Suspension

I like the XREAS suspension, the dampeners were linked at opposite corners. LF to RR ad RF to LR. When one dampener is compressed it linked wheel gets pushed downward to try to equalize and level the vehicle. On road it was fantastic, it stayed sports car flat around corners on on/off ramps. Off road it was a bit rough and it fought articulation a bit but overall, I was a fan. I kept the factory stuff until I killed it. Too much time on unpaved washboard rutted up roads at speed did it in. The suspension got hot, really hot, the dampeners faded bad and it started to smell. From that point on the shocks leaked.

This was the day after


So little man and I stopped by Filthy Motorsports in Boulder to do some shopping. They are widely regarded at the go to place for all things King, they are King’s highest volume dealer.


We started the process of getting an order placed. They start with the base “OEM kit” and then factor in vehicle weight, intended use, tire size, ride height, spring rates, control arms, future plans to add weight like steel bumpers and a winch, etc, etc, etc. It was an awesome experience, very detailed, very thorough, or so it seemed…

- 3/8/18 I placed an order through Filthy Motorsports with a “4-6 week lead time”.
- 4/13/18 (4.5 weeks in) I’m told “another 3-4 weeks”.
- 5/9/18 (9 weeks in) I’m told “another 2 weeks”.
- 5/24/18 (11 weeks in) I’m told “a little while longer”.
- 6/5/18 (13 weeks in) I’m told “They’ve finished your order and are preparing to ship it”.
- 6/12/18 (14 weeks in) The suspension shows up at Filthy Motorsports, I tell them I’m out of town but I fly back on Friday 6/22/18 so I’ll come the following Monday morning to pick up the parts.
- 6/13/18 Filthy says “Ok, that should be fine. Please send us another email a few days before with the approximate time that you think you’ll show up. Ben should be inspecting your shocks today and if we discover any issues we will let you know. If you don’t get any more emails from us that will mean everything looked good.”
- 6/22/18 (15+ weeks in) I didn’t hear anything back so I sent a message that I’d come Monday morning around 8:30. They respond back saying the rear shocks are wrong, they aren’t the custom length rears. They said the box and the shocks are tagged as standard off the shelf rears and they are contacting King about it. Later that day Filthy said they talked to King and did some measurements and that they are in fact the correct parts just mislabeled.
- 6/25/18 I finally get my parts and head home to start the install.



After spending a whole bunch of money and waiting 15+ weeks I was happy to have my parts but I can’t say I was happy with how it all went and the issues were just beginning. Both small washers for the slotted holes in front sway bar spacer/reservoir brackets were missing, the front hose clamps to mount the reservoirs were too short, and the rears didn’t come with any clamps at all to mount the reservoirs. I went to the hardware store and got what I needed and continued the install.



If you notice in the above pics there is no preload on the coil overs. Filthy was very specific that they were already set up for a 2.5” lift in front and not to adjust anything, just throw them in and it’s good to go and in a month or so after everything settles you can tweak it if need be. So that’s what I did and it only gaining a little over an inch measured from the center of the hub to the fender edge. I asked Filthy what the deal was, their response was that my vehicle must be spec’d with extra weight than normal and that my before measurements seemed lower than normal to begin with. Knowing full well that was 100% made up BS I called King directly. King said the coil overs will never come set up for a 2.5” lift, they said they come with the spring perches at their lowest height which should be roughly 1.5” higher than stock. They said if you want 2.5” to go with 5 turns on 1 side and 7 on the other as a good starting point while accounting for the typical Toyota lean. That not even close what Filthy said. Remote reservoir Kings need to be removed in order to adjust height, so the suspension came right back out. King also informed me they always advise customers to except about 3 months for custom orders compared to the 4-5 weeks Filthy quoted. Really disapaointing.

Anyway, suspension went on.







Little man was all about helping me out.






Test fitting the bump stop spacers since they aren’t labeled left or right (this was wrong, the bump stops were too far forward.).