Front quick strut defect?

Funny.

When I tell the counter intelligence that I want quick assemblies that are the same or very similar as factory ride and height, you would think I could, you know, actually get something that is similar.

But no. They have all been lower riding than factory.

Why would I want Fox, King or Icons when I'm perfectly happy with factory ride and height.

Yes, I've pissed a lot of $ away on this project, but Im compelled to figure this out.

4 runner assemblies are my next attempt.

It only takes an hour to change them. I'll know as soon as the truck comes off the lift if I'm lacking height. If it's short, it's going back up on the lift and the assemblies are going back.

 

Well, it seems that people's issue here may be less with the shock than it is with the spring. The quick strut options seem to indicate the spring rate in the specs, but not the spring length. From what I have gathered on the interwebs, the 460 or 465 lbs/in spring rate matches OEM and is what most of the quick struts use. All of the aftermarket springs I find specs on are right around 14" - 14.5". OME 2880's are 500 lbs/in and 14.37" long. These supposedly give you a 1 - 1.5" lift in the front.

AutoZone has their own loaded struts, but half the people that reviewed them said they are the wrong part. Specs are sadly lacking. I can understand the frustration.

 

Do you understand that you can back the preload off an adjustable coilover to reduce height?
Do you understand that you can swap the springs on a Fox/King/Icon coilover to achieve different ride characteristics?
Do you understand that you or a shop can open a rebuildable coilover and adjust the valving to your liking?

I somehow doubt that even if you replaced your coilvers with OEM parts, that you'd find the truck sits or feels as anticipated.

 

If it means anything, the part store coil overs I got had the same problem s as what you’re saying, only about 1/2 an inch between the frame and bumps.


Someone mentioned using a 4R to get the right parts.

 

I just got done ordering 4R's fro AZ. Will be in tomorrow night. They have Tacoma's in stock. I'll have them open the box of each to compare the difference before I walk out the door. For some reason 4r's are $40 more each. Stay tuned.

If they are the same length, I won't buy them.

 

I'm kind of getting a vibe that if I don't have adjustables, that I ain't worth a pinch of shit.

 

I think your expectations are unrealistic in terms of $140 coilovers.

 

I think this is a solid statement.

 

I don’t think expecting Oem ride height/ ride for 140$ is crazy.

I think expecting to pay 1200$+ is though

 

Expecting to have an equivalent ride height is unreasonable?

 

Just looking at the OEM parts, to replace the front coilover assembly- main components (shock, spring, top mount) is roughly $400 a side... So again, asking a $140 part to be as good as a $400 OEM. I'm sure everyone looking at that goes "well, how bad can the $140 part be?" and I think this thread proves that the $140 part isn't worth it.

Now the 4600's and 5100's might be a different story, but again, at the end of the day, I would be willing to bet that over the course of owning my truck (20 years) that I have paid less to maintain my front coilovers than if I didn't have rebuildable shocks, and had to replace them every 50k miles with variable results, Yes, $1,200 put front, but cost of maintenance and headache over 20 years is way low.

 

I read that too, however i didn’t mention it here because I was able to send him a message. Not that I know how it works, but you'd think there'd be an indicator other than a line through the handle. Good to know that's what that means.

Cruiserguy's another one. Miss seeing him around fretting about his rust....

 

It's not unreasonable to not want to pay a shit ton of money for Fox or King and get new coilovers that have equivalent fit and performance to OEM. You should be able to order online or walk into AZ and get something that works and gets your truck back on the road.

I don't even have a 1st gen anymore and have been looking at all the options, and they are severely lacking in details and don't appear to be working for many.

Recommending a $1500k+ solution for what should be a $400 budget item for some isn't helping. This is a real issue, not some 3rd gen dumbshit stuff.

 

I still have my stock coilovers. Can I use the springs off them? Or rather, how can I tell if they are still usable?

 

i wish I could give you multiple likes.

You bring sanity. Thanks.

