Shock replacement

I have a 98' Tacoma extra cab TRD 4x4. The front struts are leaking oil so I need to replace them. I want a ride that will be smooth on the road. I also plan on doing some off-roading, but the road ride is more important. Which strut would you recommend. Do the Bilstein 5100's provide a good ride on the road? How do you adjust the ride height on the shocks? Is that something I could adjust to bring the front-end up before I take the shocks to a shop to have them put on the truck? How is the installation of the rear shocks, what tools do I need (I would like to do that at home). Should I just go with a sensa-trac Monroe shock or a RS5000 Rancho?

 

Don't go with Roncho (I mean, RANCHO). They're stiff and don't last very long. I don't have experience with the 5100's...
I'd recommend OME (Old Man EMU) struts & shocks. They ride nice and last a good long time.

The front shocks (coilover struts) require you to remove the entire coil assembly off the vehicle and compress the coils to remove & install them. You can remove the assembly yourself pretty easily.... and if you want, take the assemblies to a shop and have the shop compress the coils and install the strut. Then, you can take the assembly home and install back on the truck yourself.

The rear shocks are easy to do - assuming you don't have any rust issues.

Aside from the compressing the coil aspect of things - you need basic hand tools, jack to lift the front end of the truck off the ground, jackstands to hold it in place.

If you look at the Steps 1-5 on this write up, it'll tell you how to remove the coil strut assembly from the truck.
http://www.lieblweb.com/tacoma/Mechanical/DayStarLift/Daystar.htm

 

The RS5000 is a decent shock and will be better than the blown stock ones. I ran those on my truck for about 2years. Otherwise I would get the OME shocks from WheelersOffroad.com

 

^^^Yep! I love mine..They ride great on/off road.

 

under 300 for both no way...