The situation was so bad that the leaf springs in the rear were bent almost completely in the opposite arc from the proper position. My truck sagged, particularly in the rear, which made handling both on and off-road simply atrocious.
So I took my truck to Runnin4Tacos in Denver, Colorado to get set up with much-needed upgrades to my suspension, wheels, and tires. I knew I required a more rugged setup to handle all that weight, but I didn’t want to break the bank to get it.
Tuan Vo, co-owner of Runnin4Tacos, walked me through the options. Here’s what I ended up adding to my truck to upgrade the suspension, and why I chose it all.
Eibach Stage 1 Plus Suspension
Suspension packages can get very expensive very quickly, and it’s super easy to get lulled into upgrades you simply don’t need. Sure, those Fox suspension bits look rad and give you a sweet ride off-road. The same can be said about a King Suspension setup.
But two things kept me from pulling out my credit card for those excellent brands. The first thing: price. The second thing: an honest conversation with myself.
The vast majority of my driving is on pavement. Even though I drive off-road quite a lot, I still have to do a lot of pavement driving to get to the dirt. So it was important to me to get a suspension package that would give me excellent on-road manners as well as off-road capability.
Fox and King certainly could have provided that. But, they were both out of my price range. Enter Eibach Suspension.
The Stage 1 Plus suspension package matches my budget well and it offers everything I really need: great handling off-road, and solid performance off-road. Granted, it isn’t as flashy as more expensive setups, but it ticks every box I need it to tick — in reality, not in the aspirational version of the overlander I want to be.
The coils are height-adjustable to tune ride height and customize off-road performance. The height adjustment also increases tire clearance. They’re coupled with Eibach’s Sport Shocks, and it’s all made in the USA. The entire kit, front and rear, costs $911. Not a bad price for everything I need, and nothing I don’t.
Deaver Stage 4 Leaf Springs
To complement the Eibach suspension, I was going to need some leaf springs that could handle the weight I already had on my truck — plus some more weight for all the gear I’m routinely testing. That’s where Deaver Springs come in.
I spoke with Deaver about what I would need given my weight requirements. A few days later, Stage 4 leaf springs showed up on my doorstep. These things are crazy stout and are an easy match for all the weight I routinely carry, and then some.
Stage 4 springs aren’t currently listed on the Deaver website, but here’s the skinny: It’s a 10-leaf spring, making it akin to the Deaver Expedition series. It’s made to handle heavy loads without sacrificing the progressive spring rate making them an ideal choice for off-road stability and capability.
I’ll update this article with current specs as soon as I can.
Black Rhino Etosha 17-inch Wheels
Wheels aren’t part of a suspension upgrade, are they? Actually, in this case, the Black Rhino Etosha wheels I chose turned out to be a key upgrade solution.
That’s because, with a 2-inch lift going on the truck, I could fit slightly larger tires, even without upgrading my upper control arms. Remember when I said I wanted to maintain solid on-road handling too? Upgrading to a 17-inch wheel from the stock 16-inch wheel helps with that.
The extra inch extends the supportive structure of the wheel, which means better cornering on-road. Yet with larger tires, I can still drop my tire pressure off-road and get all the plush compliance I want and need over rough terrain. It’s a great balance that matches my driving habits.
The Black Rhino Wheels also feature a different offset than the stock wheels. This pushes the tire outward, away from my upper control arms, so I don’t get any rubbing.
Toyo Open Country R/T Trail Tires
Rounding out the upgrade package, I went with Toyo’s new Open Country R/T Trail tires. These are both a size and performance upgrade from the Goodyear Wrangler UltraTerrain AT tires that came stock on my truck.
For starters, these new tires are E-rated. That means there are more plies in the tire’s construction, which gives the tire more structure to support all the weight I’m toting around. Generally, the tradeoff here is some compliance, but that’s nothing a little air pressure adjustment can’t handle.
Since I drive a lot on-road, yet want off-road performance once I get to the trails, the Toyos strike an excellent performance balance. There’s less noise than a mud tire when I’m driving around town or on the highway, yet the aggressive shoulder and sidewall lugs grip in sand and loose terrain, which is the norm here in Colorado. The large tread blocks also improve wet braking.
How Does the Suspension Upgrade Feel Compared To Stock?
In a word: relief.
I watched the techs at Runnin4Tacos install everything with ease in a very short period of time. And while I’m pretty capable when it comes to working on my truck, I’m glad I took it to Runnin4Tacos instead. It was great to know everything was installed correctly, torqued to spec, aligned, and otherwise double and triple checked for safety. I can’t say enough about the service Tuan Vo and his team provided me.
And the finished product? Man, what a change. The stock suspension on the Tacoma is pretty capable, as long as you’re not adding a ton of weight to your truck or doing any serious overlanding. But I was doing both of those things, so it felt squishy, uncontrolled, and basically just…bad.
So the Eibach/Deaver combo felt like a dream once I hit the road. On pavement, the truck’s handling suddenly felt more intentional and controlled. The wander I got from the stock suspension was totally gone, and cornering suddenly felt tighter, more locked-in.
Off-road, the suspension eats up terrain variances where the stock suspension was overmatched. No bottom-outs, no bob after a hit. The word that keeps coming back to mind is control. I didn’t have to accommodate any excess movement, nor change my driving style because I had to baby the suspension.
The wheels and tires look incredible on the truck. It’s a total visual upgrade. But more than that, the Toyo tires grip in dry, loose terrain common here in Colorado. I was able to more confidently ascend loose trails, again with more control and intentional movements rather than recovery movements.
Runnin4Tacos FTW
If you live in the greater Denver area, I can say without hesitation that Runnin4Tacos is a great place to take your truck for upgrades, repairs, and general advice. Tuan and his team were super open and honest with me about what upgrades made sense, which ones didn’t, and what I should do in the future if my needs change.
That’s a big takeaway from this whole experience. If you’re going down this road, sure, you and your buddies can spend the day doing the upgrades in your garage. But forging a solid relationship with an excellent local shop pays dividends, not just for your wallet, but also your time — and most importantly, your education.
I consider myself a student of overland gear, but I still learned a ton from the team at Runnin4Tacos. Check ’em out if you’re a Denver local. If you’re not, start researching your local shops to find the one that’s right for you. If they’re knowledgeable, friendly, fast, and willing to spend the extra time with you to educate you on what you need (and how that might not align exactly with the dream build you’ve got in your head), you’ve found your place. Runnin4Tacos did all that for me, so I’ll definitely be back.
