Stock height, ID old suspension parts & appropriate rear shock? '04 4dr TDR

I have a '04 4door TDRoffroad. These are the heights, can anyone say what stock was?
Center of axle to bottom of plastic on cowling (see photos)
Rear:23.25"
Front: 19.25"

Truck is new to me but i am the 3rd owner. I assume stock Tokica shocks because the truck only has 76k on it. They are in good shape. I lied to the wife about how warn out they are so i can rationalize a lift in the front and maybe the back.

I presume the previous owners stiffened the leaf springs for their 1000lbs camper. They did something but they could not recall specifically what they had done or what products were used. Here are photos. Can anyone identify what parts are stock and what are not? If not stock what are they? It is not the obvious leaf helpers that just bolt on. I think it might be the lowest leaf: thick,unhelpful until heavily loaded. it might be everything. I definitely can not see stoplights and the truck is pitched forward quite a bit relative to other tacos i have driven. So i assume it has some post stock lift in the rear.

I am trying to narrow down if i need lift in the back and how much i need in the front for level and play. Knowing what i have relative to stock helps.

Thanks in advance for the help,
happy to take whatever photos you need,

 

Yeah, looks pretty much stock except for the rear spring pack. Hard to say which aftermarket spring those are. May be one of the Wheelers Offroad kits. Any printed markings on the top leaf?

Maybe lift it a couple of inches in the front to reduce the rake a little bit. Don't want to get rid of all of it tho. Nice looking truck overall.

 

Thanks Digiratus, No markings on the springs or shackles. I see faint markings on the bump stop that looks like a serial number. Real hard to read. Not aligned. I will get the numbers or a photo.
Is it just the lower leaf that looks nonstock to you? or the entire assembly?

 

Looks like an extra lead spring was added, I wanna say it's the 3rd one down.
The bottom leaf is the factory overload leaf.

 

Bump stops and shackles look stock to me so there wouldn't be any markings on those.

 

Alright, this is not going to be easy. It is not crucial that i know what was added. But knowing what the stock height was would help direct my lift purchases.

 

I bet that leaf pack gained ya 1.5-2". Get a 2.5" lift up front and youll be settin perfect... keep in mind youd have some rake from the factory so the PO didnt gain 4" with those aftermarket leafs.

 

I would add that coil springs are a wear item. The TRD progressive front coils are very soft and will sag over time. My guess is that you've lost some height in the front because of this.

OP, how many miles on the truck?

 

76K on it

 

yeah, i said 76k above but it is 78k, sorry. Just got it. I have looked at >50 4door gen 1s in the last year. And many more before that. This was the first one with low rust and less than 100k miles i found.

 

Ahh, great, SO i didn't tell my wife a fib just so i can rationalize buying a lift.



'Honey, Digiratus says i need to replace those shocks ASAP. they are hosed. totally unsafe.' (thanks man).

 

So i should feel comfortable purchasing rear shocks that say warnings like "Works with 1"-3" of rear lift* - Will not work with 0" lift."
e.g.:
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/Rear-Bilstein-Shocks-955-04-Taco-86-95-PickUp_p_278.html
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/ToyTec-Rear-Boss-Shocks--955-04-Tacoma-86-95-Pickup_p_1435.html
And i should stay away from ones that say nothing about supporting a lift? Is there something better to measure than what i provided? shock length currently? I am looking in the poorly scanned pdf of the service manual but it is several 1000 pages of material. Such guidance would be helpful later when i load it up with wood or a camper and now have to worry about the shock (for lifted springs) being too compressed. Man, there are a lot of options and variables to consider.

 

There are a few variables to consider. For rear shocks, you need to know the minimum and maximum distance between the shock mounts so you can get a shock that isn't too long or too short. Bilstein makes a large selection of sizes under their 5125 model. http://downsouthmotorsports.com/i-10786891-bilstein-5125-series-universal-fit-shock.html

Flexing the rear is the key to knowing what those max and min lengths are. Ideally, you do it with the stock shocks removed so they don't interfere with the results. If you have access to a forklift, it simplifies this process. However, some folks try to find a burm or a loading dock to flex on.

 

I do not have a fork lift for personal use but i have a hi-lift and a bunch of climbing webbing. but a burm would be safer.

Is it safe to assume the photo you show is minimum shock length and maximum length is with the frame being lifted and the wheel 100% unloaded? In which case both tires should be off the ground? Yes/No?
If i take these measurements and decide to add 1.25" of lift (AAL or shackle) do i simply add 1.25" to the measurements i made? a perfect 1:1 ratio? If so i think i got it.



(Edit: i doubt i can do it with the stock shocks removed. Just the logistics of not being able to drive it. That aint happening till the snow melts)

 

Pretty close but you have to do it on both sides because the shock mounts are not symmetrical from side to side. For example, the drivers side stock shock is ~1" longer than the passenger side because of the shock mount locations.

The measurements that resulted from that pic only told me half the story. Lifting from that side showed the compressed length on the passenger side and the extended length on the driver side. To get the full picture, I had to lift up the drivers side with the forklift.

 

FWIW my '04 DC (non TRD) with stock parts (129,xxx mi) is 21" in the back and 20" in the front. But yeah it would be good to know what original height on these trucks were.

 

I hate to bump this at it is kinda dead but deckeda appears interested as well

Found another measurement of stock here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/stock-rear-height-measurment.79666/#post-1516379

I originally planned to buy everything i needed for a full 3" lift in one purchase, one alignment, one install event, easy. But without knowing what the rear needs I really cant do that unless i replace perfectly sound leafs that might be worth keeping and might be higher end than i planned to buy. So i will likely buy a continuous adjust ( ,2) coilover lift for the front, level it, measure how much lift is unused in the front, buy rear lifts accordingly. Remove the shocks, do the forklift trick, order rear shocks, drive the vespa while i wait for shipping, put it on, done.

 

IF i had to guess i would think a

$84 24-186728 5100 Series Shock Absorber

24-186728 would fit it. is that about right? given i have 1-2" of lift.

Why were the non double cab TRD off roads mounted with bilstiens and the double cabs mounted with tokicos? I assume it is the extra weight associated with the cab, that would for sure warrant heavier springs. but what about the shocks are different?

 

your leaf pack is definitely stock with an AAL already. simply replacing it with the Toytec one would yield no difference. so base the shock off of the fact you have an AAL and use the recommended.

The Bilsteins (yellow) on the TRD Off Road package were tuned different than the non-TRD. usually black Tokico shocks, sometimes the blue ones. this goes for DC, XC, and maybe SC

 

thanks frizzman

right, how were they tuned differently? does anyone know?