Help with shocks

Just picked up a 2006 that is my sons first car. Its in good mechanical shape with 130K miles on it, but still has the original shocks.

Want to change them out and would prefer to keep it stock. I don't have access to a spring press and would like to find a place that sells the front coil over shock already assembled.

Any suggestions where we can buy these? I'm only seeing high end assembled coil over shocks or the low end monroes. Gotta believe that someone sells the stock bilstein 4600s pre assembled with coils.

 

You can rent the threaded compressors at O'Reilly. I've used them before and they aren't too bad. It will save you a few bucks. If you go this route, be careful with these. There's a LOT of stored energy in one of those compressed springs. Watch a few Youtbe videos to see if this is something with which you'd be comfortable.

 

Monroes and 4600s aren't wildly different. But if you are in a semi populated area you should be able to find a set of low mileage OEM takeoffs for a good price. 3rd gen shocks will bolt right into a 2006 6-lug.

 

If you are going to install the whole assembly.
You may want to watch this video. As it show how to use the truck as spring compressor.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bilstein-5100-install-no-spring-compressor.417922/

I guess it depends on how comfortable you are working on the truck.
BTW, Welcome to TW.

 

Wheelers off-road offers assembled shocks/coils as well.

Pull off is another good option. Check the B/S/T section for people selling their brand new OEM suspension for cheap and have them ship it to your or pick it up local.

 

Welcome to TW. Some shops will assemble the shocks for you if you bring them in. I believe the one by me charges $50.

 

You can replace the front shocks on a 4x4 (maybe also a 4x2, I don't know) on the vehicle without a spring compressor. Check out this Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkVLBOnAifc. Looks pretty straightforward, just be advised you do it at your own risk.


Edit: I figured someone would beat me to the punch while I was looking for the video.... Different vid but the same procedure I think.

 

Thanks for all the tips. Iv'e compressed springs before with some not so good experience, I prefer to buy assembled since we are about an hour from major civilization and want to keep it easy.

5100's are nice, but don't think my son has the funds to dump 800-1000 bucks into the suspension. Goal is to make this a reliable truck that he takes off to school this summer.

 

Thanks for all the tips, we are going to dump Monroes on it for now, along with new stabilizer bars(boots are bad), new brakes and new spark plugs. Once he is out of the house he can do what he wants with the suspension.

 

I would check the F/S section, Craigslist, or OfferUp for low mileage stock take-offs. You can usually find front and rear Off-Road complete take-offs for like $200. Easy install without messing with the springs.

 

Just thought I would post back here on what we ended up doing. We replaced the factory shocks with monroe's all the way around. We used the quickstruct coilover shock assembly on the front.

It took us better part of an afternoon to get the front done and the rears were less than 30 minutes each. The ride is amazing compared to the ride on stock system with 131K miles on them.

For a college kid on a low budget, the 300 dollars he spent was a good compromise for now to give him a smoother safer ride.

 

Sounds like it all worked out in the end.

Fair warning...if your son joins TacomaWorld the truck will be wildly different the next time you see it