Swapping 2017 to 2007 strut height?

I'm swapping in struts and springs from a 2017 tacoma (unknown model) into my 2007 (SR5 4x4) I got for a steal on Kijiji. When I researched ahead of time it sounded like a straight swap, but the new struts would give me a ~1" lift.

However when I pulled the old strut (OEM), it's almost 1.5" taller than the newer strut... Looking at the toyota website, all 2017's have the same ride height, am I missing something? As far as I know, my current struts are original... I had to cut off the top retainer nut/bolt, so there's no going back.

New struts are #48510-04220
I have the springs and they're almost the same height, but much thicker metal.

Also have a set of blisten coilovers and they're 1" taller, but I wasn't planning on using them as I think they're from a Tundra and I only have fronts.

Thanks!

 

I put 2017 TRD Sport struts on my 2015 TRD Sport and got exactly 1” of lift in the front. I have found the biggest tire size I can run without trimming or removing mud flaps is 255/75/17. Also did a 1.5” icon progressive add a leaf in the rear.

 

Only in the front? That's something I didn't factor in... Should I be worried about the rear being slightly lower? New leafs are out of the budget at the moment.

 

just changing the rear shocks wont effect ride height.

 

Don't know, but maybe 2005-15 top hats are different from the 2017 top hats, anyone know?

 

They are direct bolt ins....

 

Makes 100% sense now that I think about it. Maybe I'll have to look into leveling blocks if it's bad.

I'm swapping my old top hats over, the new struts didn't come with any.

 

If anything your truck should sit level with the 1” lift in front. If your rear leafs are shot then you maybe have very slight bro lean. Otherwise you could just stick an AAL in the rear to compensate or get some 3rd gen leafs that are low miles to go back to stock rear height.

 

Are you referring to the beat up black strut in your original post as being a Bilstein?
Edit: never mind I see you were referring to the tundra bilstein not your base SR5 shock

 

Understood, was just saying maybe the height difference comes from the top hats being different(maybe someone knows), since he didn't get 2017 top hats....

 

Yeah sorry to be confusing, that one isn't pictured.

Awesome! That's perfect then, I have no reason to think my leafs are shot. I'll keep an eye out for some new/used leafs and maybe upgrade them later. This is the first truck I've done, but I like working on suspension.

 

I think he’s referring to how it looks without top hats.

Once OP puts on the springs and top hats it will look like it’s supposed to. The shock height isn’t really the lift factor here, the springs just have one extra coil which provides the lift for the 2nd gen once assembled.

 

I get where you're coming from. Well if that makes the difference I'll be back at stock height anyways. Images I've seen look pretty similar though.

 

When I did the swap the rear end was lower than the frnt in its stock configuration noting that I have a cap on the truck. With 1.5 add a leafs with overload in and the 2017 struts up frnt I am now the same as stock with approx 1” of factory rake. Above is before and after pic with stock tire size.

1” more lift in front and 1.5” rear lift with this set up.

As far as ride quality, New 2017 struts are sprung stiffer and really only found them good after increasing tire size due to extra weight. With add a leafs in rear new shocks are def. needed. Went with toytec boss 0-3” lift shocks. Now that it’s done I am super happy with this set up and would def recommend it!

 

No lift without new springs

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I just finished putting in the front and rear driver struts and springs and everything fit well. Aside from getting the top hat aligned properly (my fault) and the top bolt needing to be cut off, it went pretty smoothly. After I put it back on the ground I was surprised to see it's the exact same height as the passenger side, so it didn't lift it all. The front is 1" lower than the rear, unless it's going to settle. I'm fine with that, was just surprised.

 

Not sure why you were surprised. Lift comes from springs, not shocks. That was mentioned in previous posts. The 3rd gen springs would have given you lift. The springs won't settle. They're the same springs you had on the truck before.

 

I would assume that u might have a much different feel now considering u are running shocks that are designed to dampen a heavier sprung spring that the stock one.

 

Sorry maybe I wasn't being clear before, I used new springs. The front spring and struts are both from a 2017. Only things that stayed original to the truck are the leafs and the top hats.

It was a battle against rusted bolts, but got the last one in tonight. Accidentally ripped a tie rod boot (arrrrg), but otherwise went as smoothly as I can expect living where the roads see salt.

 

wow surprised they are that much shorter. Talk about a loss of droop!