sloppy rear suspension

In the past 6 months I have noticed that my Tacoma has been riding more and more rough, and the suspension seems sloppy. To be blunt the rear end seems to be all over the place and the ride is very shocky and sharp. At times it feels like I'm being kicked from underneath, and other times it feels like King Kong is aggressively rocking the rear end.

I thought that if I changed the shocks then the ride would smooth out but after a test ride things were pretty much the same. Today I installed Bilstein 4600 on the rear and have planned to do the fronts next month. The stock shocks were easy to compress compared to the Bilsteins so I figured they were getting pretty worn.

A few days ago I hauled a Lexus is 250 engine in my Tacoma and the ride was very much improved. I wish it was like that all the time but without having to carry a heavy load.

I haven't done the rear leaf spring TSB because I just found out about it recently and I don't typically carry heavy loads. Is there anything I can do to make the ride smoother? I'm getting headaches from the ride every day.

 

If you want a really good rear suspension replace the rear leaf springs with Dakar leaf packs and bilstein 5160s in the rear and 5100 adjustable shocks up front

 

Have you checked to see if you have a broken leaf spring ?

 

Thanks for the suggestion MGMTacolover55.

OZ-T I'll check the leaf springs tomorrow and report back here.

 

I guessing your talking about rough roads? They all bounce 4 leaf worse then 3. The reason it rode better with 350# of motor in the back was the added weight keeping the back end on the ground.

 

I figured that was the case. I might have to buy my friend's engine and keep it back there.

My springs are fine, and I surmised that since the Tacoma was designed to carry weight its going to be rigid in the rear.

 

What tire pressure are you running? With higher pressures, things bounce around a bit (for me anyway). And of course, its probably worse when the tank is low.

Check all your mounting points, ubolts, main eye bolts, shackles, etc.

If you're really really adventurous and have tools & time available.... take the leafs off and inspect whatever bushings Toyota uses on both ends, lubricate or replace as necessary. I know over time - bushings get dry rotted and eye bolts get rusted and seize, which prevents the leafs from moving/functioning properly.

I know on the 96 I had...they used a steal collar inside the bushing which did nothing but fuse itself to the eyebolt.

 

The Bilstein shocks work well and I would recommend them highly. Have you checked out Bilsteinoffroad.com? They will help you decide what will work best for your application.