Ride hight in relation to shock travel

I just got a set of 5100s on after blowing some Revtech shocks. I have a 2 inch block under the leafs (i think they are bent 0.5 - 1") and am wanting to go higher in the back. How much down travel do I really need from ride hight, right now I have 4" and feel like I could run less seen as total travel is double that but I'm not sure. I do beat on it pretty hard and don't want to be topping out all the time.

 

I've never come across any good discussion of this topic. Accutune has some articles that might have some info. I have a vague memory of them recommending at least 3" for the front, but I can't find that article today.

https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/

Perhaps @AccuTune Offroad could provide further info.

 

I found the article that recommends a minimum of 3" of droop, but again it's for the front.

https://accutuneoffroad.com/preload-adjustments-on-oem-fit-coilovers/

 

Remove shocks.

Take apart leaf pack.

Flex leaf pack (attached to truck) to find out collapsed and extended lengths from eyelet to eyelet.

Purchase shock for said application.

You're not doing anything different from most 95% of people on this forum considering you're using the stock shock mounts. With that said, it should be really quick and easy to figure out what you need.

If you find the right shock to meet your extended length, but not your collapsed length, you can get extended bumpstops to alleviate any issues.

 

I went to the garage and measured my hub to fender on the rear left.

ride height: 23.5"
full doop: 28.5"

Down Travel = 5"

I have King 2.5 RR extended travel shocks and OME Dakar medium leafs. I'm not sure what their extended and collapsed lengths are, as I've not been able to find it online.

I have about 2" of down travel on the front.

I wonder now too if I could raise the rear more. I'm not sure it's worth the cost at this point, but I'm still curious.

 

matching shocks to the springs is definitely the order one should do it in. because I just needed something drivable I bought shocks and now want to match springs to them.

 

My hub to fender is 22.5" and I have 4" of droop so I'm guessing your shock is around 11" of travel seen as the 5100s are 9". This may not be true at all because I'm a 2nd and you're a 3rd gen. Thanks for you replys they've been very helpful.

 

I found conflicting info that the 3rd gen rear shocks are around 9” which is about the same wheel travel on the front. I theoretically have 1” over stock. I’m not sure why it’s so hard to find authoritative shock specs. Do you have to contact the manufacturer directly?

 

I've had luck checking 4wp or shock surplus they both make a point to list shock measurements. They both are still big companies who can't personally measure all their shocks though. For the rear you can just pull the shock without jacking up the truck its only 2 bolts. You can then compress and decompress by hand and measure yourself.

 

King doesn't list or provide shocks lengths, unless you call. We have been gathering this data over the years and have them listed on some of the shocks on our site.

• KRS-25001-121-EXT
  
• Product Compressed Length: 15.541
• Product Extended Length: 24.4
• Product Travel: 8.859

Minimum Up travel suggestions (solid axle)
Rock Crawling = 4” Trail Riding = 5” Desert Racing / Ultra4 Type = 7”
We suggest dedicating 1/3 to 2/3 of shock travel for up travel, depending on application.

Based on those recommendations and limited rear shock options, you can compare your setup. Since there are limited options, this is why we modify a Tundra rear shock to fit Tacomas. They offer 1" more travel.

 

I ended up getting some icon rxt leaf springs and set them to the highest spring rate possible which left 2 inches of down travel. I didn't have any issues with topping out even over some small whoops. When I did top out (from jumps) it wasn't nearly as harsh as in the front. The spring rate was too high to articulate fully so I backed the spring rate down to the 2nd option and couldn't be happier. I have an extra 300 pounds in the bed.

 

Quick question... what's the bump stop to frame gap measurement?

 

left 4.5", right 4.75" on the second setting

 

Curious, why you were interested in this measurement?

 

Just wondered... also have the rxt's at option 2 with around 2" of lift on my 2nd gen. Rear hub to fender is around 23.75". Have Timbren active offroad bump stops. Gap between bump stop to frame is about 2.75" and shock shaft down travel looks to be 5"... just seems like the shock and bump stop would bottom out at same time since the bump stop compression is 2.25". Wondered what other's gap measurement was and if i require spacers or not. I have the RXT 2.5" RR extended shocks.

 

10-4. Lots of variations on bump stops out there. Some act very different than others so that gap is a little misleading sometimes.