Ready to pull the trigger on 200 suspension upgrade (1 Viewer)

[DPA200]

I know this has been covered many times but I just wanted to get current opinions on where I ended up with my suspension decision. I'm currently at just under 100k on my 08 200 and am finally ready to upgrade from the stock suspension. I have young kids so most almost all of my offroad adventures are more toward the mild overland side around AZ and the SW usually towing my Moab Fort XL camping trailer. I decided on the below setup and just want to see if anybody thinks I should change anything. I currently have Rock Warriors with 285/70/17's with KO2s. Sliders (thinking white knuckle) will be next upgrade soon, Skids after that. Bumpers someday....but that's a way down the line.

1 - OME2702 Front OME Coils (Pair)
2 - 91005 Front OME Nitrocharger Sport Struts
1 - OME2722 Rear OME Coils (Pair)
2 - 61029 Rear OME Nitrocharger Sport Struts

Front SPC upper control arms

Front differential drop kit

I debated over saving up longer for a Icon or BP-51 setup but It sounds like the bang for the buck on the OME classic setup is hard to match. I also really like the long-term reliability of the OME setup that has been proven for many years now around the world. I also was very influenced by a youtube video "Paul May's 200 Series Land Cruiser Walk Around" and his decision to sacrifice a little performance for the tested reliability of the OME setup. I am a bit jealous of the flashy Icon and King and Fox setups but I really can't justify 5-6 times the expense for what I'm going to be doing. As far as Upper Control Arms go I like the look of Total Chaos but I've heard from numerous people the squeak a bunch and I'd be better with SPC.

1 other question, what amount of lift should I expect with this?




Thoughts?

 

[TexAZ]

One thought, you will be happier with one 2721 springs in the rear.
They are progressive. Softer around town, but once you compress them past the soft part they are rated much higher than the 2722.
But, if you want 2722 I have a pair sitting in the garage.

 

[DPA200]

One thought, you will be happier with one 2721 springs in the rear.
They are progressive. Softer around town, but once you compress them past the soft part they are rated much higher than the 2722.
But, if you want 2722 I have a pair sitting in the garage.

Thanks @TexAZ I was hoping you’d chime in. I know you have a lot of 200 suspension experience. I’ll definitely take your advice on the 2721’s that makes sense . Overall I know this isn’t the fanciest but do you think this is a good setup for me? Is there anything else I should be considering? Do you agree with the SPC over Total Choas Upper control arms?

 

[tominboise]

I recently did the same install you describe, less the diff drop. It works great. As mentioned, 2722 rear springs are too much. I had way too much rake for my tastes. I ended up with 2720 and a 10mm packer in the rear. I am going to try 2721 next. Good news is that you can change rear springs in an hour after you do it the first time.

Rig handles washboard roads at 60 great. Handles on the freeway great. Handled Moab trails great. Not sure what you need a diff drop, but I might be missing something. I think I got about 1-1/2" lift ( didn't measure before and after). I have attached some pics trying to show before and after

 

[Mogwai]

Thanks @TexAZ I was hoping you’d chime in. I know you have a lot of 200 suspension experience. I’ll definitely take your advice on the 2721’s that makes sense . Overall I know this isn’t the fanciest but do you think this is a good setup for me? Is there anything else I should be considering? Do you agree with the SPC over Total Choas Upper control arms?

I have TC uppers for about 15k miles now and no squeaks, ever. I run the poly bushing though and not heim joints (heim take more maintenance). I do grease through the zerks every oil change. I like TC because they are a Toyota focussed brand, they build their arms perfectly to each application (from a dimensions perspective. No need to "adjust" either because they are already set for proper). Alignments are always on point. Put it this way, a couple of the other arms out there are basically "copies" of the TC UCAs from a dimensions perspective, heard this from a couple manufacturers, even one that sold his own (copy of the TC UCA). Copying is the biggest form of flattery!

SPCs have their issues too.

 

[SQRRRL]

I’ve had OME in the past and now run Tough Dog. The TD has a better ride on and off highway. Stock bumpers with sliders. I purchased this suspension for your same reasons. The amount of lift is perfect for a family adventure rig. 40mm JP front and 20mm rear. No need for UCA.
Jason @ Trail Tailor was very helpful. He can answer all your questions . Check him out.
Good luck brah!

 

[DPA200]

I recently did the same install you describe, less the diff drop. It works great. As mentioned, 2722 rear springs are too much I had way too much rake for my tastes. Indd up with 2720 and a 10mm packer in the rear. I am going to try 2721 next. Good news is that you can change rear springa in an hour after you do it the first time.

Rig handles washboard roads at 60 great. Handles on the freeway great. Handled Moab trails great. Not sure what you need a diff drop, but I might be missing something. I think I got about 1-1/2" lift ( didn't measure before and after). I have attached some pics trying to show before and after

View attachment 1677788

View attachment 1677790

View attachment 1677792

View attachment 1677793

Thanks for the info and the pics. I hadn't heard of the diff drop either but my local shop (who i trust) recommended it and its pretty inexpensive. They said Front differential drop kit (this keeps the front CV’s at a good angle).

