Borgs

Thank you. We were actually supposed to be in the Catskills this weekend but plans were deleted due to the Rona. Do a fair amount of logging roads and mountain roads in northern PA and upstate NY pretty frequently, actually. I do most of it in my 2017 Tundra, the GX is the wife’s daily, actually, but I love the capability and maneuverability of the GX.

nuclearn8

Cool, grew up in PA... Miss Southern Tier Brewery in NY...

If you're up for a road trip rickets glen State park (great hike to picnic spot at the base of a waterfall) and the PA grand canyon are cool spots... not much offroading in either but good for hiking.

Borgs

Awesome, we go to Ricketts Glen often. We have a cabin in Bradford County. There is good off roading up in the Northern counties - lot of it is private property though.

leftyguns

I am starting to get a little more serious about upgrading my suspension. trying to stay in a $3-4000 budget. I have narrowed it down to Icon Stage 4 components for the VS2.5(the coil overs, rear shocks and spring from the kit), or the OME BP-51
80-85% of my driving is city. the rest is long road trips and camping. usually service roads with light off-roading nothing crazy. I do camp with a RTT. I have 0 plans to get bumpers in the future. Or any other plans to add weight. I want something that is great on and off road that I can grow in to and not out of. I don't want over kill but if I am going to upgrade my suspension I want to buy nice, not twice.

opinions from those with either set?

nuclearn8

For your described intended usage I would shy away from anything with reservoirs or that needs/requires regular maintenance/ rebuilds to perform optimally... the ome, dobinsons, or ironman suspension kits would more than satisfy your needs and come in well under your budget limit. Dont get me wrong those other kits ride nice, they just require more attention and money to keep operating over their design life compared to a more basic setup which gets bolted up and forgotten about for 100k miles.

leftyguns

thanks @nuclearn8 the Icon maintenance has been a huge turn off for me. some reviews have indicated as little as 15k some say maybe not for 45-60k. I haven't seen the same negatives in the OME BP-51. Do they have the same required maintenance? I haven't seen much about that or if you can rebuild them. Toytec is local for me and can do the maintenance in house for about $120/shock, not terrible. I have also read much better reviews on OME customer service against Icons plus 3yr warranty on OME. I had OME Nitros on my 4Runner and liked them but the roads I took were still a bit jarring. the stuff I have seen for both Icon and the BP-51's the ride quality is a great upgrade. maybe slight over kill for my current use but future use I want to be prepared for. the bolt up kits give the ground clearance and look, what about ride quality?

mena661

I bought Dobinsons for the very same reasons that nuclearn8 stated. Didn't want to have to bother with rebuilds. Mine are just the basic shock and spring setup (Dobinsons Twin Tube shocks with their springs). The ride has improved greatly with WAY less brake dive, no wallow, much more controlled with no harshness (to be expected with the greater suspension travel).

nuclearn8

Haven't heard anything about the BP-51's rebuild process although I'm sure arbusa or tyotec would know... they're fairly new to the market so not many miles on units yet (in volume). Guessing they're the same though...
that's nice you have them close, but again even if you have them do it, it's more $ and you're down a vehicle for a day... so if you have the coin it's more inconvenience than anything.
The ride quality for street use is on par with the more expensive kits in my experience.... (4runner)... the more expensive kits shine when you're doing major suspension travel at high speeds and frequency to prevent overheating (with the reservoir fluid).
All that being said, it's your money so only you can decide what and how to spend your money (especially in this economy).

MyManVan

My piece of junk. She thicc though - 2018/Base on OME 885 Coils & SPC UCA's. Tried to stuff 35's but it wasn't feasible if I wanted to wheel this thing; opt'd for 285/75's instead. overall, about 4in of lift after settling.

Borgs

same here. I agree with this 100%. I was close to getting Icons.

jbergeron

So, do you use this vehicle for all of your traveling purposes or just weekend outings? I am considering doing this but travel about 5k miles a month and still need a comfortable ride on the highways.

leftyguns

finally got mine lifted. took it in to toytec here in Colorado. Installed the OME BP-51's with medium springs, SPC UCAs and did the front end diff drop. It was their first GX with this setup and they had some issues with the brackets which took some finessing. The brackets didn't fit the GX on one side (cant remember which one) so they used one of their toytec brackets with some modifying and got it all to fit. they did full articulation and full lock and zero rubbing on the UCA or fenders but it is really close. Down the road when I am ready for new tires I may also get new rims with a different off-set. The ride on these so far, is amazing. night and day difference from stock. bumps in the road or turns (from like driveways) that would normally make the car roll or rebound slowly are gone. It mows these bumps over and rebounds back to normal quick style. I have only driven on-road so far and its been ultra plush ride.The adjustments for the compression / rebound are going to be a PITA to get to with the wheels on, I think I can if I get the wheels full turned on fronts and in the rear I get underneath the vehicle.
time to get it dirty Before and after measurements I took in my garage from the garage floor to the bottom of the fender. This is with KO2's 265/70/18s
Rear:
36 1/2
391/4
Front:
35 3/4
38 3/4

Top Photo is side view. Next is the drivers side front. The passenger side front (you can see they had to do some cutting for the remote reservoir)

jbergeron

Very nice, I'm in the beginning stages and just removed my side rails. Quick question: did you need to cut the little front pieces off, or do they make a cap? I have pictures that illustrate my question. Also, did you do anything under the doors to make sure no water gets into the holes, etc.?

MyManVan

Probably a unpopular option but I left mine without any trim on both rear and front. I am however going to install the rocker trim so you don't see the white clips that are mounted to it.

leftyguns

adjusted the headlights to compensate for the lift. you really have to turn the adjustment screw a lot to see any difference. I turned each side 23 half rotations. I started with the passenger side and put some towels over the drivers side to make it easier to eyeball. I didn't have any plan of attack, kept turning it until the light cut off lined up with a socket plate I have on my garage wall. figured it was aimed about 2" lower.
FYI, its an 8mm socket.