I did the thing - Elka!

Disclaimer: I'm a rookie and have no idea what I'm talking about.

After changing my mind 50 times like a teenage girl and talking to just about everyone that would listen, I finally purchased my suspension parts today. Ended up going with a front and rear set of Elka resis(non-adj) from Down South Motorsports, Micah gave me a price I just couldn't pass up. They're probably not even on the UPS truck yet so I have no pictures. But, I figured I owed it to this forum to document my buying experiences and going forward to installation since I've leeched as much information off of here as I could and was not short on dumb questions. Maybe some other idiot like me will find some type of use for this thread. If not...well f it then.

After looking at all brands and price levels, a conversation with Frank from Elka in Canada really made me feel like they were best designed for my type of use. Mostly DD and offroading that consisted of gravel roads and trails in all types of conditions. No crazy stuff in the desert or climbing rocks with 37" tires. I talked to Frank twice today and walked away satisfied each time. Frank gets a thumbs up.

Toytec - Carson talked to me a few times and he was great, he was patient and didn't try to shove me into anything. Highly recommend dealing with him and toytec, can't recommend them enough. I even gave them a chance to match Downsouth's price (which was a damn good deal) because I enjoyed working with them so much. Totally understood when they couldn't go quite that low. They will get my business in the future.

Downsouth - only talked to them a couple times and ultimately bought from them because they saved me a bunch a money, but Micah sounded like he knew his stuff and never tried to sell me anything, just answered my questions and told me what I needed to know. Again, I respect that kind of service.

Dirty Deeds - talked to Keith once about kings. He sold them pretty hard and perhaps has good reason too, but hes definitely a talker (but so am I, so I'm not judging) and a salesman.

MCM - talked to Matt a couple times and I was almost set on buying some ADS fronts. Matt seemed like a great guy. Again, he gave me facts and information that he believed in, which is all I can ask.

Jberry - he probably gets credit for me buying Elka. Never even looked at them until he mentioned them and after spending a few hours reading, it seemed like they were a perfect fit for my use and conditions. Obviously, time will tell. Since they're a newer shock I understand there might be a little risk in going with them, but since they're rebuildable and they have many service centers throughout the US I felt good about future support.

Accutune - guys probably know their stuff, they sold me pretty hard on fox. I opted not because of their corrosion resistance and my northern latitude and salty roads. Nothing bad to say about these guys.

Fox racing - talk to them twice after talking to accutune. They def drink the fox koolaide, but that's probably appropriate.

To everyone else who contributed and answered dumb questions on multiple threads I started. Thanks a bunch! I'm a regular dude who drives a lot of shitty roads when I'm out hunting and fartin around. This was a big purchase for me and probably won't be adding much else to the truck aside from a shackle or a leaf pack.

 

The Plan

Since I have front and rear shocks with resis coming and I went over my budget (because of course that was gonna happen), I decided to have my mechanic buddy help with the install to save some cash. Should be pretty straight forward, but I'm not mechanic and I want someone there to make sure I don't screw up something simple.

2012 Tundra DC

Front suspension
Elka 2.5" coilover with resi (non-adj) and 700 lb spring set at 2" for level and to fit the tires

Future plan is for UCA so I can go up to 3"

Rear Suspension
Elka rear resi (Elka says they'll go from 0-2" of rear lift)

Future plan is for a toytec shackle to bring the rear up 1.5" or maybe a full deaver leaf pack(if I can convince myself its worth coughing up that much money again...but probably not).

wheels/rubber
Falken Wildpeak LT285/75r18 on stock wheels (cause I'm cheap and don't get to look at the wheels when I'm in the truck anyway...I didn't do this for other people)

That's it for today. I'll keep you posted.

 

A thing, you did.
Pictures, you did not.

 

Idiot here finding this very useful. I'm still about a year away but the plan is almost the same as yours. Looking forward to how everything works out. Specially how those size tires fit with that setup.

 

Yup, IMHO Fox is a little stuck up....that's just me though.

 

You'll love them!

 

It isn't just you, it's the truth.

 

So if a guy was in the market for this suspension setup, what would that guy expect to pay from the good people at Down South?

 

I'm under the impression I got the last set. But by all means give em a call.

 

They're here

 

Woo doggay!

 

Also decided to go full tard with it right away instead of delaying too much. Ordered a JBA UCA and toytec shackle today. Should be here next week. Jackin that bitch straight to the top!

