Rear shock lenght

Alright....so I flipped my helper spring and that gave me 2" of lift....I put in 2" lift blocks...my stock shocks have zero travel now....what have you guys used? I bought a set of rancho rs9000 for another truck but the collapsed length is to long? $100 down the drain but oh well....need some advice.

 

Wow....nobody?????

 

Well, what are your measurements when you cycle the suspension with the shocks removed? That's the only way to tell what shock length will work.

 

so you now have 4 total inches of extended travel? what vehicle?

 

24" full droop.18" at full articulation. Got another set of rs9000's coming tomorrow.

 

I looked this info up for a 96 taco standard cab 4x4. if that's what you have, these should work just fine. these shocks all have L3 upper and lower mounts, and according to the napa catalogs it's also what you should have.

napa numbers are 65112, 65415, 65429, 66624, 66646, 66668, 66670, 66811, 66861, 66863. mostly HD truck shocks. but they all have at least a 24 inch fully extended length with at least 9.5 inches of travel.

 

My bad guys....its a 1997 2.7 4x4

 

looks like everything is still the same. any one of those will work. the 66811 costs around 45 bucks each with a compressed length of 16 inches and extended of 26. it also has a huge availability at the napa distribution centers from la to new jersey. imo the best option for something that works. it should be able to handle what your truck can do since it's made for a pretty big truck. i think this trucks engine weighs more than any of our trucks...

 

Dude!!! You are awesome!!!! If these new ones don't work I will def pick up a set of them.I can get the ranchos for $50 a piece so I will go with them if possible.

 

you're welcome. if need be, find some local A.S.E. P2 parts specialists around your local parts stores. they have the best knowledge if you wan't someone locally.

 

What do you mean by "helper spring"? You have aftermarket spring packs?

 

I think he means the overload spring? I have never heard of someone flipping this and giving them lift... but I just ditched the whole setup

 

I believe hes talking about the very bottom leaf on stock springs. It's curved downward to help the suspension when bottoming out. turning it upwards would add a little more carrying ability and therebya slightly increased height.

 

Issue with that is it adds strain on the leafs in places not originally intended. Thst could be a big problem after enough abuse

 

Yeah thats what i assumed he meant too, the bottom, fat overload spring. I too had never heard of anyone doing this. It seems it would render the spring pack useless. Its not even really a spring, but more of a secondary bump stop.

 

That is what it sounds like. However that would result in horrific ride quality. The overload is designed to flex minimally, whereas the spring pack is designed to flex. By inverting the overload, you are making it so the spring pack won't flex and that will make your truck ride like an unloaded dump truck. Awful.

 

Yeah, exactly. I Guess this is one of those "if it looks stupid but it works, then it aint stupid" dealies.

 

So this shock should fit the rear of a stock 1995-2000 something?

 

OP, take a decent photo of one of your rear spring packs, showing the 'flipped helper'. It sounds like you did a really horrible thing that should be un-done.

 

only 4x4s with the same mounting type. what kind of vehicle and what's your extended (fully jacked) length?