tenmile said:
Here's what I'm thinking:
Now:
TRD Supercharger (Dealer install $470 Longmont)
Slee or FOR or OME 4inch medium lift (Need to get quote)
ARB Rear Locker for Now (Slee or other Install)
Slee Sliders (step side)
Center Diff Switch for High Lock
Tires: BF TA KO's LT315/75R16/D
Later:
GPS in Dash
ARB Front with Lights
ARB/Slee Rear with Tire
Your thoughts?
I say the FOR and Slee 4" are superior to OME because they use higher quality springs, and because OME's design principle is to just provide springs and shocks, which can create a lot of unneeded compromises. What that means on an 80 is a 2.5" lift runs a 10" travel shock and about 6"-6.5" of that is up travel.
Which also means that the OME 2.5" kit, which runs the exact same shocks as the OME heavy (3") kit and the OME stock height kit, can only run 33" tires. You could run those tires stock. Makes no sense on a rig that has wheel wells the size of a 35" tire with no trimming needed.
I run the FOR kit (and I have the prototype) - it replaced OME 2.5 (medium). I still grin every time I drive it...it is that much better. Offroad there is no comparison, it's not even the same rig. The suspension is still 10" travel but it fits 35's and runs them with a perfectly balanced 5" of up and 5" down travel. This is my family rig - four kids and all - but I still wanted an optimized suspension for my use (mall and rock crawling, low weight, no forced induction) and am fortunate that Frankie built me one.
So: Slee 4" for an "expedition" build with all the goods (more height to handle the extra weight), and FOR 3" for a more bare bones rock crawling setup that still mall crawls like a champ.
A 35" spare won't fit in the stock location, so your "later" plans for tire carrier may not work unless you want to throw the spare on the roof (and I use the word "throw" loosely here
) like I do.
Skip the BFG's. There are so many tires that are so much better, and given you live in Summit Co I'd want a tire that didn't suck so badly in the snow while being poor in monsoon rains and fairly harsh riding on the dry pavement because it needs extra air pressure to handle well.
Take your rig to Slee for the work. You won't regret it, and Golden is just up and down the hill for you.
Nay
We hauled our 2 children, wife, my sister, and 84 year old grandmother for the maiden voyage. Not a single rub, just a few scrapes on the mud flaps. Photos:
