LONG weekend, but it's done! ARB, Winch, Downey CO's, Pics

sagexp said:

This was not a one man job, but, I did it my damn self anyway.

Started putting things together Friday night, then installed the Downey Coil Overs (easiest part of all), and The NWOR 1 1/2" Shackles and KYB gas adjust shocks (moved inboard 1/2") on Saturday.

On Sunday, Installed the ARB and Warn M8000 winch, along with the Piaa 80 Pro XT's.

The ARB was a gold plated bitch to do by myself, especially since it seems nothing wanted to line up right. ARB's instructions were not that great, and to top it off, at max adjustment, I'm still about 1/4 inch off center on the bumper. Nobody but me would notice, but it irks me nonetheless.


I like it. Ended up with 1.5" lift all the way around. The Downeys are Smoooottthhhhh. I hope that smooth does not translate into soft once I get it back in the dirt though. I don't have an area around to wheel it, so I did a little urban wheeling, hitting speed bumps at speed, and dropping over some curbs. Wow, is this what a real suspension is supposed to feel like? I had a non-trd tacoma, so I had a real bare bones suspension on there. The on road feel is without a doubt superior to the non-trd tacoma suspension.

Dropped the rear tail pipe support down one bolt for a 1" drop. I'm hoping that's all I need, I'll see. Have not done the BPV valve bracket yet, I'll hit that tomorrow. Brake line is pending, as well as a decent washing. All I've done is hose it off since last week, but she's purty to me! It will continue to make for a kick ass hunting / exploring truck.

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sagexp said:

Yes, I got the Tacoma coils. I figured the Tundra coils would be overkill and would sacrafice too much flex or ride too rough.

I will see how it goes. I'm going to run a week with the cable and fairlead in, and see how it goes. Right now, I'm not sure what I'm feeling exactly, but I'm getting an odd sensation while driving. The front is smooth to be sure, but the back is not. So, when I'm hitting bumps, I get a "bump -- BUMP". Again, I've not had it in the dirt yet, but that front suspension sure soaks up some big bumps. I've got a set of them large speed bumps (like 3 feet wide, 8" tall) that I go across every day. Ordinarily they feel like they'll launch me. Now, the suspension just soaks them up. Huge improvement.

It just feels like the stock (except for shackles and KYB gas adjust shocks) rear suspension is now not up to the task the way the front is. They KYBs may be too stiff as well.

I felt better about the set up today, but still have an odd sensation. If it doesn't improve or I don't get used to it by the weekend, I'll take off the cable and roller fairlead for a week and see how things feel. But, it doesn't feel like too much weight, just different spring rates, so removing the weight may not help?

It would kill me to have to buy synthetic line and aluminum fairlead, as I intentionally spent the extra money bought the M8000 with 100' and roller fairlead because I had no intention of running synthetic. If I thought I'd of run synthetic, I'd of just gotten the same damn winch with 80' and hawse for a heck of a lot cheaper. May not have made the financially smart purchase on this one......

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