 

[DPA200]

View attachment 1677923 I’ve had OME in the past and now run Tough Dog. The TD has a better ride on and off highway. Stock bumpers with sliders. I purchased this suspension for your same reasons. The amount of lift is perfect for a family adventure rig. 40mm JP front and 20mm rear. No need for UCA.
Jason @ Trail Tailor was very helpful. He can answer all your questions . Check him out.
Good luck brah!

Thanks @SQRRRL . Great looking 200! I love the black license plate I remember those from when I was a kid in California. When you say you had the OME in the past was it on a 200 or something else? Just curious if you tried both on a 200 series. I hadn't really considered Tough Dog but now you got me looking. I looked on their website to price this option out and am a bit confused with the number of options. It looks like they have 41mm Foam Cell, 40mm adjustable, 45mm adjustable, and 53mm Ralph. Each one of those options has light, medium, and heavy rear load. What configuration did you go with? Probably best just to talk to Jason @ Trail Tailor like you suggested. Another question is how did you get away with NOT needing Upper control arms? I heard you need these to get the alignment back to factory spec? Am I missing something on this? Let me know, thanks.

 

[DPA200]

I have TC uppers for about 15k miles now and no squeaks, ever. I run the poly bushing though and not heim joints (heim take more maintenance). I do grease through the zerks every oil change. I like TC because they are a Toyota focussed brand, they build their arms perfectly to each application (from a dimensions perspective. No need to "adjust" either because they are already set for proper). Alignments are always on point. Put it this way, a couple of the other arms out there are basically "copies" of the TC UCAs from a dimensions perspective, heard this from a couple manufacturers, even one that sold his own (copy of the TC UCA). Copying is the biggest form of flattery!

SPCs have their issues too.

Are these the ones you have?

 

[SQRRRL]

I’ve had on LC and 4R. I contacted Jason @ Trail Tailor. He is a vender here on Mud. He can sell you just about any brand. I went with his recommendation and I am very happy. I to had many questions a out what TD offers. 41mm foam cell with 0-600 lbs rear springs. Don’t recall the front spring. I’ll have to look at emails. Again contact Trail Tailor. Jason can answer all your questions.
On UCA’s the lift is 40mm high. Night enough for the need of UCA.

 

[SQRRRL]

I did not change out my UCA. I don’t recall max height to justify UCA’s OEM UCA’s on my rig

 

[Markuson]

I know this has been covered many times but I just wanted to get current opinions on where I ended up with my suspension decision. I'm currently at just under 100k on my 08 200 and am finally ready to upgrade from the stock suspension. I have young kids so most almost all of my offroad adventures are more toward the mild overland side around AZ and the SW usually towing my Moab Fort XL camping trailer. I decided on the below setup and just want to see if anybody thinks I should change anything. I currently have Rock Warriors with 285/70/17's with KO2s. Sliders (thinking white knuckle) will be next upgrade soon, Skids after that. Bumpers someday....but that's a way down the line.

1 - OME2702 Front OME Coils (Pair)
2 - 91005 Front OME Nitrocharger Sport Struts
1 - OME2722 Rear OME Coils (Pair)
2 - 61029 Rear OME Nitrocharger Sport Struts

Front SPC upper control arms

Front differential drop kit

I debated over saving up longer for a Icon or BP-51 setup but It sounds like the bang for the buck on the OME classic setup is hard to match. I also really like the long-term reliability of the OME setup that has been proven for many years now around the world. I also was very influenced by a youtube video "Paul May's 200 Series Land Cruiser Walk Around" and his decision to sacrifice a little performance for the tested reliability of the OME setup. I am a bit jealous of the flashy Icon and King and Fox setups but I really can't justify 5-6 times the expense for what I'm going to be doing. As far as Upper Control Arms go I like the look of Total Chaos but I've heard from numerous people the squeak a bunch and I'd be better with SPC.

1 other question, what amount of lift should I expect with this?




Thoughts?

2721 rear springs are progressive. 2722’s are not. Like @TexAZ said...go with 2721.

I would skip the diff drop:

Diff drops made sense on the 100 (drove mine til it was 16 years old). But the CV angles on the 200 are WAY better. I’ve been lifted for 54,000 miles on my 2008, heavily built 200 (now at 103k) and just beat the CRAP out of in in Baja. CVs are fine, and that’s with 35’s, OME BP-51 suspension...full articulation in rocks & high speed desert pounding. Again...CVs are fine.

If you think you’ll ever lift it much, do the UCA. Personally I’d to them anyway...while you already have the suspension out.

