Modified suspension broke

So thanks to some forum members here, I now know that my 2nd gen Tacoma V6 DCSB TRD OR has been highly modified in the rear suspension department (and my front too, with some Donahue Racing coilovers, now called ICON I believe). I got this truck to be bulletproof ( ) offroading to reach hunting spots and to be my daily driver and household towing/load-carrying vehicle (within the limits of a stock Tacoma). I now know that I have a progressive leaf spring pack (someone suggested it was Deaver J66, which seems right from the placement of the sticker on them, which has been spray painted on mine) which seem to be sagging as they are now almost level at rest with no load. For shocks, I appear to have Fox 2.0 Air Shocks mounted onto modified eye mounts (not stud, see pic below). Fox technician and forum members both have wtf'ed over this setup saying that air shocks aren't usually used with springs and usually serve as a poor man's coilover.

Now here's the kicker: my passenger rear air shock is rapidly leaking oil. It's a mess and there's a puddle under it when I park on cement. I cleaned it and verified it's leaking. So, I need to do something. I could:
A.) Remove the air shock, and have it rebuilt if Fox will repair my 10 year old air shock, or
B.) Replace both my leaf springs and shocks (and whatever else needs to be swapped with this)

Additional info: I just had my u-joints replaced, center bearing replaced, and driveshaft rebalanced since my center bearing bushing had failed and was allowing the driveshaft to flop.

Should I buy a new setup? If so, what would be sufficient to achieve my aforementioned goals, and if not, do you think there's any risk my shock will quickly fail again (assuming it could be my leaf springs sagging that caused it? I don't know) due to this incorrect setup?

I've been reading up a storm, but man is this a lot to learn to get my truck back on the road in short order. Thanks for all of your help TW.



Fronts:

Rear shocks and leafs:



At rest:



And lifted where you see the bottle jack:


For comparison:

 

Additionally, if there's a shot I missed somehow with my copious pixel blasting, let me know what would help.

 

OME Dakar leaf pack and a pair of univeral 2.0 shocks.

Measure the shock length (as best as you can) with the truck resting. You want to measure from the "eye to eye" or center of the mounting bolt to the opposite end mounting bolt. Next, remove the shock then jack up the truck and take measurements from the upper and lower mounting points. Measure the width of the upper and lower shock mount. Repeat for the other side.

These measurements are your "Extended" and "collapsed" length and will provide you a baseline for what shock size you need. Talk to Down South Motorsports or any other vendor and see if they can hook you up with a set of universal 2.0 shocks that can bolt in with similar dimensions. Saves you the hassle of redoing the mounts. It almost looks like you could fit a 10" shock in there.

The OME Dakar leaf pack is your standard leaf upgrade from stock. Provides about 3" lift and has much more weight capacity. You will also be able to ditch the air shocks and properly support extra weight. The J66 springs are a lighter weight option that only provide about 1-1.5" lift. Previous owner was using the air shocks as a crutch for height and capacity.

 

Other than leafs springs and the upper shock mounts being relocated what’s the highly modified part? I’d go with leaf springs of your choice, Deaver makes custom springs to your truck and weight, and a nice shock. Simple works the best.

 

Thanks, 5678ta and TACORIDER. Sounds good on your suggestions. I'll be trying this again today. Needed some different jacks and stands to do the job. As for what springs I have on there, I did notice there are 11 leaves on my leaf packs. Wondering if they aren't a Deaver custom pack.

Does anyone know how to get these air shocks off? Do I need to bleed them to relieve any pressure they have before removing the eye bolts? I never found great answers on this.

 

Harbor Freight has decently priced jacks and stands. Find their coupons to save more money.

If the shocks are pressurized, the easiest way will be to jack up the back and droop the axle as far as possible. Removing the tires will help if you can't lift/support the truck that high. You do not have to release the pressure. Virtually all shocks are pressurized with gas, to some degree.

 

Thanks 5678ta! I picked up a nice 3 ton Husky jack with good height of 21" earlier this week. The ones at Harbor Freight I looked at last week maxed pretty low, like 18". Also got some nice 6 ton 23" jack stands at O'Reilly's. Tried the jack about an hour ago but it was empty of hydraulic fluid. Will need to pick some up. My plan is to lift at the rear diff with the jack, pop the jack stands along the farthest back part of the frame rails I can (by the gas tank basically) and then remove both rear wheels and see if I can't get the shocks off then! Thanks again.