 

Anyone have an idea a out what kind of height these are set at?

 

Damn those are nice looking! Interested to hear what you think. I may just go that route when it’s time to upgrade.

 

Just spitballing but I would assume 1" of preload. Probably best to contact micah and see what preload settings net what lift

 

Hey Brocksw, our shocks are usually preset from the factory for 1.5" of lift vs. stock OEM. However, I believe the set you got from DSM might have been set differently. Anyways, you will need to re-adjust for your new lift kit if you want to achieve that full 3" lift. We highly recommend setting the preload BEFORE you install the shocks. Don't hesitate to contact us if you need additional info or help. Thank you for your business!

 

@Elka Suspension do you offer custom length shocks for those of us with with larger lifts?

 

Not at the moment. Our shocks can be made to provide up to 3" lift up front and accomodate 2" rear lift.

What kind of lift are you running?

 

8” ReadyLift

 

So what exactly was it that made you decide to go with the Elkas? Can you give us a ball park price range?

 

I'm assuming this is red loctite around that screw? Not nearly as much on the other shock.

 

Out of all the brands, they seemed to check every box. After the recommendation from JBerry, I called Elka to ask a few questions. They seemed like the only company that specifically designed a shock for my type of driving. Shitty washboard gravel roads, broken up 2 lane highways at high speeds, daily driving, prairie trails, washed out USFS trails, their testing seemed to describe the driving I do. That was the first time I got that impression from a company. Aluminum bodies means great corrosion resistance. Protected rear shafts. It just seemed like overall this shock was designed to be used like I'm going to use it. No rock climbing or dune jumping. Just regular guy offroad/shitty road use. The more research on Shocks I did, the more I felt like having a shock specifically tuned for your driving is what you want. Elka seems to meet that out of the box, but I havent installed them yet so the jury is still out. Also, I have no experience riding on any other shock, so even after I'm able to put a couple thousand miles on them, I'll have nothing to really compare them too except the stock bilstein 4600s and some bilstein 5100s.

I got a great deal on mine, but I'd call @Toytec Lifts to get pricing. you're probably be around 3k for the front and rear resis.

 

There were 10 or 11 turns on these as a preset. I just came from the shop and had them throw it on the spring compressor and added another 4 turns to each shock. Hoping for 2.75-3" of total lift height.

 

We have the Elka in stock right now!

Shoot me a pm anytime and Ill be more than happy to help you out!


-David

 

New parts!

 

JBA off-road UCAs came in today

 

Was considering elkas so this is great!

 

I'm gonna post this in this thread too so I can keep the info in one location. As I mentioned in my ride height adjustment thread:


So I just found out that the C12.5x406 spring I have on these Elka shocks is not the spring rate that is designed for the 2-3" of lift height. Elka says that the 13.4x406 Spring (750 lb) is the correct spring for 2-3" of front lift height. So they are shipping me the correct spring so I can swap them.

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about these shocks. For a while they were using the eibach springs (I think 700 lb) on their shocks, and I believe this is what @Toytec Liftshas in stock (even though their picture shows the black springs which are the Elka Springs). The eibachs are the silver springs that @Bailey has on his shocks. I'm not sure on the ride height specs for the eibach stuff as that did not apply to me.

The shocks I ordered from @DSM Micah are C12.5x406 (700 lb spring) which are rated for 0-2" of lift, these are the same springs that @jberry813 has on his tundra.

Elka says that if my ride height is adjust at 2.75" at the ABSOLUTE maximum, I will have 1/4" play left at maximum shock compression before I get spring binding. Anything over 2.75" of lift height and I run the risk of spring bind with the C12.5x406 Spring rate. In other words, its physically possibly, even if unlikely or uncommon. This of course, all just depends on how big of an impact they take.

As a side note: Frank at Elka has been excellent in getting this resolved for me. Communication has been outstanding and he has made sure to get me all the correct technical information from the engineers and their modeling software to ensure that I have the correct spring rate for what I'm wanting to do in terms of ride height and corresponding spring rate.

5 star customer service rating from this guy!

Anyone Considering Elka for their tunny, make sure you know how much height you want before you order so you can ensure you get the correct spring rate.

Elka spring - C12.5x406 (700 lb) = 0-2"
Elka spring - C13.4x406 (750 lb) = 2-3"
Eibach spring - (700 lb) = unsure call elka