3rd Gen Owners with King Coilovers

UPDATE lowered to 31PSI and the truck still rides stuff in the front

 

Hey Chris, I was chasing this same thing, and the post that @AccuTune Offroad made above (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-owners-with-king-coilovers.472876/page-155#post-27479254) is what was wrong with mine. I was .5” too high on that measurement making the ride feel like a dump truck. Check that measurement and make sure you’re under 21” as recommended. I’m willing to bet you’re above that mark.

 

good to know. Will be looking into that as well

 

It’s such an easy thing to check too, go measure it right now. I expect a report back in 15 minutes to keep accountability

 

rgr rgr rgr

 

So shock length is 22in but I Like the height the truck is sitting right now. Besides lowering the preload what is another way to fix this?

 

So you've figured out why it's riding so bad. You need to lower pre-load, your shock basically has nowhere else to go, it's basically topped out. I'd get it into spec (under 21") and see how it rides. If you like how it rides after that adjustment, you need to ask yourself did you buy a performance coilover kit, or a lift kit, and what were you trying to achieve with it?
I know people have added lift kits AND coilovers, but I think it complicates a lot more than it's worth, I'm not an expert in this stuff, so hoping someone else will chime in if I'm incorrect anywhere here.

 

we made a suggestion based on years of experience on these specific shocks, but you want a different option?

Those shocks are 22.6" fully extended, so that means you only have .6" of droop at the shock, and maybe 1" at the wheel. This is far from ideal and will make a big difference in ride quality.

 

Meant as in just revert to stock leafs since the back would be sitting to high if I lowered the preload right now. I’m planning to lower the preload just want the truck to sit level

 

You could always put a small leveling spacer on top of the strut mount. Keep in mind that if you do this your bump stops won't engage and your expensive shocks are now the bump stop so you better come up with a bump stop solution.

 

Yea, don't do this.

 

I know it's terrible advice which is why I wanted to include the bump stop part. A lot of people see the 0-3" lift from kings and don't realize the 3rd gens are actually only getting 0-2 inches of life because they are already higher than the second gen trucks.

 

I want the truck to be right just leveled. So I’m thinking since I’m going to be lowering the preload I might as well go back to stock leafs. If I just lowered the preload right now it would sit about 3 to 4in higher in the rear

 

What in the world do you have in the rear? I have OME Dakar mediums combined with kings set to a reasonable preload and my rear is only 1” higher. Adjusting your truck to sit level while unloaded is silly IMHO.

 

Not to sure these came from a separate deal, pretty sure these are just a add a leaf. I agree that it’s better for the rear to to sit a little higher but I mostly dont load the truck often.

 

Are you just guessing at 3-4” or did you measure it?

 

Right now the rear is about 2in higher than the front. I have to lower the preload 1in to be within spec.

 

You said your hub to center on the front was about 24”. That puts your rear at 26” which is approximately 4” over stock. Many people have posted that they got 1-1.5” after installing a AAL. Did you perhaps install a AAL from a monster truck or remove your bed?

 

If you don't load the truck often, I'd remove that AAL and go back to the stock rear ride height, and your front end should be about level with your rear. Or if you want to keep it as is on the rear, toss some weight back there once you get your front end under that 21" mark. Use sandbags from your local Home Depot or whatever, like 50lb at a time until it's level and you'll be able to kinda get a feel for your "ballast" weight, and the ride will probably mellow WAY out as well. It sounds crazy, but a lot of people daily drive with bags like that to mellow out the rear end when empty. Another solve is getting an Icon RXT Leafpack and leave it on setting "1".

 

Note that 21" is the MAX recommendation, I'd go a little past that for some wiggle room, like 20.75" or something. When you get it adjusted, drive around the block and do some brake checks to settle it in before measuring again.