OME MT64 vs. Bilstein 6112/6100s

[AmbyBomb]

I'm interested in the above shocks for my TRD Sport. I mainly drive on pavement. Anybody have experience with both so they could compare? The MT64s seem solid, but there seem to be some comments stating they're not as good for truck without weight in the back (racks or canopies). On the other side, the 6112s are described as somewhat stiff.

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[Rmarin4272]

I have the MT 64 set up and can tell you it is a very smooth and comfortable ride. However, it is intended and designed for a rig that has weight on it. That doesn’t mean you have to have weight to use it. It’s just a really expensive option. I have also heard the bilsteins are a bit stiff in comparison. However, some people like that stiffer feel of a truck and it’s a much cheaper option. The Eibach stage 2R is supposed to be more plush. Dobinsons IMS is also softer but pricier. Ready lift I don’t know much about but something to consider.

It’s a big investment. Do your research. Read about everything. Look stuff up on YouTube. There’s tons of reviews. Talk to AI. It will compile and regurgitate what it finds online. I found it helpful

 

[AmbyBomb]

I thought about the Eibach, but I live in Canada and have seen posts that showed significant wear and tear on Eibachs exposed to winter conditions.

 

[Rmarin4272]

Fair… I’ve heard great things about the fox TRD shocks. Something to consider. Not as much lift but they’re supposed to be really comfy and capable.

 

[AmbyBomb]

Like the stock Fox shocks?

 

[Rmarin4272]

Yea

 

[Rmarin4272]

Downside to those is the rebuild interval at 50k miles. I’d expect the bilstein and OME to last 100k

 

[AmbyBomb]

And sourcing them. I assume they are insanely expensive from Toyota.

 

[Toyotimothy]

I just installed the Bilsteins 6112/6100 on my 24 Tacoma. It definitely rides better but I’m swapping rear springs. The ones I have Dobinson’s C59-869V don’t seem sufficient for the weight I’m carrying. Full size 35/12.5/17 Nitto recon on Method 305s. Plus a pro eagle talon jack mounted beside it in the bed. An Apache case with a compressor for airing up, some recovery tools etc. Going to change to Icon 51215 rear springs. After full length discussions with various AI systems I learned (if accurate) that the Bilsteins and OME MT64 are Essentially built very similarly, only the Bilsteins are 2.5” and OME are 2.8”, if I remember correctly. Apparently there’s not enough difference to produce a day and night difference in the ride quality between the two (with the other weight my truck has) to justify the cost difference. Also looked at Dirt King MT Trailrunner which would probably provide a better ride if my truck was stock. Unless I wanted to upgrade to fox 2.5 or king both of which would probably need rebuilding every 40,000 miles or so for a whole lot more money than the Bilsteins which are a set and forget set. I don’t know if that helps but thought I’d throw my two cents worth in. lol
Throwing in pictures just for fun.

 

[Rmarin4272]

Sick setup!

I was impatient back in March and couldn’t wait for the 6112/6100s to become available so got the MT64s. I didn’t realize if I waited 2 weeks they would have been. I’m happy with it though.

What springs are you going to change to? Dobinsons, all dogs, OME?

Did you notice any change in your turning radius? I saw several reports here and there that the turning radius got worse with lifting the truck. Not sure how that happens but it was reported. Recommended fix for that was installing the TRD tie rods and lower knuckles. I put them on right away so can’t speak to a difference but I can say it handles really well.

35s are monsters! I’m still riding stock and only plan to go to 33s when needed. What offset are the wheels? Did you do anything other than remove the crash bracket?

 

[Toyotimothy]

