SAW Coilovers too stiff

Hello Tacomaworld!

I'm proud to finally be able to join your community, as I have just purchased a 1999 3rz Tacoma.

I bought it off a guy who had already done several mods, the ones I'm addressing in this thread are:

2.5 inch Sway Away Racerunner Coilovers, probably a 650lb spring
Alcan Add-a-leafs
Procomp? Rear shocks
BF Goodrich Mud Terrain 32x12.5


My previous vehicle was a 1989 Toyota Corolla, and I had drove it as a vehicle headed to the junkyard, offroading the crap out of it, doing ghetto suspension spacer lifts, coil spring swaps from other cars, etc.

I just took my new Tacoma offroad in the desert where I live over some woops, etc. and have completely broken my back due to the waaay to stiff suspension.

I bought this truck with intentions of using it as a daily driver, with light desert offroading on the weekends/build a Prerunner truck.

Searches through the internet, and this forum tell me that the Sway aways are a great upgrade, but my experiences tell me otherwise.

Is this how truck suspension is supposed to be? My Corolla was twice as soft, and could take bumps, but the blown shocks made it a bouncy ride, though not nearly as stiff and miserable as my new truck.

Should I put in softer springs? Can I revalve the suspension? I understand SCORE/Baja 1000 Prerunners are built with stiff rear ends, and soft front ends. How would I mimic this behavior on a budget?

I intend on taking the 32's off and putting on smaller tires, as I don't need giant power stealers.

Thanks!

 

Holy crap that was a fast reply.

I'm at work right now, so I can't tell you for another few hours, but I just wanted to add that the truck already has an allpro front bumper, with a 9k pound warn winch (I think), and the coilovers still have a lot of room for lift.

 

I was looking into the SAWS and was told this regarding the difference between the 2.0 and the 2.5,

"The 2.5 have a high flow linear valve set in the piston. This makes them very off road capable, but not as smooth on the street. The Icons and the Sway Away 2.0" shocks have a digressive piston. This makes them smoother on the street, but still very off road capable."

So the 2.5 are probably a bit stiff, but are going to hold up better if you are mashing.

 

Okay, well is it common for people to replace the springs with softer ones, closer to stock, to accomodate for more travel? I might even get some prerunner flared fenders eventually.

I have tried looking up prerunner build information, but everything I come up with is complete front end rebuilds designed for serious offroading.

I know they don't *need* a rebuild, as the guy just put them in a year ago and drove it on the street, and even then very sparingly.

I don't care about performance on the street, as my corolla bounced 5 or more times over speed bumps, ANY shock absorbsion would be an upgrade for me.

 

EDIT: half ass reader
also depends on the guy who used them before you, if he was using it in the dirt all the time, they might need to be filled with some juuuice

 

...which is why i have the coilovers cranked up to accomodate....right?

Is this all just a horrible idea, and I'm going to screw up my truck, or is any of this making sense?

I'm not too worried about the height of the truck, I just want it to be softer, and subsequently have longer travel.

 

No, he mainly drove it on the street...I think he did all those upgrades just to look cool.

Would that mean I should take some fluid out?

 

How far did you crank down the collars? I have a set of 2.0s that came with defective springs. This was determined because I had to crank the collars down 3.5" to achive a 2.5" lift. This resulted in a horrible ride. Sway A Way sent replacement springs from Eibach that should correct the stiffness problem. I haven't had time to install so I cannot comment. According to them, I should only need to crank the collars 1.5" (drive side) to achieve the lift I want. You should also check to make sure the nitrogen is fully charged. on the 2.0s it's 200psi. i'm not sure about the 2.5s. My nitrogen levels were low and correcting the pressure made a noticable differance in ride quality. They have great support so don't hesitate to call them. http://www.swayaway.com/

 

My springs are 650lbs (13 650 A/3), (and my inner 2 CV boots are ripped...damn!)

So I've been looking at Total Chaos, and I must say, I didn't know anybody made good bolt-on long travel kits...too bad I can't afford it anymore.

Upon further investigation, I found a buildup here: http://www.trailslesstraveled.com/article/total-chaos-long-travel-front-suspension/

He used 2.5"x8" stroke swayaways, with 16", 500lb springs.

So it seems to me that I need softer springs.

Of course I'm not going to buy the total chaos kit, or expensive flare fenders, but I now have a place to start my buildup.

I want to get rid of the power stealing 32x11.5 mud terrains and possibly get 30x9.5 all terrains, so clearing the fenders should not be a big issue anymore (these tires only have to travel 1.5" to rub the fender!).

Questions:
Many of the trucks I looked up use 2.5" SAWs with 8" stroke, I have models SAW-56000-108-5LT, and nowhere lists the stroke, anybody know?

The springs on right now are 13", but it seems nowhere sells 13"s, not even swayaway, could I fit 14's? Or should i go with 12"?

Could I go down to 550# springs with 30" tires, and lower the collars (to lift the truck) without rubbing the tires or ruining the cv joints? (I have the 3rz)

Would I need limiting straps?

Thank you all for your help.