1st Gen LT front coilover options?

I have FOA shocks right now and they are the worst thing I ever did to my truck. I'm trying to research anything else that will fit and its a lot harder then I expected since its a odd ball size shock and a small market

needed:
-Compressed length 15.25" or less
-Travel 7.5" or greater since i'm 4x4 I strap out the last inch or so of a 8" travel shock anyhow
-Raised spring plates to clear the Axles
-available parts. I'd like to avoid custom cut lengths if possible

So far I've seen these

Sway away seems to have been bought out and does oem replacement stuff now. Had ones that fit TC back in the day so that means they were ~14.7" compressed. Probably no longer avalible
FOX Camburg has them made to fit but I think they are completely custom
ADS MCMFab has them made to fit but I think they are completely custom
King has a over cylinder top cap option to bring a standard 8" coilover to 15.25" compressed, but the spring plates look lower then my FOA so I think they would be in the way more.


Have I missed any options or does anyone have info on some of the above being the better choice? thanks from a F#@k'd On Arrival victim

 

Sway away is going to be the best bet as far as the used shock market goes, kinda difficult finding some cap over 8" coilovers. I have sway away on my truck pretty good. Any shock your gonna get Fox/King, Ads are going to be new a custom deal with a Cap over topcap since the regular 8" lengths are slightly too long for our Tacoma Long travel setup . And only a 8" length shock is going to work. You can still get sway away by the way new in a regular 8" size that will work.

 

Thanks for the reply. Where can you get the normal sway away shocks these days and are they current or just old stock dwindling down? I'm pretty gun-shy about replacement parts availability after dealing with FOA. I followed the links on sway aways web site today and just found mountains of OEM replacement coil overs.

 

AfE bought out Sway A Way so now they are the source for them.

Sorry not Camburg

 

What kit do you have?

 

Yeah just checked and AFE is the website I saw today. I can't find anything other then OME replacement shocks available. I'd love some of there stuff though. A buddy's had there's for years and they are only down for scheduled oil changes and never worn out or leaking.

 

I have the MCMfab kit. Very happy with it and there customer service.
My truck ends up on jack stands for the FOA shocks all the time though. Most recently I missed last month's trip and had to put worn out parts together to evac the truck for a wild fire last week. On top of that, there's still no time table for replacement parts so its time to start looking at alternatives

 

Just call dsm and they should be able to get you what you need. Had foa shocks once. NEVER AGAIN!!!!

 

I hear ya about never again. I'm not sure how FOA customer service ended up so bad without people being fired.

Found some sway away new for sale. They are on clearance type prices so it's a little unnerving. The lengths are better for me then king, but replacement parts are up in the air right now? Does anyone know what's happening to them when the dust settles from the merger?

 

Not sure about replacement parts. I'm sure there will still be a way to get replacement parts. As far as the only thing I Would be concerned with is seals which you can get from shockseals.com all day. Should be fine on pricing, sway away are relatively budget priced to begin with.

 

Called DSM and got some great customer service. They have me set up with King shocks in the size I need at a great price. Thank you for that recommendation. I should have just called them when you mentioned it lol. About 3 minutes on the phone with them was better then the last three weeks of internet searching haha.

 

what shocks did they end up setting you up with? i had a hell of a time trying to get my camburg fox COs to stop leaking when i installed them, turned out to be a quality control issue on fox's side but they were at least great about fixing the problem for free even if i was the 2nd owner.

 

They are a custom short body 8" king shock. Extended length is just a shade less then 15". I think they said 14.9 on the phone. They are bushing on top and heim on the bottom. Travel is 8" even with the coil bucket installed.

 

what coils did they sent out?

 

600lbs and that was the same that I ran on my FOA so they should work well.

 

i need i revalve then.

 

Why didn't you just get the ads shocks made for the kit? Best damn shocks out there imo. Love them on my kit.

 

I'm sure ADS are beyond great and at the time of me buying the MCMFab kit they were only a $600 upgrade. That ranks as one of the biggest mistakes of being cheap that I've ever suffered. A 15" compressed length is what the MCMFab kit was designed around and the ADS are also a custom shock. One of the problems with the FOA shocks is that because of the custom size it was impossible to get replacement parts. Long story there...but if I have to go custom i leaned toward a local and high volume manufacture. Now I just have to replace my leaking rear FOA shocks and maybe I wont need to memorize all the shock rebuild steps anymore