Going to Icon 51215 springs. AI said that it would provide the best ride. I hope. Lol
I too saw individuals saying that they had issues with their turning radius so I went ahead and got the tie rods and lower knuckles you mentioned from the TRD Lift kit. I haven’t noticed any issues with them yet. I do recommend taking your truck to an offroad shop or someone who really knows how to properly align a vehicle. My Toyota dealership aligned it afterwards and basically told me they didn’t get it right. I took it elsewhere and they had no issues and I could tell the difference immediately. Only issue I had was that I had run these tires before changing the suspension out. I had been running oem stock offroad suspension with Dobinson’s springs C59-822 up front and the aforementioned Dobinson’s springs in the rear for the lift. My truck didn’t change height and I never had issues with rubbing until the alignment. I had already removed the crash bar and installed the crash bar removal kit from ARK.
I ended up trimming the very back side of the fender flare bottom. Minimal. Images included. No more rubbing. I could have probably just asked them to move the wheels forward more but I was somewhat frustrated at that point and I live about an hour away from where the alignment was done and really didn’t want to go back. I also installed the east coast gear supply bushing replacement for the drivers side and my axle hyper extended. I had a friend who is a mechanic and he and I tried everything but to no avail. Ended up ordering a new axle which was leaking. Not sure if it was on them or me but they gave me a refund. The axle was under some kind of recall (just not my vehicles axle) so that delayed the replacement. When I finally got the axle reordered and everything put back together it had been close to three weeks that I had gone without a vehicle. Fortunately I was able to share my old 2006 RAV4, with 380,000 plus miles, with my daughter, who is driving it now, and all was well. I did the work myself to try to save money and probably did save money despite buying an axle, considering the quotes I was getting for installation of everything. Anyways I am disabled and not as fast or strong as I used to be but I got it done. First day I got sick, either from pain, heat or a combination and began vilantly vomiting. Should have saw the sign. It was all down hill from there. lol. I’m still trying to recover. Hahaha

 

[Rmarin4272]

Going to Icon 51215 springs. AI said that it would provide the best ride. I hope. Lol
I too saw individuals saying that they had issues with their turning radius so I went ahead and got the tie rods and lower knuckles you mentioned from the TRD Lift kit. I haven’t noticed any issues with them yet. I do recommend taking your truck to an offroad shop or someone who really knows how to properly align a vehicle. My Toyota dealership aligned it afterwards and basically told me they didn’t get it right. I took it elsewhere and they had no issues and I could tell the difference immediately. Only issue I had was that I had run these tires before changing the suspension out. I had been running oem stock offroad suspension with Dobinson’s springs C59-822 up front and the aforementioned Dobinson’s springs in the rear for the lift. My truck didn’t change height and I never had issues with rubbing until the alignment. I had already removed the crash bar and installed the crash bar removal kit from ARK.
I ended up trimming the very back side of the fender flare bottom. Minimal. Images included. No more rubbing. I could have probably just asked them to move the wheels forward more but I was somewhat frustrated at that point and I live about an hour away from where the alignment was done and really didn’t want to go back. I also installed the east coast gear supply bushing replacement for the drivers side and my axle hyper extended. I had a friend who is a mechanic and he and I tried everything but to no avail. Ended up ordering a new axle which was leaking. Not sure if it was on them or me but they gave me a refund. The axle was under some kind of recall (just not my vehicles axle) so that delayed the replacement. When I finally got the axle reordered and everything put back together it had been close to three weeks that I had gone without a vehicle. Fortunately I was able to share my old 2006 RAV4, with 380,000 plus miles, with my daughter, who is driving it now, and all was well. I did the work myself to try to save money and probably did save money despite buying an axle, considering the quotes I was getting for installation of everything. Anyways I am disabled and not as fast or strong as I used to be but I got it done. First day I got sick, either from pain, heat or a combination and began vilantly vomiting. Should have saw the sign. It was all down hill from there. lol. I’m still trying to recover. Hahaha

Gotcha. Sounds like you’ve had a hell of a time with it!!

I had my own struggles after install 5/31… top hat to the MT64 is defective and rattles. It’s “safe” but noisy. After 2 months finally got a “fixed” version. We’ll see if it happens again… did that second install last weekend along with heavier OME rear springs. Been doing everything myself too to save some cashola.

It’s a roller coaster doing these mods man. Learning a ton along the way. Accumulating a bunch of tools. Having fun doing it but the stress of these hiccups is draining!

Next up for me should be some armor. I already have Westcott Designs sliders and would like to save weight with aluminum plates but we’ll see. I don’t go too crazy on trails but an engine/transfer skid is smart… Would love a front bumper too but don’t want to overload these front springs and have to swap those, and then get ANOTHER alignment. The shop I’ve used here in Phoenix has been great dialing it in. 40k miles and still have 7/32 tread. The tires will be a cost and I’ll have to hold off on fun mods for a bit.

So many things I want to do!!
Ditch and fog lights
Roof and cap racks - love the Sherpa line
Awning - AluCab
Recovery gear
Would love a fridge but that feels so bougie and unnecessary.
Heritage grille so I can fit a light bar

By the time I get all that I’ll have to put in another suspension!

