Shock help

Hi guys. I have a 2002 double cab 3.4 tacomA. 320000kms and I just replaced my stock rear shocks on the weekend. After lots of reading it sounded like I could get away with 5100 billies and maintain stock ride height. So I did the swap. To easy.

But my question is that the shock and boot look very compressed once I was done. Are my leafs sagging too much now? Any advice would be great. Thanks.

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Your leafs look toast! Also I recommend flipping the shocks boots down, mine built up alot of dirt/mud/water on the shaft before I switched them

 

hard to tell while its still jacked up but they do look way too compressed (the shocks), I think you got the wrong size shocks for it? 4wd and prerunners use different length shocks then regular non prerunner 2wd trucks do so make sure you get a stock replacement match for the truck and not one for lifted trucks

also shock cups always go on top because its a mud guard and dust shield or it fills with mud and crap, I don't how or see why some people cant see how obvious this is but I see them put on upside down a lot

leafs always look flat like that when its jacked up

 

You have a picture of you leafs with truck off jacks?

 

also unless your off roading or rock climbing you don't need fancy shocks, those $25 stock replacement moroes you get from autozone or pep boys are just as good and give you just as nice a ride as those $100 each shocks you can buy with the pretty paint and flashy stickers on em

now, that said, if it is for off roading then that's something different but the idea is the same, don't overpay for flashy stickers and top name brands when a basic name brand shock for less money works just as good.

 

What are the part #s of the shocks? Is your tuck a 6 Lug?

The shock should be mounted the other way.

 

Thought it looked a little funny

 

Yea looks like the axle is still jacked up. Take a picture with the truck sitting on all 4 tires. Looks like you have serious negative arch in your leaf springs though, so unless it looks way better at ride height, your leaf springs need to be replaced or get an add a leaf.


You can also do some measuring to see if the shocks are too long. Disconnect the shocks, jack up one side of the axle and measure shock mount to shock mount and compare that to the 5100 compressed length.

 

I cut mine off. They were like little dirty fish tanks

 

I forget where I read it but it said to not use boots for that very reason. They trap moisture and dirt where if you dont have boots the dirt can be washed away and dry off eventually.

 

There was a thread not too long about where the guy's shaft snapped because of rust from water trapped by the boot. Its not common but not all that uncommon either.

Cut the sleeve off and leave your shocks oriented that way to protect it from rocks and shit I say.

 

Thanks for all the help guys/gals.

It is a 4wd 6 lug. The part # I used were f4-be5-d559-to and f4-be5-d560-to

And that jack under the axle isn't holding anything up. Tires are all flat on the ground.

I thought my leafs were supposed to have a negative arc,not sure how much? Just looking at the shock it seems way to much. Haha

Good info about taking the boot off, don't think I'll flip it though. That won't help my problem and it doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks again.

 

Looks like you have a RCD sticker on there. You got them through Down South Motorsports right? Contact them, they have great customer service. Dan from Wheelers has great service as well and can help if you need new springs too.

 

Leafs aren't suppose to have a negative arc, otherwise you wouldn't be able to load very much in the back. The shocks may look like they're too big because your leafs are sagging.

 

sorry but I didn't look at the picture close enough, your shocks are mounted correctly. my comments on flipping it was mainly talking about the sleeve within a sleeve type shocks because if those are put on upside down its just a cup that fills with water and mud and crap that destroys the seals in the shock.

if yours has a boot on it then it should be installed with the boot up so its more protected and out of the way so the boot doesn't get torn. as mentioned if you think the boots will be under water or under soupy mud then its best to remove them because crap will get inside them

 

Mount with canister up. Also mine was like this on stock leaf but I never had issues. Now they look better with new leaf pack. I also had to cut the zip tie off the boot and move the boot so it doesn't look so smushed if that made sense. Just added a new zip tie after I moved the boot into the canister more.

 

The problem you have is that rear billies 5100 are extended travel shocks meant to work with lifted trucks not non lifted. So u have extended shocks which will make them look compressed like that. And they look even more compressed then normal becuz your leafs are sagging also.
I would use this as an excuse to lift the truck haha here is the link for more info
https://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/mobile/Rear-Bilstein-Shocks-955-04-Taco-86-95-PickUp_p_278.html

 

Thanks guys. Called the boys at downsouthmotorsports, confirmed I used the right shocks for stock ride height Tacoma. All comes back to the leafs. There dead. So now I'm exploring options of either a new leaf pack, or aal. Don't have lots of money to throw around so will prolly go with an aal. Thanks everyone for their input

 

I also don't have a lot of money and find these a great option:
they also have great prices on the bushings if you need to replace them too as most of us do

but there is nothing wrong with my leafs so before you aal make sure what you have is going to work because if they are bad enough then aal may not be enough on its own

 

Im no expert but I think he is wrong. Like I said the 5100 are extended travel shocks. Meant for lifted trucks.
When u have a lift on a truck with stock shocks you now have more travel and articulation. So if you don't upgrade your shocks also you will over extend them and break them. From up travel
Now if you have extended shocks meant for lifted tucks but yours isn't lifted then they will be compressed more and limit down travel and possibly bottom out the shocks and break them
Again you have two factors making your shock look compressed. No lift with the shocks and wore out leaf springs.
If you at least fix the leaf springs sag it will help but if you off road hard you still risk bottoming out the shocks due to no lift on extended shocks