After several months of staring at suspension parts sitting in the garage I finally got my Tough Dog kit installed yesterday (41 mm front coilovers with 1” Toyota spacers, 45 mm adjustable rear shocks, light duty rear coils with 10 mm OME trim packers, and SPC UCA’s). Jason at @TRAIL TAILOR was a pleasure to work with and very helpful as I figured out the details of my suspension. The guys at Iron Pig in VA did the install, huge thanks to Lance and his team for the attention to detail and quick turn around.
I had an OME kit installed on my 3rd gen 4runner and have an OME suspension on my 80 series, so that was my original plan for the 200. I ended up going with Tough Dog due to the adjustability, increased shock diameter, and overwhelmingly positive reports from those on the forum who have installed TD suspensions. For the light amount of wheeling I do the remote reservoir suspensions (Icon, OME BP-51) I considered were overkill and the increased maintenance/cost with those setups steered me in a simpler direction. The Slee sliders are still in a massive box in my garage, I’m installing them next week but figured I would include it all in one thread. There’s a wealth of information on the forum about their sliders so I don’t plan to go into much detail other than a few pictures once they’re installed.
There aren’t many detailed Tough Dog threads on the forum, so I hope this will be helpful for those planning to install this kit in the future. I have been running Toyota 1” front spacers and wanted to keep those with the new suspension since I already had them. Also, most have reported about 2” of front lift from the TD setup, so if I dropped the spacers I assumed the net increase in height would only be 1” and that didn’t seem like much of a difference if I was spending the time and money to redo the suspension. Most have also reported about 1” of rake after install, so with the Toyota front spacers I assumed I would have no rake - therefore I decided to add 10 mm OME rear trim packers (0.4”) to end up with about 1/2” of rake. For the record, Jason said most do not install front spacers with the TD kit so I strayed a bit from his advice in that decision.
Before and after measurements are below. Remember my "before" already included 275/70r18 KO2s and Toyota 1" front spacers, so adjust accordingly for a stock rig. I think all measurements are accurate within +/- 1/4" but obviously there is some difficulty reproducing the exact measurement to the fender and the center of the hub is subjective - the astute will notice some of the math varies but it is minor.
Before
Left Front: Ground to fender - 36 1/8" Hub to fender - 21"
Right Front: Ground to fender - 36 3/4" Hub to fender - 21 1/2"
Left Rear: Ground to fender - 36 1/4" Hub to fender - 20 3/4"
Right Rear: Ground to fender - 36 7/8" Hub to fender - 21 1/4"
After
Left Front: Ground to fender - 39 3/8" Hub to fender - 23 1/2"
Right Front: Ground to fender - 39 1/2" Hub to fender - 24"
Left Rear: Ground to fender - 39" Hub to fender - 23 1/4"
Right Rear: Ground to fender - 39 3/8" Hub to fender - 23 3/4"
That means I got about 2 3/4" of lift up front and about 2 1/2" in the rear (remember about 1/2" of that came from the OME trim packers). Keep in mind the "after" measurements were only taken about 6 hours after the install after the drive home, so it should settle some. Also, ~160 pounds of sliders next week will settle it further - right now there is no additional weight on or in the Cruiser. The measurements show a slight reverse rake, in person it really looks pretty level.
Initial Thoughts
- It's a little taller than I expected, especially in the front. After settling and adding sliders I hope it will be about perfect. Jason was right, you really don't need the front spacers with this setup especially without extra weight up front. I've always ended up front end low after suspension installs and added spacers or taller front springs down the road, tried to be proactive this time so we'll see if it ends up being the right call.
- Extremely minor cruiser lean after the install, very pleased about this. Before the TD suspension I had at least 3/4" of lean (low on the driver's side) that was noticeable, drove me crazy and couldn't be remedied with the KDSS tricks I read about. The measurements show a slight lean still, but it is so minor you can't see it. I think this is also why the numbers show more lift on the left vs. the right, as the left side started lower.
- Handing is excellent! With the additional lift from the front spacers I knew I would need aftermarket UCA's and fortunately the alignment shop got everything within spec just fine. Tracks straight down the road, no wander, no vibration, no shimmy.
- Ride quality is subjective, but as many others have mentioned it is more firm and controlled now without being harsh. Body roll and nose dive when braking are gone. Hitting a big bump in the rode now means I feel it once, with stock suspension I felt like a big bump led to the truck bouncing up and down a few times. I'm very pleased with the ride quality, rear shocks are set to 4.
- The 275/70/r18 KO2's don't look as small as I was afraid they were going to, especially from a height standpoint. 275's are narrow on a 200, no 2 ways about it, and they don't look any wider when you lift it but I think they fit the "enhanced stock" look I'm going for just fine. One day when I have to replace tires I will look at 285/70/r18's but there are so few options in that size I'm not sure that I'll get them. I like the 305/65/r18's some guys are running, but I'm keeping the wheels stock and don't want anything to do with wheel spacers so that size won't work for me.
