Rear Shocks Recommendation

and im running ome881 coils and billy 5100's up front....and wheelers/alcan 5pack rear leafs, and billy 5100's in the rear, and the ride is friggin great.

 

Just heard from Sonny @ DS; his recommendation was to measure the eye-to-eye measurement on my truck sitting as it is unloaded, and we will determine from that whether the 5100s will be ok, or need to have them swapped out for 5125s, which they will do, no problem. I am going home for lunch to get that measurement, and will determine by the end of today what I really need for the rear shocks. Sonny is great to work with.

The 5100s are 1" or so longer compressed than the stock Bilstein.

 

Alright. Please do let me know. Sonny hasnt responded to my email yet so any help would be great.

 

OK, here's the final determination:

I went home at lunch and measured the center-to-center measurements of the stock Bilsteins (rear) with the truck unloaded, sitting on level ground. The driver's side was 17 1/2", the passenger side 18 7/8". The distance between the bumpstop and the frame was a smidge less than 5" (couldn't get my head up in there to get a good look at the tape).

I then proceeded to call Sonny and discuss the 5100s. I gave him the stock measurements, and I measured the 5100 rears while we were on the phone. Turns out based on my stock measurements, they will work fine, should not hit at all. So I am keeping them, installing the rears tonight!
Sonny did say to call after installation if I have any more concerns, though. I don't anticipate any.

Remember that I have a set of new Alcan stock height springs that I replaced the Toyota stockers with, so my measurements might be a tad longer than a truck with the stock springs.

Just 'cause I'm picky, I measured the 5100s collapsed, and they will work fine. They are close, but I don't really anticipate bottoming out my truck's suspension, I don't haul a lot of junk. Even if I did bottom out onto the bumpstops, there is not a 1 to 1 drop in the shocks, because they are mounted at an angle, not straight up and down. Even if some day I might experience any bottoming, it could be solved with a small spacer under the bumpstop, that would be easy.

I'm good to go! Let's hear it for Sonny, he made my day.

tr0gd0r, you should call him up, he will help you decide on the shocks you need/want, definitely.

Gary

 

Can you tell me what 5100's you purchased?

Was it these?
http://downsouthmotorsports.com/i-1...acoma-pre-runner-4wd-pre-load-adjustable.html

Doesnt look like you can purchase just the rear 5100s from DS, maybe I will have to call.

 

How do I make sure I get Sonny on the phone?

 

Those are what I got. I agree with the last post, just call Sonny; he's answered the phone every time I've called. He will be able to get you set up with what you want.

 

Called Sonny. He recommended I measure my current shocks to see how much my leaf is sagging before he could recommend a shock. Dont really want to get dirty today, but I will call him back later as soon as I check my current shock length.

 

On the rear shocks, does the boot install up or down?

 

boot goes toward the ground. the shocks need to be installed where you can read bilstein straight across.

 

Thanks! I know it seems like a stupid question, I just never gave it any thought before. Also, I was leaning towards boot down, seeing as how the writing on the shock would be upside down otherwise...I appreciate the help!

 

no prob man.....................and there are no stupid questions here.

 

Thanks...

I guess this post also threw me:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/27310-rear-billies-5100-max-out.html

No mention on any of the replies about the shock being upside down...

 

well....for what its worth............i installed my rears wrong for a couple of weeks..................then i realized that they needed to be flipped. i was used to my ford f150 and my ranger's shock setups. it doesnt matter really...................they will work either way, but boot at the bottom is correct.

 

So apparently my rear leafs are sagging from being old. The measurements were about 1in off from stock on both sides. Sonny said if I did an Add-A-Leaf in the rear the 5100s would work but since they are sagging they wont work without doing the AAL.

 

Good evening,

Its Sonny.... Sorry I am a few days behind on e-mails....
I just came in from working on shocks...Back to working alone again
and it makes for a long day....

I noticed that you said you had sent an e-mail and if I did not respond..
Sorry about that....Can you send it again????

Thank you to all of you for your support...I took a second to read
some of the posts by Six One Nine and far be it from me to want to give him a hand...Holly crap it was a rocky exit after the week....Give him a chance...He is just trying to get on his feet and get his bearings...He means well, he just has trouble conveying that....

Also Tigerfan is supposed to be putting on those Sway away's this weekend and we will see if it was worth the wait......Those things were hammered.....The only thing holding the lower heim in was "Faith"..HA,HA.HA

Have a good night everyone
Thanks,
Sonny