What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Did you break my 5100s?

 

Finished bumper minus lights.

 

The light bar came out sweet Jace

 

I removed mine a long time ago. (don't even have billys anymore). Well IMO heres a better question. why don't most of the other big brand shocks use boots? IE: fox, icon, king, ORI, etc.

Edit: never really looked into the options for those shocks but i don't see boots on the typical installation of those brands of shocks.

That is fuckin awesome.

 

There's no reason to have boots on shocks. I've been wheeling for years with no boots, Rancho shocks and for a brief time, Pro-Comp, and have never had an issue. I have never had a leaky off road shock. They are mainly for aesthetics, they serve no real purpose.
I recently removed them from the rear nitrochargers, so I could see if they were bottoming out. The boots went in the trash. I like to see the travel anyway.
There is no way sand and grit will get in the shaft seal, there is way more than just a simple "O" ring in there. Shocks are subjected to high pressure changes when cycling, the seals are quite robust. Those boots are vented anyway, drive through a deep mud puddle or creek and I guarantee you have sand and grit now trapped inside the boot.

 

To illustrate, rear shock on my Scout, has been on there for roughly 11 years. Notice the crap on the shaft, yet no leaks...
Also, that's the exhaust pipe running right next to it, heat has not been a factor either.


Front shock on the same Scout, same length of time in use. Notice the chunk of rubber on the top of the shaft, that's my bumpstop. Slams down on it occasionally, no leaks.

 

thanks man! gonna break it in tomorrow night!

yeah, softopper is a great company

 

Factor 55 Prolink and Crosby shackle. Because "'Murica!"

 

Couldn't say why

But when I read of this I went to check mine out and sure enough there was water. I didnt think it was bad until I cut them off...

Not yet; but when I cut the boots off I got a face full of swamp water...

 

same thing happened to my rear shock after a little over a year. still don't understand how it happened but toytec replaced mine under warranty

 

Hmmm, I guess the razor will bee used this weekend. I could see how a boot full of water can cause damage. Does OME have boots? I believe they do right?

 

I think OME uses the metal sleeve that covers the shaft but could be wrong

Also might depend on which shock

 

I've been trying to convince myself to get one of those, is it worth it?

 

I've got one, it's nice, great design, strong as hell. My only gripe is that it sticks out a bit, factor 55 makes another version that lays flat that I kind of want.

http://factor55.com/product/flatlink/

 

OME has a plastic brush guard protecting the piston. Its completely open on the bottom and is only there to protect the piston from being gouged by rocks and such.

 

Looking at the manufacturer's web-site, it appears that even though the attachment pins are made of titanium or steel, the body is made of lite-weight aluminum! Would that be a concern?

 

Not necessarily. As long as its the proper alloy and protected against corrosion, it can be every bit as strong as steel.

 

Has anybody chopped off the exhaust up under the bed with an angle grinder? There's enough space but I don't want to shoot sparks at the tank and blow myself up

 

Finally got the truck leveled with may SAW Coilovers. My Anti-Dark Hood light kit just got in today too. Gonna wire it up later today

 

I've cut under the bed before, it's scary. But when I did my exhaust, rented a chain cutter from an auto shop for free...