Donahoe Racing Front Shocks/Struts Coilovers

Greetings,

First time long time.

I'm the original owner of a 2006, Tacoma, TRD Sport (with LSD). When I bought it, I had the dealership (Toyota Escondido) put on AR wheels/tires (265/75/16), and the DR front shocks/struts coilovers.

While doing the front brakes, I noticed the bottom of the shocks are covered in shock oil gunk.

So, with DR now being ICON and my truck being a daily driver, I'm left with the dilemma of removing and rebuilding, or just replacing with lesser grade shock/struts.

Questions I have:

-Have any of you sent your DR coilovers to ICON for a rebuild? What was the turn-around time? (I've seen their website and $65 cost per shock; just looking for actual customer responses)
-Will OEM style struts work as an interim solution while the DRs are getting rebuilt?

In the last five years, I haven't off-roaded my Tacoma as much as I should've/would've liked to, and my current duty station (SoFlo) doesn't offer terrain that really warrants replacing the DRs with a ~$1000 solution...so, I'm ok with running cheapos while the DRs are being rebuilt. Just wanted to hear if others ran into this problem and what their solution was.

Also, didn't see a sticky on this so apologies if this has been discussed before (search didn't yield anything for 2nd gen tacos)

Thank you

 

Are you sure it's only $65/each for your fronts?

Keep in mind your alignment will be off if you replace them with something that doesn't set at the same height as your truck is currently at. 5100's are pretty cheap and good to have for a backup when your other shocks need rebuilding.

 

@Sween224 just did this I believe.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm not a 100% on the rebuild cost, just going off ICON's website and visually matching things (http://www.iconvehicledynamics.com/tech-support/shock-service/)

Looks like those Bilstiens might do the trick! Thanks Justin.

 

Hey man! sorry for the late response but i did have a set of DR coils rebuilt by ICON, haven't installed them yet tho. Bought them off another member and he recommended rebuild. The turn around time was pretty quick, I was in no rush since I was not installing them right away but I know they rebuild shocks on Tuesdays. A tech goes over the shock and then someone from ICON will contact you informing you what they recommend and he/she will go over pricing. I forget off the top of my head exactly how much it was. I shipped my shocks out on a Wednesday and had them back like two weeks later.

 

I kept my OEM shocks in case my Icons need rebuilding. The problem is, i had to cut one of the rears off, so I need to figure out a solution sometime in the next 40,000 miles. Did your truck start riding rough?

 

Thank you for the reply. I may tackle the rebuild myself, just have to find the time to do so. I called ICON and they have all the rebuild parts plus a new part to replace an obsolete part. The call to ICON was pretty quick, but it was about $50 in parts per shock. Sending the shocks in cost a bit more, and price varied on what required for each shock.

This vid makes it look like I can do it myself. Just need time to get the shocks out, rebuilt, and back in.

https://youtu.be/QT6UkeyLTw8

 

I wish I would've told the dealership to give me the OEM shocks...that was ten years ago and I'm on the other side of the country now.

My truck actually isn't riding too bad. I just know both shocks need s rebuild; the bottom part of each shock and lower a-arms are covered in shock oil gunk and grime. But I'm not off-roading right now and South Florida is Flatistan so it's not too big a deal. I just don't like things not being right on my truck!

 

Hey ya’ll, I came across this blast from the past post I’d mine.

Since I posted this, I relocated to Twentynine Palms, CA and found an awesome local mech who rebuilt and shimmed my DR cool overs for $60 each (minus parts).

Now I’ve got at least 10 more years on these these things and I added some rebuildable ICON rears to my Tacoma.

All is good...except for my dead windshield washer pump...I’ll get around to DIY’ing that, not much use for it out here