 

Got a buddy with an asphalt driveway to let me break down in his yard, since mine was dirt and here's what we have. Got all the shocks off, called Downsouth Motorsports who told me to go figure out if I need to replace my leaf springs first, and then call him to find what shocks I want which makes sense.

I wasn't sure if these leaf springs are still good after all. It does appear to be an 11 spring pack and has stickers in the spot that makes it look like Deavers though the PO spray painted over the sticker. I'm leaning towards tossing the leaf springs and getting an OME Dakar pack with some Bilstein or Fox 2.0's (depending on total cost perhaps between the two) since I don't like what I'm seeing on the leaf springs with the weird gaps and separation points seen below.

 

Buy ome Springs and replacement shocks of the correct length. Those shocks looks really short.

 

Thanks. Pulling the trigger on that today.

 

I got the Dakars installed yesterday, and tried to pull the trigger on buying shocks now that I can measure but I got the wrong measurement for the shop. I was supposed to get the extended measurement instead of the at-rest measurement to find which ones I need. Whoops.

They freaked me out when they said I need to buy bump stops after I install the shocks that match the length of the shock I install (a little bit longer than my shocks, so they don't bottom out on the shock). Sounds like a possible big cost. How do you guys choose a bump stop to fit? Do I have to install the shocks when I get them and measure the exposed shaft versus the height from my bump stop to my frame? Anyone have experience with good replacement bump stops of custom sizes?

 

Bump stops you have should be fine

 

It look likes you have already decide to replace the old shocks. Maybe just a FYI the old Fox Shocks were most likely charged with Nitrogen not air shocks. The Schrader valve was for charging the nitrogen not air. Just my .02cents. But it looks like you are the correct path.

 

Look how large the shaft is...those are air shocks

 

Yeah. They were air it turned out. Once I had them off you couldn’t compress them an inch. Got some Fox 2.0 with reservoirs today from DownSouth Motorsports so should be all set once I can verify the stock bump stop will work.

 

Stock bumps will work with Dakar’s, but you stock brake lines will not. If you don’t have extended lines then you can either space out the bracket for the hard line on the axle or get longer lines.

 

Thanks, Sub_Par. What do the rest of you guys think about the statement that you need extended brake lines for Dakars? Downsouth Motorsports said otherwise, whom I purchased these from and checked with on that.

Also, they set me up with some 10" travel Fox 2.0s with reservoirs so we should be all set soon!

 

You are fine as long as your shocks dont extend ridiculously far.

Two of my friends have stock lines on Dakars and 3" lifts with no issues. They are using standard length lift shocks.

Best way is to check what you have. Jack it up and droop it out as far as it can go, to see if your brake lines are having issues. Things are not always the same from truck to truck.

 

I should have mentioned that you need them if you have shocks that actually use all the droop of the pack.

 

Welp... another road block. The shocks I received are 1.5" eyelet mounts top and bottom with bushings and inner sleeve. My mounts are 1.25" top and bottom. I previously had bearing mounts with two reducers (one on either side of the rotatable bearing) on 1/2" bolts. The shop suggests I grind them down and is sending some bushings and sleeves that are smaller though they told me the smallest they had was on the order of 1.3XX" (I forget the lower digits).

Would you guys just grind down the sleeve and outer part of the bushing and/or bend the mount tabs out, or would you look at getting a bearing mount that I can put into the Fox shocks I got? I ended up with these fox shocks:
Fox 980-24-032

$215 Fox 980-24-032 Eyelet and Body Cap

https://smile.amazon.com/Fox-980-24-032-Eyelet-Body-Cap/dp/B009X1TN6O

I half wonder if I shouldn't switch the bushing out for this: http://performancelifts.com/fox-racing-shock-mount-bearing-001-00-004-a.html
That's basically what was on there before. Says they wear out when driven as a daily which I do. Would hate to swap these every 1k miles..... Maybe I need to just bite the bullet and replace my shock mounts with 1.5" mounts....