I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THE USE OF OME N91S STRUTS UP FRONT IN COMBINATION WITH AN ARB LOCKER WITHOUT SOME SORT OF LIMITING STRAPS. The locked front and excessive droop is a CV killer. I know because I broke two on Slickrock at Tellico about 30-minutes apart at SE4RJ3. If you have a front locker, or plan on running one, then you either need front limiting straps or you need to use the BLUE Tacoma TRD shocks or another Tokico alternative.

For use with a Front ARB Locker (ARB RD90):
2004 Toyota Tundra TRD 4WD Front Coil: 48131-AF090 - right - Blue + Yellow goes on the passenger side
2004 Toyota Tundra TRD 4WD Front Coil: 48131-AF100 - left - Yellow + Yellow goes on driver side
2004 Toyota TRD Tacoma Double Cab stock front shocks: 48510-A9160 - Tokico TRD Blue (TWO)
Sonoran Steel Fabrication L.L.C. Front differential drop spacers (TWO)
Sonoran Steel Fabrication L.L.C. 38mm Japanese made extended studs (SIX)
Bamachem 3/8" thick: 1/2" Lift HDPE Top Spacer (TWO)

Without a Front Locker:
OME N91S Struts are fine, but should be used with limiting straps if you plan on wheeling hard where possible overextension of the outer CV joint can be present while the drooped front wheel is under extreme torque.



that's all. i updated the original thread w/ this info and i just wanted to put this out there as a new topic to get the attention that it deserves.

the OME's are fine for open fronts and moderate wheeling. go to something more extreme with tons of skinny pedal or go to a locked front and you're asking for trouble when the fronts are drooped all the way out and can see torque.

 

Thanks for the update andy!

Hopefully sometime this summer I'll be getting the front set up.

 

bamachem,
youdaman, thankx for letting us know

 

How is the ride with the Tacoma blue Tokicos?

 

The biggest issue with CV joints breakage is bindage. This comes from shocks being too long and full steering lock in 4WD-Lo. This creates too much stress on the outboard CV joint and they will come out of the cage. A front locker causes this risk to multiply.

2 CV joints were broken in the exact situation this past weekend: 4WD-Lo with steering at full-lock [and both were in reverse]. Another was broken because the front locker atfull suspension drop (OME shocks) tore the CV joint from the cage.

Take it easy on the CV joints, especially if you have a front locker.

 

We all learned ALOT this weekend needless to say, just in time for me personally. I was just getting ready to re-do/update my front suspension yet again. Too bad we have to admit the old man was right, yet again.

 

Are you saying a double-diff-drop? running 2 spacers on each side?

 

Not only that, but trying to get the whole assembly back together with the N91S shocks is a PITA since they are so long. I would hate to have to replace a CV on the trail with the longer OMEs and no floor jack.

Someday I'm going to upgrade to the blue tokico trds.

 

actually, when my pass front snapped, it wasn't at full lock, but close. also, it was clicking a little when i was coming up the rest of slickrock after the driver side snapped on the full droop. it was weakened, and probably had a cracked cage by the time i was trying to back up that hill w/ the wheel turned hard.


no... where did that come from? i have ONE top out spacer on each side. however, the OME's are SO LONG that w/ a locker, you will break CV's even without any spacers. just a fact of life. they give tons of droop, but that's not always a good thing.


No, they're shorter by a good bit. However, if they're not the 2WD TRD Red Bilsteins from the Ivan Stewart package, then they're too stiff and the ride sucks.


You simply don't do a trail repair. You do what I did - remove the sway bar end link, take a knife and cut both inner and outer boot, turn the wheel so that you have access from behind the arms (where the sway bar endlink is located) and then simply slide the center section out and continue on in "limp-home" mode. i lost both front CV's and was fine on a moderate trail w/ just the rear locked.

 

Was your swaybar connected or disconnected when they broke?

 

connected. when connected, it will help to limit droop on an off-camber position. however, when going up a ledge (like i was) and you have both fronts on top w/ the breakover putting all the weight on the rear, they will BOTH extend to full droop (like mine did). at that point, the cage is taking all the stress of the springs pulling the axle stub against them and then you add the torque of the tires spinning on the rocks at the same rate (due to the locked front not distributing torque to the easiest to spin) and then add to that the fact that my uppers aren't trimmed and will rub at full droop, having the effect of riding the brake on the fronts to add even more torque.

in that particular situation, you begin to crack the cage. you will hear it faintly click as it begins to give up the ghost. it may not completely snap at that point, but it's on borrowed time (as my pass side was proven to be).

OME's aren't all that bad for moderate wheeling w/ an unlocked front, but when you lock the front and get excessive droop at the same time, then watch out...

 

Are there any better CV Shafts than OEM?

 

more discussion here: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...5&page=4&pp=40

the only possible way to increase strength is to CRYO the OEM axles.

 

What do I need a CV shaft for?

 

apparently you need one to wheel slickrock.

 

Duh, I told everyone this years ago..............

 

yeah, but you're the crotchity old man that nobody pays any attention to...

 

If they did, they would save themselves a lot of heart ache and grief. Honestly I post so rarely on here anymore, I'm still beyond slammed with work. Lift kits are flying out the door like mad and I have to make the locals wait for weeks or months to get in.

Apparently there are quite a few people that do pay attention to me. Getting a few days off to go to Tellico was quite a chore.

Back at it.......

 

yeah, and i had all intentions of changing out the fronts. too bad i couldn't find the time before you got here or i would have had the blues on there.