new to toyota fam

The Prerunner is the most bouncy because it has the same suspension as the 4wd trucks yet it doesn't have the added weight of the transfer case, front diff, front drive shaft, and cv's. I know my truck has one hell of a bumpy ride, there is a road where I live that my head bounces like a bobble head the whole way. I was given a hula girl and she gets quite the workout in my truck.

 

what are the best shock strut coil for taking the bounce out? Im going to get rid of the 3'spacer and probably take a leaf out..

 

Ask your question to 10 people and you'll get 12 answers. And I'll include myself as guilty there. But I'll try to provide some insight, based on what you said you want and where you already are.

#1 is new shocks, but you wanna match them with whatever the springs are doing

Rather than a recipe (that I know you want, but read just a few threads here, let alone responses within a single thread ...) you'll quickly realize there's more than one good path.

Yes ditch the spacer up front and get a quality shock that matches the stock coils both in terms of their height and stiffness, which are probably fine and *enough* for your stated intent. This could be anything from the better Gabriel/Monroe/Rancho/KYB etc or something firmer from Bilstein (4600 or 5100).

At the rear, if your leafs are actually OK you can remove whatever AAL or extra leaf was added. This will both lower the back and soften the ride appropriately without losing the stock payload capacity. Shock selection is the same as in the front although you should know that for the rear, both Gabriel and Monroe also offer a higher performance monotone that they do not offer for the front (the Bilsteins are all monotones).

My theory on why Gabriel and Monroe don't bother with a monotube for the front is because the traditional twin-tube design is softer and rides more comfortably, which can be a big plus up front where road impacts first hit. But anything new and quality should kill the crazy bounce, it's just a question of how firm you might wanna go.

Anyway, that's a low-cost approach to try that will help. There are also many choices if you'd rather rip it all out and start over and they don't always have to cost a ton of money either.

Without spending for big dollar setups, the Bilstein 4600 or 5100 is widely considered the highest performing strut/shock for use with stock-height springs. 5100s are a bit more versatile because they can be used with some lifted suspensions under certain circumstances.

 

I just noticed it too in his close-up pic. that's one short AAL and hidden well.

good points. although, again, without spending any money remove the spacer up front and the 4th leaf (real short one, AAL) and ride it for awhile. those are stock reg/sr5 shocks and should provide good ride quality. me thinks the AAL/spacer is killing the softness.

 

Good points Toyota Fam! Had some tough rain come through here and the next day i noticed some squeaky. I thought i did something when i ran some speed bumps over. I jumped on the back and thats where it sqeaking was coming from, as i jumped off i noticed the bed would slowly rise like it would stick for a second move up a inch. That only means they are shot right? If those are shot fronts are to, so its time to replace all 4 with? Bilstein 5100's do they fit this truck or what else to make it softer?

 

If your okay with loosing lift then get oe replacements or 4600s and new coils. If you want to keep lift and/or have best (without getting expensive coilovers) ride id replace everything with an ome kit (wouldnt recommend 5100/toytec for your truck because its too light)