Rear Bump Stop Question

I am new to trucks so bear with me. I just installed 2.5 Fox Front and Rear Shocks on my 2020 off-road Tacoma. I installed a total chaos UCA in the front. I am not going for any lift, just trying to get the truck level if anything. The shocks part number are

$2,050 880-06-418 Rear Coilover Shock Absorbers Fits Toyota Tacoma

880-06-418 (0-3") and 883-26-007 (0-1.5") in case it makes a difference.

Ironically the rear is where i am having trouble. The rear shock was a pain to get on. It required shaving the bushing and had to use a jack to get it into the lower mount. Anyway based on forum advice i am supposed to have more shaft length than distance from bumper stop to frame. I measured carefully and on the right side i have about .4" to spare. On the left side i actually have zero, negative 3mm or so to be precise. If you are wondering if i installed them incorrectly i measure distance from top shock mount position to bottom mound position and there is a difference between the left side and right side. Same difference that jives with my other measurements. So anyone else have experience with these shocks? Why would they not just work as advertised 0-1.5" lift?

Anyway, this shock does have a rubber stop at the bottom a little more than 1/2 an inch but i am still worried. What are my options here?

Can i get a larger bumper stop? Where? And if i do, i have to remove the ubolts? i read somewhere that i shouldn't reuse those. (I think this is my preferred option even though ironically it will take travel away from the shock?)

I figure my other option would be to put a 1.5 lift spacer below the leaf springs. A lift was something i was trying to avoid. If i do that do i have to get different leaf springs? And if i do, i suppose i'll have to put more pre-load into the front shocks to match the height. Then do i have to get stiffer springs for the front? Seems never ending?

 

You could probably get away with simply adding an aftermarket bump stop and if desired a ubolt flip kit, something from archive Garage or Timbren.

That said I'm not really able to picture how you are measuring, at the end of the day the bump stop will compress to a minimum point so are you sure you don't have enough room to fully compress the shock without damaging it? Have you tried jacking up the tire to full compression?

 

Well, I am measuring from very top of bump stop to bottom of frame right above it. I have done this multiple different ways with same results. But I took one end of a straightened wire and put it on the top of the bump stop and cut it to length until the other end barely touches the frame. And then I compare that wire to my exposed shaft length. Like I said on the left the wire is ever so slightly longer than the shaft.
So I get what you are saying about the bump stop compressing even further but my shock is going to hit the rubber bushing or likely worse metal at the bottom long before the bump stop reaches its minimum.

How do I compress my tire to full compression. Isn't my shock leaf spring system just going to rebound every time I pump the jack. If I can I'll give it a shot.

 

If you measure the distances as you are doing, you’ll never know if it’s the right size bumpstop. Put a jack under the U bolts with a block of wood. Make sure there are jack stands supporting the truck. This is critical in case of an accident. Jack it up. It’ll compress the spring and shock. Keep an eye on everything. You’ll see if the bumpstop is too short. I think what you’ll end up with is about 1” of shock shaft when the bumpstop is being contacted.

 

What's your centre of hub to fender measurements in the back, stock you are approx 22 inches.
Sounds like your leaf pack is sagging.

 

The truck has less than 2k miles on it. Center of hub to fended is 55cm or 21.7"
I tried the compressing of the rear wheel as instructed by beancooker. I was dubious since the bump stop and lower shock mount move in 1 to 1 in direct relation to each other towards the frame. I got the wheel 30 cm off the ground before I ran out of travel on my jack and the bump stop was still not touching the frame. The shaft at that point showed less than 1" or 2.0cm to be exact. And I am not too ashamed to admit that I was too chicken to climb under the truck at that point to measure the distance bump stop to frame. But I am going to say it was about 2cm.

 

i called fox tech support this morning. basically the tech said not to worry. (Though a different fox tech on Friday before install told me i should have 1" of spare shaft length and call back if i don't)
The fox body shock length is 1" longer than the stock/factory one. So i lost 1 inch of staft length compared to the stock shocks.
Anyway, the tech said bottoming out the shock is very rare unless i am going way extreme and often on off road conditions or really heavy loads. To be honest i don't plan to do that.
He went on to say that if i do bottom out, there is some room for protection with the rubber stop at the bottom of the shock kicking in at the same time as the bump stop.
I am still a little worried though and would prefer to have some room for hard bottoming conditions. A spacer at the bottom of the frame if that exists would be the least invasive option …
If someone has experience with this here, would help to put my mind at ease.

 

I never measured mine and I have the exact same setup. The bottom mounts on the axle that the shocks mount to need to be spread, the reason you had to grind your bushing was because when the bolt is tightened it squeezed the thin mounts and doesn't leave enough room for the shock bushing. I agree, the shocks were stiff but I was able to do it by hand.

 

This was bugging me and since i couldn't get the shock to compress fully with my jack. so i decided to sketch this out on my computer with measurements i took off the truck.
Then i drew it out again with the shock fully compressed based on the exposed shaft measurement.
The compression of the shock actually changes the angle of the shock a fair amount. Per my pedestrian cad mock up about an additional 9 degrees.

Based on the model i should have about 1.0cm of bump stop compressed before the shock bottoms out on its shock bushing. The bushing on the fox shock is 2.0cm thick.

So i guess i do have some play after all. i am going to let it go and see how it goes.

 

I'm planning to go with the same setup. I'm curious to hear your off road handling impressions. Does the rear bottom out and buck easily? These trucks have so little up travel in the rear that I fear it'll still handle like crap even after spending $$ on Fox 2.5s, with stock leaf springs.