do serious offloading, but I do have a 3 inch lift kit. (Toytec). Without the heavy duty leaf springs on the rear, the truck always appeared like it was going uphill.