ideas for replacing bad 6" trailmaster strut

replacing my blown out struts on my 96 taco with a 6" trailmaster lift. they have discontinued making the lift and parts. I have done some research on replacements but cannot seem to narrow down a part number for the struts. Im looking at gabriel or bilstein replacements. Anybody have those part numbers? also, are they direct replacements or are there any mods? had a response from a gentleman on this site stating that the gabriel struts were short and needed spacers. his idea was to invert them to make them fit, is this a good idea? will they work properly if so?

 

If you want me to not answer in your threads just post up or send me a Pm... I understand that you want the opinion of others and that is cool... But in my search I have found no one else in suppor of this lift.


Not invert the strut...

Invert (FLIP) the top mount as to make up for 1/2 the difference in strut legnth (VW to TM).

The strut mount IS: (3 studs and nuts with a rubber bushing in the middle that the strut shaft goes thru with a nut on the top of the shaft) It attaches teh top of teh strut shaft to the upper Trail Master bracket. You can't see this part on your truck because it is directly under the inner fender (In the wheel well. I can take pictures of it beacuse I have the front clip off of my truck.

Strut mount pic:



TO do the inverstion mod you knock the studs out flip the mount and reinstall it upside down with bolts and spacers.



Your Strut part numbers are:

85-91 golf/jett1 ~ part numbers that still work as of '07

Bilstein HD W0133 1605589
gabriel G44714
monroe 81853
napa 72873

If you measure your original struts you can go to the catalogue and see for your self what struts will fit. Their are a few Toyota offerings that look like good canidates (Starlet Supra Celica MR-2) but replacment Cartridges for those modles are not as popular as standard struts and are much harder to locate. I have not found a supplier for them yet.


FYI ~ Each time folks mention this lift other folks jump in to kick them in the teeth about how crappy it is. The only support i've found is from Rob ~ "WATRD" over on TTora. Everyone else generally says take off the TM 6" lift and throw it away. Go $2000 coil overs for 3" of lift or Go $5000 SAS.

http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17433

 

And here is one ORIGINAL Trailmaster strut for sale over on TTORA...

http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170142&highlight=Trailmaster

(1) Strut #961001 TP-95

Extra strut from a Trailmaster lift when I had my 2000 Tacoma. I know it's a crappy lift but I figure someone may need one, as I needed them every 6 months or so. They retail for $150+. Located in Orange County, CA. $100

 

Whit, that because that's the best thing to do is get rid of it.. I don't even know why TM stopped supplying the struts, maybe they knew their design sucked It's shitty when people get a truck with it, but hey, lessons learned. At least you're one person on here that can provide help and information to them.

 

http://www.nwtoys.com/content/126-trailmaster-lift-inversion-modification.html

 

I have a 2000 Tacoma with this lift one strut is leaking ,it's a 4 inch lift will this same technique work and with these struts ?

 

I have a 96 tacoma with a 6 in i belive trailmast kit on it both shock absorbers and mounts are bad im looking for replacement parts if someone could help I appreciate it .

 

Could you put some kind of spacer on the second strut instead of this?