That's probably enough rambling for now, I apologize for the length of this post but I really wanted to cram as much info in as possible so it can be a good reference for others down the road. I'll update this thread with new measurements after the sliders are installed and the suspension has settled. Here are a few pics from the install, the fancy late lunch stop on the way home, and in the driveway this morning.
I had an OME kit installed on my 3rd gen 4runner and have an OME suspension on my 80 series, so that was my original plan for the 200. I ended up going with Tough Dog due to the adjustability, increased shock diameter, and overwhelmingly positive reports from those on the forum who have installed TD suspensions. For the light amount of wheeling I do the remote reservoir suspensions (Icon, OME BP-51) I considered were overkill and the increased maintenance/cost with those setups steered me in a simpler direction. The Slee sliders are still in a massive box in my garage, I’m installing them next week but figured I would include it all in one thread. There’s a wealth of information on the forum about their sliders so I don’t plan to go into much detail other than a few pictures once they’re installed.
There aren’t many detailed Tough Dog threads on the forum, so I hope this will be helpful for those planning to install this kit in the future. I have been running Toyota 1” front spacers and wanted to keep those with the new suspension since I already had them. Also, most have reported about 2” of front lift from the TD setup, so if I dropped the spacers I assumed the net increase in height would only be 1” and that didn’t seem like much of a difference if I was spending the time and money to redo the suspension. Most have also reported about 1” of rake after install, so with the Toyota front spacers I assumed I would have no rake - therefore I decided to add 10 mm OME rear trim packers (0.4”) to end up with about 1/2” of rake. For the record, Jason said most do not install front spacers with the TD kit so I strayed a bit from his advice in that decision.
Before and after measurements are below. Remember my "before" already included 275/70r18 KO2s and Toyota 1" front spacers, so adjust accordingly for a stock rig. I think all measurements are accurate within +/- 1/4" but obviously there is some difficulty reproducing the exact measurement to the fender and the center of the hub is subjective - the astute will notice some of the math varies but it is minor.
Before
Left Front: Ground to fender - 36 1/8" Hub to fender - 21"
Right Front: Ground to fender - 36 3/4" Hub to fender - 21 1/2"
Left Rear: Ground to fender - 36 1/4" Hub to fender - 20 3/4"
Right Rear: Ground to fender - 36 7/8" Hub to fender - 21 1/4"
After
Left Front: Ground to fender - 39 3/8" Hub to fender - 23 1/2"
Right Front: Ground to fender - 39 1/2" Hub to fender - 24"
Left Rear: Ground to fender - 39" Hub to fender - 23 1/4"
Right Rear: Ground to fender - 39 3/8" Hub to fender - 23 3/4"
That means I got about 2 3/4" of lift up front and about 2 1/2" in the rear (remember about 1/2" of that came from the OME trim packers). Keep in mind the "after" measurements were only taken about 6 hours after the install after the drive home, so it should settle some. Also, ~160 pounds of sliders next week will settle it further - right now there is no additional weight on or in the Cruiser. The measurements show a slight reverse rake, in person it really looks pretty level.
Initial Thoughts
- It's a little taller than I expected, especially in the front. After settling and adding sliders I hope it will be about perfect. Jason was right, you really don't need the front spacers with this setup especially without extra weight up front. I've always ended up front end low after suspension installs and added spacers or taller front springs down the road, tried to be proactive this time so we'll see if it ends up being the right call.
- Extremely minor cruiser lean after the install, very pleased about this. Before the TD suspension I had at least 3/4" of lean (low on the driver's side) that was noticeable, drove me crazy and couldn't be remedied with the KDSS tricks I read about. The measurements show a slight lean still, but it is so minor you can't see it. I think this is also why the numbers show more lift on the left vs. the right, as the left side started lower.
- Handing is excellent! With the additional lift from the front spacers I knew I would need aftermarket UCA's and fortunately the alignment shop got everything within spec just fine. Tracks straight down the road, no wander, no vibration, no shimmy.
- Ride quality is subjective, but as many others have mentioned it is more firm and controlled now without being harsh. Body roll and nose dive when braking are gone. Hitting a big bump in the rode now means I feel it once, with stock suspension I felt like a big bump led to the truck bouncing up and down a few times. I'm very pleased with the ride quality, rear shocks are set to 4.
- The 275/70/r18 KO2's don't look as small as I was afraid they were going to, especially from a height standpoint. 275's are narrow on a 200, no 2 ways about it, and they don't look any wider when you lift it but I think they fit the "enhanced stock" look I'm going for just fine. One day when I have to replace tires I will look at 285/70/r18's but there are so few options in that size I'm not sure that I'll get them. I like the 305/65/r18's some guys are running, but I'm keeping the wheels stock and don't want anything to do with wheel spacers so that size won't work for me.
That's probably enough rambling for now, I apologize for the length of this post but I really wanted to cram as much info in as possible so it can be a good reference for others down the road. I'll update this thread with new measurements after the sliders are installed and the suspension has settled. Here are a few pics from the install, the fancy late lunch stop on the way home, and in the driveway this morning.
Congrats!
