A Supporting Mod To Complement Your New Suspension Parts – 5 Main Reasons To Upgrade Featuring Duro Bumps
A lot of us seek the best value-for-money upgrades for our trucks. That’s especially true if you’re on a budget, as you want to make every dollar count. Before making a purchase, I consider several questions…
- Does this enhancement improve the truck’s performance both on and off-road?
- Does it address more than one issue?
- Does it result in increased service or maintenance requirements?
- Will further upgrades/maintenance be necessary in the future?
DuroBumps not only met but exceeded many of my criteria. This modification enhances both my Tacoma’s street driving capabilities and off-road performance at speed. Furthermore, when dealing with heavy loads and towing, these taller bump stops help control rear-end sway. Paired with the U-bolt flip kit, I even gained a few more clearance under the rear axle.
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1. Improved Damping
When modifying your truck with a lift, wheels, tires, bumpers, and upper control arms, the front geometry of the suspension begins to change. The lift kit increases the height of your truck by pushing everything down, and when combined with larger tires and off-road bumpers, the sprung weight increases.
When driving at high speeds off road such as in the desert, it becomes crucial to fine-tune the suspension’s damping effect. This is the process of controlling or stopping the spring’s oscillation, either during compression or rebound. While this is mostly managed with the shock, adding high-quality bump stops at the top end provides even more control.
DuroBumps feature dual durometer rubber, offering smooth, progressive damping that significantly reduces harsh bottom-outs. That’s a stark contrast to the OEM bump tops, which are essentially hockey pucks.
This improvement is particularly noticeable when traveling at high speeds and the suspension compresses dramatically. The slower compression of the larger bump stops results in less of an impact feeling when hitting obstacles.
2. Improved Handling & Towing
I frequently find myself demanding a lot from my mid-size truck. Whether it’s hauling all the camping gear for a week-long trip, towing cars on 35-inch tires, or transporting a load of gravel, my truck is constantly put to work.
Due to the beefier, upgraded suspension, I did encounter an issue where the sway bar end links broke, leading me to remove the sway bar altogether. While this adjustment increased body roll during turns, it was a necessary trade-off.
The body roll became even more pronounced as I added weight to the truck, such as a rooftop tent, a WaterPort, and boxes for recovery equipment. All of this weight necessitated taller bump stops that engaged sooner to control the body roll.
While towing, the rear of the truck often sags – especially when pulling larger vehicles on a trailer. When the rear suspension fully compresses, it can rely on the bump stops. Compared to the OEM ones, DuroBumps has room for compression. This allows for some degree of dampening, even with a heavy load.
3. Protect Suspension Components
People often associate bump stops with how they improve the dampening feel from inside the vehicle. However, they frequently overlook one of their vital roles, which is to protect the suspension. Struts are not designed to prevent the suspension from bottoming out, and when this occurs, it can lead to damage to the strut seals and components.
Furthermore, the ball joints, responsible for the moving pivot points of the suspension, have a limited amount of travel distance before becoming over-strained. With extended bump stops, we can limit the angles of these joints and prevent the shock from bottoming out.
While the front DuroBumps are a direct OEM fit replacement, if necessary, you can replace the provided bolt and add washers to increase the height. For the rear, DuroBumps offers them in either OEM height or an extended length to accommodate 2+ inches of lift.
4. Limit Up Travel
Following the same concept of protecting our suspension components, limiting upward travel can help prevent your larger tires from rubbing on the inside of the fenders and body.
Rubbing on the inside of the fenders under full compression at speed can have severe consequences. It may lead to the fender liner completely tearing out of the car, breaking every clip, and bending metal tabs in the process.
The taller bump stops, fine-tuned with washers if necessary, are effective in preventing this from happening by limiting the travel.
5. Increased Ground Clearance
When pairing the DuroBumps bump stops with their rear U-Bolt flip kit, we can achieve a few inches of additional ground clearance under the rear axle. When flipping the U-Bolts, we shift the threads and sharp edges to the topside of the axle, resulting in fewer catch points for obstacles under the axle.
The U-bolts also come in an assortment of sizes to accommodate different leaf packs.
Final Thoughts
Upgrading bump stops is a crucial modification that enhances the longevity of your truck and improves its performance both on and off-road. These and U-bolts are often overlooked modifications when it comes to suspension as many owners get wooed by shiny coilovers, leaf packs, or flashy billet upper control arms.
However, why invest in these expensive parts only to risk damaging them when hitting a bump? Or, getting a larger leaf pack that cannot be installed due to insufficient U-bolt length (U-bolts should never be reused)?
The fast and easy installation makes this upgrade a sensible choice and only takes about 5 minutes per side. All you need is a pipe wrench with at least a 3″ opening to get the front OEM bumps off. This makes it a great time-value modification. The rear installation is a bit more involved but does not require any special modifications. It is a straightforward bolt-on upgrade.
I highly recommend adding this upgrade to your list, or even consider it as the first modification if you’re just getting started, as it will only further improve ride quality.
