In my opinion Toyotas are only good at one thing and that is crawling. I can't keep up with V8 rigs in mud or on steep muddy hill climbs. The 4 cylinder just doesn't have it in it. So that leaves me to crawling which really isn't effected by many of the factors listed above. I have the 5" Trail Gear springs and can say they work great. Who cares if the energy is not being transferred to the frame properly when you are going 1 m.p.h.