I did the thing - Elka!

Got the same siZe tires. Parked next to a tacoma with a 7.5” lift. Mirrors were same height lol.

 

Well I have a couple thousand miles on my Elkas and I'm extremely happy with them. Haven't had them on a ton of gravel yet but enough to give a quick review.

Around town and on the HWY they are stellar. Seriously... bought my wife a 2019 highlander and I think my truck is smoother than her highlander in a lot of ways. It's incredible. The city I live in has a lot of drain valleys at the intersections and they almost act as speed bumps. Now I can hit them 30+ with no problems...I feel the vehicle jump a bit definitely but very controlled and way way waaaaayyy smoother than with factory shocks.

Gravel - no real change at low speeds, I Still feel the nasty washboard. But once you pick up speed to about 35+ these things eat it up like it isn't event there. I had to do a double take my first time to make sure I was seeing things right. This seems to be a theme... The faster I go the better it feels.

Extremely happy with @Elka Suspension two thumbs up!

 

You still happy with the Elkas amd JBA UCA's? I am ready to pull the trigger on the DC remote reservoir elkas and JBAs. Thinking of doing the +3 coachbuilder shackles for the rear.

 

Very Happy with the Elka's but then again I've only ever used OEM shocks so not much to compare it too. They're on my daily driver so they get driven in town, nasty ND highways and Gravel roads with lots of washboard, and just got back from CO where I took them on some really rocky trails where I was in 1st gear in 4LO for crawling up and down.

They're a little stiffer than stock but they've held up real well IMO. The most impressive thing they do is eat up washboard and worn down Montana trails. The slow rock crawling up Mountain Trails wasn't a good indicator, even through I'm thankful for the 3" of lift they've given me, you're just moving too slow. But, they eat up washboard at high speeds like something else. Seems like about 40-50 mph is where I really notice the big difference on washboard and nasty two tracks.

I'm still running stock wheels with 35x11.5 tires and I have about an inch of clearance from the end of the JBA arm to my tire. Cuts it a little tight but I really don't want to buy wheels. I might end up having to if I want to run chains in the front or if I go to a wider tire. I really like that 35x11.5 dimension though so can't see myself changing there. I do rub a little on the reservoir if I full crank right or left. It wore the shock coating away a little but doesn't seem to be anything concerning, I just try not to full lock the wheel unless absolutely necessary. I greased the UCA at the first couple oil changes but I think I could extend that out to 7500 or 1000 miles as I have quite a bit of grease build up under the BJ.

I went with the toytec shackle and it's been ok. I had to shim my carrier bearing spacer for my drive shaft like an inch or something to get the driveshaft shudder to go away. I'd expect you'll have to do the same. I have 94k miles on the pick up now and would really like to replace the OEM leaf springs with something better as I feel that would improve the ride and be better overall than the shackles.

Other than that I'm super happy with my upgrades and have zero regrets. Love the ride, love the lift, love the clearance, love eating up nasty gravel and 2 track and high speeds. Been worth every penny.

 

Damn....Elkas sound exactly what Im looking for

 

I’m about to place a order through elka for exactly what you got to replace my 6112/5160 pair. I only do USFS fire roads around the Sierra Buttes and Reno and seems perfect. My Bilsteins are good, but I want better. How are they working for you?

 

I wouldn’t do that... they will be hung up in customs. I know from experience. Buy from an American retailer.

 

What happened to you? I was told 7 week delivery...

 

FYI,
I lf anyone is interested I actually spoke to Toytec late last week and the remote reservoir models are not in stock. They would have to be ordered and drop shipped direct from Elka.

 

If I remember right, they weren’t hung up more than a week or so. What I really didn’t like was having to give ss numbers and personal info to the people getting it out of customs. At that point I either had to leave it there or give my info in order to get the stuff sent. Elka never mentioned this part of the process and expected me to know this would happen. When I called them up about it, of course there was nothing they could do at that point, but they also could care less. I’m sure it was just the language barrier, but to me it the guy was very patronizing. Lesson learned.

I’ve been satisfied for the most part, but I also don’t think I have them dialed in right either. After messing with them for months I’ve sort of given up trying to get a smooth ride out of them. Either I get them too soft to where they are bouncy or I get them to stiff. Although I think part of my problem is the Alcon springs I have in the rear. They are pretty heavy duty. They are extremely well built though and I’ll probably try to learn how to rebuild them when the time comes. Over all, I would make the purchase again, but I would definitely buy from an American company.

They sure do get a lot of comments from people that see them on my truck too.

 

Elkas customer service has been fantastic in my experience. I called Frank from @Elka Suspension a bunch of times and he always went the extra mile. Toytec is great too.