3rd Gen Owners with King Coilovers

I'm not sure I follow.

I'm sure @Bertw192 is being truthful with the type of driving he's doing. If this came up in a discussion about warranty, its just one word vs the other. My comment about preload and coil bind is a real possibility. Basically if you go beyond the max amount of preload a spring can handle, the spring can go into coil bind/block height. This means the spring is completely smashed and there is likely still more shock travel to be had. See graphic below. If this were the case (not saying it is), the spring will definitely suffer over time and could lead to cracking/breaking. We have a few articles that go in depth on this subject and we even provide specs on max preload for this spring and the new spring @Bertw192 has. https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/coilover-spring-rates-for-toyota-tacoma-4runner/

Coil springs breaking like this is not very common. Aside from my preload info, this very well could be a manufacture defect. Really hard to say. It's worth giving King a call to see if they are able to replace the spring.

 

I'd be shocked if I had coil bind, as I followed your articles regarding maximum lift and the coilover springs (600 lb) were chosen by your team at Accutune. I'll investigate the unbroken driver's side coil and look for any evidence of binding or witness marks.

Based on you comment, I assume this means I need to forego contacting Accutune and go straight to King, despite buying from your team.

Thank you for your replies.

 

Products we sell carry a manufacturer warranty, just like all the other retailers. For this situation, I can check in back to see if we have take-off springs that I can send you. These would be the 600lb springs you had on their though.

 

No thank you.

 

I do understand coil bind, which is why I included the comment about the properly sized bump. Very true the preload on the other end comes into play also. That said, from the pics above in both posts, including the lack of shiny, adjusted threads on the shock body, the preload eyeballs out quite nicely.

 

What was his top hat to center bolt measurement with old coils before it broke?

 

Below the 21" recommended by Accutune. I believe I was around 20.5". See my quote above when talking about preload and lift.

 

That is the shock measurement at ride height, which is a great number to hit. This provides the shock a good amount of up and down travel. This is our target number based on the shock lengths and optimal ride quality.

This number however, does not tell us how much preload was added to the spring to get to that height.

 

FYI, for anyone following along, King has agreed to warranty the coil, as they agreed that rust shouldn't be an issue in the PNW and it didn't appear to be an abuse issue. Unfortunately, they won't cover the lower base cap, as they said the damage appears to be cosmetic only.

So be it... happy that they'll step up on the coil at least.

 

that’s great news about the coil. If/when I buy parts from AT (or any vendor), sounds like I’ll need to document certain data points or else there will be room for debate on how it failed. Maybe they should include this as part as the warranty card/product registration.

shame, seems like so much churn for the customer for a relatively cheap component on an expensive set-up.

 

I wouldn't let this instance concern you. We take care of our customers as much as we can. Snapping springs is very rare and we have suggestions on how to prevent certain issues that can cause this to happen.

 

Yeah, I was asked to provide photos of my setup. Unfortunately, I only had photos of it after fixing the broken coil. Lesson learned, document what you have and inspect it regularly.

 

Great info on the king shocks. After a weekend wheeling with a friend's 4runner with kings 2.5, I am sold.
Wanting to keep the stock height of my tacoma, I am wondering whether it is possible to and how to set kings front coilover to stock height. Is the 600lb blue coil still going to be more stiff than the stock tacomas coil even set at stock height (less preload I assume)?

Thanks for any tips.

 

Are you going to have any additional front weight planned?

 

Nope, mainly building my rig for camping which would eventually have a 300lbs bed camper in the back and potentially a pair of firestone airbags in the back to help, but no additional front weight than just a couple of lights. Not planning on lifting my vehicle so.

 

They come standard with 600lb springs. Give @AccuTune Offroad a call as well info is fantastic. https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/coilover-spring-rates-for-toyota-tacoma-4runner/

 

For the front, if you really want to keep stock height, we may need to swap in a shorter length spring. The 14x600lb spring may be too long and not allow you to reduce preload enough to get you that low. Shoot over a message when you have a moment and we can look into options. Pretty sure most of this is in stock.

 

King 2.5s are cool, but if upgrading for off-road comfort, consider the King 3.0s, they come with internal bypasses & adjustable resis. I’m running them with 600lb spring purchased directly from King & LOVE them. They’re based on stock height but can be adjusted to 2.5” lift in front. I opted for a level height on mine. Also don’t forget to get Upper control arms. I went with Total Chaos with poly bushings & uniball since it was the only upper to confirm fitting with the increased thickness of the King 3.0. After off-roading them all day, I have barely got them room temp, barely a touch warmer than my hand haha. I don’t see why people are spending thousands just for a 2.5 when the 3.0s are only a touch more & vastly superior.

 

How much did you pay for yours?

 

Why are 3.0 shocks vastly superior to 2.5s?