Can you describe night and day? Man I have tough dog shocks and I really want to drive your truck and feel the difference.
Sure thing. The tough dogs in my opinion solved a lot of problems that the oem suspension couldn’t. (High speed control, brake dive etc) But, I always felt like the springs were always presenting the characteristics of the lift in the seat in steering wheel instead of the shocks. My adjusters were either filling in or out depending on what I was carrying or where I was driving. And either way I lost what I loved about the 200 in its stock form...it’s refinement and comfort. It was always tolerable but never like wow this feels great. For the price of the TD kit you really can’t beat it honestly, it works great.
I went with king 2.5s. I found a custom extended travel tundra kit new, never mounted, second hand. The price was right, I didn’t have to wait a year and the price left a little leftover in the budget to properly rebuild them. All were revalved accordingly with flutter valves and heavier rebound and the rears rebuilt with proper shafts and shaft ends for the land cruiser. ( I like to run heavy on my rebound and really light on my compression, most run 700# springs with added weight up front, I’m running 650s because I like my suspension soft)
at the end of the day I want the truck soak up all the little to medium stuff with ease. The faster you go the less you feel. A higher end shock isn’t really necessary if your crawling or cruising at 10-15mph. With the kings, you get road feedback but it’s never jarring or uncomfortable. Truck stays level around every turn at speed, every hit/ bounce cycles the suspension once. Not two or three times. It returns to center very quickly ready fir the next hit. You can really feel the shocks controlling the springs and the adjusters make significant changes in my option with the offered adjuster range. The truck feels controlled at all times.
As a family we spend a lot of time in the 200 (25k miles a year) So…Is it worth it to me? absolutely, I like to drive fast and I’m always paying attention to how the truck responds to each and every bump crack etc. We run 40-60mph in Pennsylvania Coal a few times a month and that’s what I built it for. It all translates really well to street driving and so far so good. I’m also excited to get the added weight in the front and see how that changes things.
They take time to get right, and effort to fit and dial in. With that being said I enjoy the effort and I’m one of those people who pulls over while driving to make adjustments often. I used to race Motocross and properly working suspension is something I’ve always appreciated.
The Trail Tailor tour flex springs are great as well. Very comfortable with just loaded drawers and very limited sag when I tow with 400 added pounds in the rear. I have airbags installed at the moment. I towed the trailer the day after I installed the suspension. It was a 600 mile trip with 5# of air and they weren’t necessary. I’ll be going to 35s and progressive bump stops in the rear soon and losing the airbags.
In conclusion, budget will always play a large roll in people’s decision and I would recommend tough dogs to anyone. With that being said I’m really happy with the change. I will continue to fiddle, but I’m at the best starting point I’ve ever been at with aftermarket suspension.
