Strut Top Hats

After 4 months of waiting I FINALLY received my Eibach Pro Lift. It’s not pre assembled, I know a sites/distributors ship them preassembled…

As anyone bought top hats separately? What’s the best top hats for the strut assembly? I’m planning on having them ready to go in when I install the lift. Trying to avoid jacking with the current assembly to retrieve the top hat, swap, reinstall, yada yada.

 

I’m no expert but with a proper lift kit, top hat spacers aren’t a part of it. Get your lift from springs/shocks/UCA’s if needed. What lift kit are you doing that you also want top hats?

 

He's talking about the hat of the strut assembly. When you pull the strut out of the socket it's still assembled with the hat keeping it all together. I'm assuming his aftermarket kit is meant to reuse the stock hats, which he's trying to avoid to make things simpler. One less thing to disassemble.

 

Just get a quality aftermarket assembly from your local parts store or dealer. There is no good reason to not replace the upper spring seat when the front shock and springs are out. New ones are like $22 each from Napa, etc. Not sure what the dealer wants for OEM.

 

I have all the above. I’m not talking about top hat spacers, I’m referring to the actual plate that sits on top of the strut assembly and actually bolts to the shock tower of the truck.

 

I’m trying to avoid road blocks in the installation process. With my luck, if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. Sometimes my simplest projects turn into an ordeal. So if I have the strut ready to rock and roll, I’ll be better off. Def not dealing with spring compressors, been there, done that. Don’t want to get the truck disassembled, shoot both assemblies down to the local tire shop for them to do, and them be closed or something. (Considering this project will likely be handled on the weekend.) So if I can just spend a few dollars upfront to avoid a few headaches, I’m all for it.

 

Use the stock top hat and you will be fine.

 

Where are you located.... pizza and beer can go a long way for an install.

 

Just buy new top hats. Most folks use the KYB ones. Model listed below. They are a little over 20 bucks each on Amazon

$29 KYB SM5640 - Mount Kit

KYB SM5640

 

Thanks to you both
I learned something.

 

I admitted ignorance as well as enlightenment!

 

No worries. We’re all friends here!

I’m in West GA. And you’re exactly right, but the beer is normally what causes the hiccups during all my projects. I’m predicting we’ll be on #3 or 4 by the time we get to this point…. So the preassembled-ready to go assembly will be worth it’s weight in gold.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/georgia.147/

 

Get these ^
I’ve installed several sets of these with eibachs and bilsteins and they’re just as good as OEM.

 

Just bought them…. And btw, I’m sure most have dealt with Rockauto. I have several times. Anyways, ordered them at 7:21 and got the shipping confirmation at 9:15. Unreal service!

 

A lot of us have ordered through rock auto.

 

Alternatively to having the springs compressed and upper seats installed you can mount the upper seats in the shock tower and use a floor jack under the LCA to compress the springs while they are on the shocks as you install the whole assembly. If you're going to 2"+ lift you may lift the truck off the stands before the shock piston shaft is fully inserted, though.

 

Another vote here for KYB tophats.

Cheap and as good as oem.

 

I suffer the same curse.