 

[Toyotimothy]

Gotcha. Sounds like you’ve had a hell of a time with it!!

I had my own struggles after install 5/31… top hat to the MT64 is defective and rattles. It’s “safe” but noisy. After 2 months finally got a “fixed” version. We’ll see if it happens again… did that second install last weekend along with heavier OME rear springs. Been doing everything myself too to save some cashola.

It’s a roller coaster doing these mods man. Learning a ton along the way. Accumulating a bunch of tools. Having fun doing it but the stress of these hiccups is draining!

Next up for me should be some armor. I already have Westcott Designs sliders and would like to save weight with aluminum plates but we’ll see. I don’t go too crazy on trails but an engine/transfer skid is smart… Would love a front bumper too but don’t want to overload these front springs and have to swap those, and then get ANOTHER alignment. The shop I’ve used here in Phoenix has been great dialing it in. 40k miles and still have 7/32 tread. The tires will be a cost and I’ll have to hold off on fun mods for a bit.

So many things I want to do!!
Ditch and fog lights
Roof and cap racks - love the Sherpa line
Awning - AluCab
Recovery gear
Would love a fridge but that feels so bougie and unnecessary.
Heritage grille so I can fit a light bar

By the time I get all that I’ll have to put in another suspension!

I hear you. It’s addictive. I got the trailHunter skids early on. Engine and transmission. They were heavily discounted at the time. While not as tough as rci, c4 etc they are probably all I need. Added the rear diff skid later and just recently caught dv8 skids discounted and put those on for the rear suspension protection. Lower control arms from Cbi were a sale item as well. Just a plastic skid for the gas tank. I would like to get one but I’m probably gonna wait until a bigger sale goes on. This stuff ain’t cheap. I have a pair of rough Country ditch lights that I got from extreme terrain from their open box area and I have not even tried to put those on yet. I intend to but they’ve been out of sight and thus out of mind. I took off the Westcott roof rack to clean it up and noticed that the rack, despite the rubber had eaten into the paint. I will probably have to wet sand and polish. I’m putting that off until the temperature drops some. Not sure if I’ll put it back on. If I do I’ll definitely add some ppf beforehand. When Westcott says it sets low, they’re not lying.

 

[Toyotimothy]

Sick setup!

I was impatient back in March and couldn’t wait for the 6112/6100s to become available so got the MT64s. I didn’t realize if I waited 2 weeks they would have been. I’m happy with it though.

What springs are you going to change to? Dobinsons, all dogs, OME?

Did you notice any change in your turning radius? I saw several reports here and there that the turning radius got worse with lifting the truck. Not sure how that happens but it was reported. Recommended fix for that was installing the TRD tie rods and lower knuckles. I put them on right away so can’t speak to a difference but I can say it handles really well.

35s are monsters! I’m still riding stock and only plan to go to 33s when needed. What offset are the wheels? Did you do anything other than remove the crash bracket?

I don’t think I replied directly to your post but I replied. I forgot to mention that the wheel offset is plus 25

 

[AmbyBomb]

I just installed the Bilsteins 6112/6100 on my 24 Tacoma. It definitely rides better but I’m swapping rear springs. The ones I have Dobinson’s C59-869V don’t seem sufficient for the weight I’m carrying. Full size 35/12.5/17 Nitto recon on Method 305s. Plus a pro eagle talon jack mounted beside it in the bed. An Apache case with a compressor for airing up, some recovery tools etc. Going to change to Icon 51215 rear springs. After full length discussions with various AI systems I learned (if accurate) that the Bilsteins and OME MT64 are Essentially built very similarly, only the Bilsteins are 2.5” and OME are 2.8”, if I remember correctly. Apparently there’s not enough difference to produce a day and night difference in the ride quality between the two (with the other weight my truck has) to justify the cost difference. Also looked at Dirt King MT Trailrunner which would probably provide a better ride if my truck was stock. Unless I wanted to upgrade to fox 2.5 or king both of which would probably need rebuilding every 40,000 miles or so for a whole lot more money than the Bilsteins which are a set and forget set. I don’t know if that helps but thought I’d throw my two cents worth in. lol
Throwing in pictures just for fun.

I thought about the Dirt King setup, but it seems it needs servicing more than the Bilsteins or OMEs.

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