Coilovers!!

Well i recently got some king coilovers used and installed them with a buddy and noticed there was a clunking sound when i hit a bump, well i got sick of it and had sonny test drive the truck with me and he heard the clunk. Next day i took them off and gave them to sonny and sure enough i got a bad call i believe it was the retaining washer on the bottom was pinched inside and plastic was coming off that washer causing alot off stuff to go wrong no fluids were going through and it was on the point to hydrolocking the coilover which means real bad when driving. Sonny is going over the coilover to make sure its back in specs im just hoping nothing is bad and im going to have to put some more money into the coilover! So my advice would be before you through a coilover used get it looked at and prevent further damage and money to your pocket because this could have gotten bad in a heart beat. Dont take the guys word for it if he thought there was no damage to the coilover.

 

Very true, the coilover was extended more than what it was it was suppose to be and caused all that stress. And believe me lessoned learned!!!!!

 

sucks to hear Steve, hopefully Sonny can take care of it cheap and fast.

 

hmmm reminds me, mine are due for a rebuild too

 

Yeah sonny was shocked and the guy that had them never rebuilt them

 

I dont have any problems with them yet, just lost some lift

 

And I am pretty sure the guy new there was something wrong with them before he sold them to you. Have you spoken to him about it?

 

I did speak to him about the matter and says he never adjusted the coilover and never took it hard on the coilover. and never felt anything wrong with them.

 

So i dropped my coilovers off to sonny at downsouthmotorsports.com and he helped me out by rebuilding the coilover it took a 2 day turnaround one of my shocks was in bad shape with all kinds of plastic inside at one point sonny had to heat it up witha torch to get the plastic out the plastic clogged up the holes allowing the shock not to work properly so everything was cleared and sonny rebuilt it and he was actually shocked to see how bad it was inside im just glad it wasnt that bad it could have let to even a bigger matter heres some pics of what i am actually talking about.
This is the retaining washer suppose to be one solid peace

 

this is the washer your not even suppose to see the metal lol

All the black rubber pieces through out the shock

Another pic

 

damn... looks like they really were in bad shape...
at least you caught it before things got worse...right?

 

If you guys are looking for a rebuild in your coilovers Hit up sonny at downsouth motorsports its a quick turn around he kept me informed what was going on and if i need to purchase some pieces or if there was further damage, so he is on top of things he knows what is doing especially with 20+ years under his belt, i will tell you this when he test drove the truck with the coilovers he hit in on the nose and knew exactly what was wrong and sure enough it was the picture tells the story.

 

True that man definately get your stuff serviced if you feel something wrong.

 

Damnnnnnnnnnn

Those parts look beyond toast, really can't believe the guy didn't notice problems running something so busted up.

glad Sonny was able to fix you up

 

Told ya chris bad condition.

 

I am a little shocked as well but hey its my fault as well i could have rebuilt them before i installed them and sonny tells me watch you will feel the difference when you ride them now.

 

Good evening everyone....

The coilovers were in bad shape....But nothing is beyond repair..Most of the
time, HA, HA, HA
That washer you see in the picture is actually part of a vulcanized rubber top out
bumper that goes between the seal head and the aluminum spacer before the valve stack washer.All the bleed holes in the piston were clogged with the broken pieces of
rubber to the point where I had to heat up the piston with a map gas torch and
push the hot rubber through the holes so the fluid would flow through it..
All the seals were changed and of course the oil and and I had to flush out the cylinder and reservoir line with 99% alcohol and then a little bit of clean shock oil..
It went back together a lot easier then it came apart....
There is a little lesson here for everyone and it is about King coilover shocks...
I will of course stand behind any King Shock....But When the crew at King
did the R&D for the OEM coilover replacement shocks ('05-'09 Tacoma),
Lance said that it was designed for better performance on and off road and
they were not designed to be a lift coilover.
They are good for about 2" to 2.5" of lift (Ride Height) change and when they get cranked to high, well as you can see in the pictures over time, they get a little hammered...
Just a chunk of advice from an old dog (Me)...You change the oil in your car
every 3000-5000 miles and why not change the oil and inspect your coilover shocks
every once in awhile...Just a thought.....

Have a Good one......