UPDATE added November 2021:
Re diff drop…Even after *another* 50,000 miles added since the above post 3 years ago… my CVs were 100% fine. I finally chose to replace them because they were already removed for other work…but even at 13.5 years and heavy use, they were good with no drop.

 

[mtweller]

I'm in a VERY similar situation and am following along. If you don't mind, I'd like to also ask to add in the conversation any towing considerations. I will be towing my '78 FJ40 (combined weight around 7k or so).

 

[DPA200]

2721 rear springs are progressive. 2722’s are not. Like @TexAZ said...go with 2721.

I would skip the diff drop:

Diff drops made sense on the 100 (drove mine til it was 16 years old). But the CV angles on the 200 are WAY better. I’ve been lifted for 54,000 miles on my 2008, heavily built 200 (now at 103k) and just beat the CRAP out of in in Baja. CVs are fine, and that’s with 35’s, OME BP-51 suspension...full articulation in rocks & high speed desert pounding. Again...CVs are fine.

If you think you’ll ever lift it much, do the UCA. Personally I’d to them anyway...while you already have the suspension out.

Thanks @Markuson I appreciate the advice. I will go with 2721's and I will skip the diff drop, and I'll get the4 UCA's as well. In general, do you think I'm going the right route with this OME setup? Curious your opinion on Tough Dog, if you know anybody else who likes that better. It appears to be in a somewhat similar price point. How do you like your BP-51's? I am mainly just trying to figure out if there is any point in me stretching the bank account to afford BP-51, Icon, Fox, or King for the type of offroading I'm going to be doing the next several years, usually with little kids and a trailer in tow. My current thought is that the OME setup will give me a good amount of lift, be good enough to get me anywhere I'm trying to go, will be way better than stock, and I won't have to worry about any reliability issues. This also would leave me some funds left over to get sliders now, and skids plates soon. If I spend everything $$$ on higher end suspension it'd be a while before id be able to get any armor. I'm thinking sliders are going to help me more than remote reservoirs are. 1 more question for you on the UCA's what do you think about me getting Total Chaos vs SPC? It's really just an appearance thing if I'm honest, but i really like the look of the Total Chaos UPA's.

 

[Mogwai]

Are these the ones you have?

View attachment 1678371

Yes, if you get them get a little extra of the superlube that comes with tjemthem follow instructions. No squeaks.

And I'm not the only one running these, I know @Taco2Cruiser is a fan and they are preffered by owners on other platforms too (I think the LC guys like the SPCs more than other Yota model owners like the SPCs - just an observation). Edit: forgot to mention, SPCs will be less maintenance, TCs will require some. Take that into consideration, you may want the ease of the SPCs.

 

[Mutant]

2721 rear springs are progressive. 2722’s are not. Like @TexAZ said...go with 2721.

I would skip the diff drop:

Diff drops made sense on the 100 (drove mine til it was 16 years old). But the CV angles on the 200 are WAY better. I’ve been lifted for 54,000 miles on my 2008, heavily built 200 (now at 103k) and just beat the CRAP out of in in Baja. CVs are fine, and that’s with 35’s, OME BP-51 suspension...full articulation in rocks & high speed desert pounding. Again...CVs are fine.

If you think you’ll ever lift it much, do the UCA. Personally I’d to them anyway...while you already have the suspension out.

I'm curious...do you have drivetrain slop (clunking)? My diff drop install seemed to fix my stop and go clunking

 

[DPA200]

I'm curious...do you have drivetrain slop (clunking)? My diff drop install seemed to fix my stop and go clunking

Clunking you say? Hmmmm. I do hear a clunking noise every now and then but never thought anything of it. Tell me more?

 

[DPA200]

Yes, if you get them get a little extra of the superlube that comes with tjemthem follow instructions. No squeaks.

And I'm not the only one running these, I know @Taco2Cruiser is a fan and they are preffered by owners on other platforms too (I think the LC guys like the SPCs more than other Yota model owners like the SPCs - just an observation). Edit: forgot to mention, SPCs will be less maintenance, TCs will require some. Take that into consideration, you may want the ease of the SPCs.

What all maintenance am I looking at. Is it just greasing the bushings every time I get an oil change? Or is there more than that?

 

[Mutant]

Clunking you say? Hmmmm. I do hear a clunking noise every now and then but never thought anything of it. Tell me more?

Drivetrain slop is a common minor issue among 200s and other Toyotas. There are threads on the topic here if you search. So far, it just seems to be a harmless annoyance. But it just feels wrong.

 

[Mogwai]

What all maintenance am I looking at. Is it just greasing the bushings every time I get an oil change? Or is there more than that?

Not sure how long they last but uniballs do go bad (but can be replaced). To grease the zerks you have to loosen the upper through bolt - just means you need the ability to get that bolt back to 240ft-lb (or whatever it is, don't recall the exact torque but it's high!). It's not hard at all, but still a bit of work.