Rear shock length difference & why it matters

Gotcha!

 

Does anyone know what the stock shocks fully compressed length is, or rather, are?

 

You'd have to measure them yourself.

You won't find these numbers because the only time these numbers matter is if you go with a more flexible leaf pack for more rear wheel articulation.

Stock setup sucks if you do any actual off roading; I of course am referring to the shocks themselves when I say this...some people have flexed the stock leaf pack pretty well.

Unless we're going to talk about aftermarket and lifts etc I would stop stressing the stock setup.

 

So I think what this all boils down to is being aware. How does one do this if they don't learn? How does one do this if they don't ask questions? & even if one never needs shocks that are l/r specific, just knowing this is what the truck came with may mean something when making a choice, whether it be top o' the line of not. & what if you are like me who uses it as a daiily, but occasionally takes it out in the "meadows" as we call them & has been known to load it down. I mean I am careful, but honestly, I push things in general & do I have a scale to put my truck on so I know if I've hit the limit? & are the prescribed limits based on brand new springs along with brand new l/r specific shocks? I just think that, whether it is over thinking of not (& I want to clarify that while I keep using this phrase I do not take offense to it. I am a thinker, a questioner, we need all kinds. The world would be pretty boring if we all thought the same), we care about our trucks & if we sleep better because we use l/r specific, then that's priceless.... & now I need to go get me some shocks....

 

I understand what you're saying, but understand that the easiest way about all this is if you follow your trucks payload capacity.

Leaf springs (or coils when applicable) support weight; this is true whether you're loaded or empty.

Shocks dampen said ride, when wheel articulation happens whether large or small.

As to why they went with different lengths, you're asking people that had no hand in engineering the Tacoma. Looking underneath though its easy to say due to the various components on each side, it was easiest to not mirror both sides but only have a slight marginal difference.

These trucks perform, that's it. No need to overthink this simple fact.

It's when you've met the limits of your truck that you may want to change things to give up one thing (comfort on road) for another (longer travel, and better off road damping) as an example.

It never hurts to ask questions, we need people like that. But some people tend to want to help less when you ask the same question that's already been answered for you....

 

Oh, & I am not dissing the anyone's opinion or advice. I am open minded enough to accept that maybe the l/r specific amounts to a hill of beans for my usage. This forum is so anyone can see all the opinions & questions & ultimately decide for themselves. So as long as the discussions are kept cool , I thank each & every one who contributes.

 

Ok, after measuring distance of left and right side shock mounts I called Toyota Corporate and asked why the different distance and the Engineer said "The Robot welder did it"

 

Hi K, you got me curious. I've a bit of experience with Toyota as well as a bit of experience with manufacturing in general. With what I know of Toyota and experience with the and their parts, I do believe the different lengths of the shocks from side to side is intentional. I couldn't tell you for sure why that is, but there could be a few reasons.
So this got me curious to see if Toyota kept the shocks different and with different part numbers on the 2nd gen Tacoma, and sure enough the second gen taco follows same shock setup with slightly different part numbers for each side.
Then I checked the third gen tacos(the newest tacoma body style) and on those it looks like the shocks are interchangeable side to side and the part numbers are identical side to side.
Again, couldn't tell you why they did it, but I will say it was intentional for some reason. How big or small that reason is, likely very small reason seeing that many run same length aftermarket shocks on each side, so it's hard to say.
If i wasn't going to lift or mod my tacoma I would order the OEM shocks and I'd order the correct part numbers for each side too, just because I can and it doesn't cost me any extra to keep it the same way it came out of factory. I'd only NOT go oem shocks if I was installing a suspension lift

 

That is their prerogative of course. I did mean to correct my earlier post to state that the question had been answered by you. & conversely, I cannot help it if someone decides to ask the poster the same question someone else already answered. & I will take the time to respond to them as well.

 

I read somewhere that it is due to it potentially interfering with the e-brake line? So they "scooched" the shock end in a bit.... & the OEM ones for my truck seem to run about 45.00.

 

OME shocks are not different lengths. but that could be due to the range they operate "works with up to 2.25" of lift" is their claim.

 

No god, no! don't do that.

 

There's plenty of dumpster fires in all the forums, but the 3rd gen section seems to have a higher than average number of them.

 

The compressed stock lengths for mine are 12.5? (I think. Can’t recall offhand) - Left & 13.25 - Right. There’s a couple of posts on TW already about this & I found this when I first did a search on the internet.
https://www.customtacos.com/threads/rear-shocks-left-vs-right-length.69826/

 

whilst the community chomps gristly rear spring taco tidbits, they miss out on debating the pontification feast regarding the different length coils up front...chew on that!

**SPOILER** (it has to do with accounting for the unbalanced L/R front end weight and the fact that there is always a driver, but not always passengers)

 

I mean, it's great to see the numbers... but the drivers side taco lean has been known, understood (you forgot to mention not only the driver, but the battery and gas tank), and accounted for (5mm shims/packers) for over 20 years... where is the spoiler?