2002 Tacoma rear suspension help....

Ordered OME rear springs. Ordered Bilstein 5100. Was told they will not work, need longer shocks. Does anyone know the right ones? Need the travel length. Please help

 

Great question! On the other hand, they may be just wanting to sell you Nitrochargers in order to keep it all in the OME family ... (not that that's a 'bad thing," but wouldn't answer your question here either.)

I don't know the travel length but will raise the issue in another, related way which is overall lift increase from stock, because that's how they are frequently referenced.

This thread, https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/1st-gen-bilstein-5100-part-numbers.105166/ contains lift ranges gleaned from DSM, a popular vendor:

BE5-D559-T0 = rear driver (length works with 0"-1.5" Lift)
BE5-D560-T0 = rear passenger (length works with 0"-1.5" Lift)

Wheeler's, another popular vendor, disputes this: Notice on the product page they are also the 559/560 shocks but "are able to accommodate 0-3″ of rear lift."

It's not my intention to throw anyone under the bus here but ya gotta admit it's confusing to potential buyers. That said, the 5100 is a series of shocks/struts where one from a different vehicle may be just the ticket when used on a modified (i.e. lifted) Tacoma. But it's nearly impossible in my experience to find such a cross-reference, let alone a vendor willing (or able) to show info on their site such as, "Yeah in that circumstance THIS other one would be ideal."

*******************
Another, somewhat related issue I've wondered about is how to handle the extra (sometimes A LOT extra) height that new springs have (until they settle), when pairing with new shocks that can only accommodate significantly shorter lengths.

 

The biggest problem you'll run into is the limiting of droop. These springs have lots of travel. I am currently running a 10" 5150 on the passenger side and the longer of the 5125 series on the driver's and I still have limited droop. I can't run the 10" 5150 on the drivers side stock location due to the shock body being too long and bottoming out on compression long before the bumpstop. The shocks you posted above will be too short and you can run the risk of pulling the shocks apart. You can run the 5125 series and you will be ok in most situations, fine on highway. If you hitting the dirt with speed, you need to do more homework.

 

Thank you. I'm so comfussed....

 

These are the one's you should choose. Be aware that the price is for 2 shocks. Two different lengths. Shorter one for driver side/longer passenger