 

Yes. They are slightly different. Listed in the post you responded to.

 

I think you can, but not 100%

I had all new shocks/struts/coilovers done in my 2nd gen recently, but it was already apart anyway

 

Eh, I've seen you help people out here, at least some of us still try.

 

Really hard to say. If they aren't rusted through or cracked, they might be fine. Might not be a bad option to try. If it was my truck, I'd get new tops and some KYBs and use them.

 

You guys (and girls) need to consider a few things here- so let's break them down.

When people say they want a factory like replacement, there are a minimum of two factors:
- ride quality
- ride height

Before heading into the rest of this, consider that the NEWEST first gen truck was sold sometime in 2005, and is around 16 years old. When we throw the '95-04 range into consideration we're now talking 26-to-16 years ago. The rest is to point out that suspension comparisons are subjective and more about managing expectations than anything else.

I want to also say that I bought my truck brand new off the lot in 2001 and I have carefully upgraded and maintained it. There is only a single instance where I was not the person wrenching on it- outside of that, I have performed every bit of maintenance. I don't know everything, and there are certainly things I haven't torn apart and restored, but there are only a few items on the truck I haven't had off..

We can't exactly go to the dealer and take some measurements to determine factory height, nor can we assume that original coilover assemblies have maintained their original specs. So measuring (in any fashion) what your configuration was before ditching the original coilover and replacing them today is a mute comparison. Paint fades, interiors wear, carbon buildup develops within the motor, and springs sag.

Ride quality is insanely subjective. Shy of being a professional driver with F1 grade instrumentation there is no chance of measuring properties that influence "quality". That being said, I certainly know when my truck feels different, but I wouldn't ever confidently be able to gauge/value the difference. So when we we say "I want my ride like factory" there is no way to quantify and compare new suspension components- just not possible. We've grown accustomed (over YEARS) to what our trucks feel like before the change- but we simply can't reasonably compare the before change to the rolling off the assembly line feel.

Ride height at least has tangible measurements associated with it. However, most people measure from the ground to the fender arch, which is only a viable measurement in short time frames, where other variables don't influence the measurement. Those influences include, but are not exclusive to, time, wheel and tire height, temperature, fender flair style, etc... Even if you have a measurement from a lot in 2002, I'd agree that it's only an indication of height. I'd only accept an average measurement taken across multiple lots in multiple states across the country.

Now- back to what I mentioned earlier: this is more about managing expectations.

When you buy Monroe "quick struts" for $130 bucks, while Toyota charges over $400 per a similar assembly, what are you expecting? if it's OEM quality and height, again, this thread proves that's wrong.

If you go 4600 or similar, you're at least getting the support of roughly two decades of folks who say they are the most similar to "factory". Hard to argue with that, but if you do, then you fall into the next category.

These two previous solutions are static solutions. Once they are in, that's it. Shy of shims, leveling kits, etc...

$$$ coilovers (king, fox, icons, etc...) These offer the most flexibly in terms of setup options. If you don't feel like they meet your expectations, you have options to actually do something about it.

Thats really it. If you keep trying $140 options (and are un willing to accept the nearly universal 4600 = OEM rule of thumb) expecting $400-$600 quality, your expectations are unreasonable. $400 = actual OEM, $600 = King/Fox/Icons..

If you can't rationalize the cost of adjustable and rebuildable suspension, that's fine- but to expect products which won't get fixed (Monroe honestly won't "fix" their Tacoma part IF it isn't up to your liking, these trucks are just too old, and the market is no longer lucrative), can compare to "factory", is quite simply unrealistic.

I get it- It's a lot of money. But your truck has held up it's end of the deal, do the right thing and spend the money to get good quality shit.

I did the quick math, buying Kings twenty years ago, having them rebuilt three times, with one spring swap has cost around $90 a year. Thats more than reasonable. For comparison, I calculated that changing my oil every 7-10k miles with synthetic mobil 1 over the last twenty years has cost me ~$65 a year.