96 Tacoma restore/build

Did you fix your drive line vibration issues? I had that when I lifted my truck I order a Carrier bearing drop kit took the issues away

 

Here is the part number on the order details that I had; BIL BE5-D559/D560 (rear shocks). I kinda thought the same thing on them being short as I only had to compress them maybe 1/2" to get them on but I figured thats normal since this is a popular setup around here.

 

I did drop the CB a little and seemed to have helped. Where did you order the drop kit if you dont mind?

 

Thats where I want my truck to be at. I like how yours sits thats pretty nice. Looks like 2.5" of lift up front is going to solve my leveling issue. Working with a guy from wheelersoffroad at the moment trying to order 5100 adjustables with 880 coils and they are going to assemble them for me. Nice looking taco BTW!

 

Thanks, she's a good ol beater haha.

Just a heads up the shocks you have are most definitely too short. I couldn't even use them when I bought my first set of these leafs for my last truck. These leafs cycle about 11.5" travel all said and done and you have about 8" shocks in there. I wont get too into shock geometry but the way they are leaned back lets them cycle a bit more but still not enough for your setup at all. Those shocks really only fit a 1-1.5" lift comfortably. Like I recommended for the other guy above, 10" Bilstein 5125s will work the best for you as long as you have the Tacoma bushings put in them. You could even do one 10" and one 11" since one side has a slightly larger distance between the mounts.

 

Thanks for the prompt reply. Yes, this is a popular combination which is why I'm still trying to understand it. On the shock length, mine were too short even with the truck sitting on the ground. So, there'd be zero length available for extension. I ended up going with Skyjackers that better matched my suspension extended and compressed.

On the 5125's, yeah, I tried them too but had the bushing problem and by this time was getting frustrated with the vendor. I know the Skyjackers have limitations but they're doing the job for now. Thanks for chiming in.

 

So, am I screwed for buying 5100's for the back? I dont think I can return them back.

 

Nah, there's someone else out there who can use em, you're almost to 50 posts, then you can sell things on here. Someone will snap em up I'm sure.

 

I'd really like to understand why this is happening and hope you would bring it up with the vendor. When I raised my question and sent pictures of normal looking mount locations, the vendor claimed to sell lots of these spring/shock combos with no problem except me. Eventually, I was able to return them - minus shipping and restocking. If these shocks are truly wrong, as I think they are, they should stop selling them with these Dakars. Maybe some facts would help you discuss with the vendor. My suspension measurements are as follows:

Driver's Side: On Ground 21.5", Extended 25.5", Compressed 21.0"

Pass Side: On Ground 22.75", Extended 25.5", Compressed 22.25"

These are obtained by jacking up various corners to mimic extreme travel.

So, your shocks should extend very close to 25" or whatever you measure. It seems like the pass side should extend an inch more but whatever. Also, be aware of the compression side length. You don't want the shock to limit compression travel, that's the job of the bump stops. The bump stop should hit the frame before the shock runs out of compression length. I ended up with Skyjackers for the 96-04 Tacoma with 2 - 4" inches of lift from the big A place. They stretch out to almost 25". As far as I can tell, they did a good job on my Death Valley/Nevada trip with a motorcycle in the back. They got hot sometimes but didn't explode - it was a lower ball joint that did that. Now it's on to the front suspension.

 

I recently did an OME lift using 881’s and Dakar’s in the rear. My truck is a 95 V6. Mine also sat ass high like yours and was way too stiff unloaded. I pulled the third leaf spring and largest overload. I still have about an 1” of rake which is where I wanted it to be.

 

Seems like this reduction in lift could make the 5100's fit properly?

 

Hey thank you for all the info.
I think this issue needs to be posted as a sticky thread or something. Anyone, especially the new owners like me that are planning on doing their suspension need to be aware about the 5100/dakar combo issue before they waste their time and money.
I did mention this problem to my vendor and this was their response:

"Hello,
If they have been installed we would not be able to return them.
You would have up travel but not as much down travel.
They are ok for daily driving to very mild off roading but if you are trying to flex the suspension
that is where you will run into issues. Any of the springs are going to flex more then the shock allows
even from factory the shock is what limits the down travel. If you tried to get a shock to allow max travel you will have
to modify alot more stuff other at that you would damage the shock. Bottoming the shock out is what is really bad."

 

It's because we have a very uncommon suspension. The early 95-97 Tacomas have shorter leafs than 98-04 so we have to use Toyota pickup Dakars which lift more and so without pulling some leafs those already very tiny 5100s just don't fit. 95-97 have overall a few more quirks than later years

 

I see. Well I definitely wish I read more and asked here before buying this stuff but oh well.. live and learn I guess. What do you think about the front setup, Im still thinking about 5100 adjustables and 880 or 881 springs?

 

My first front setup was kinda lackluster, I used 5100s and Eibach 620 springs. The 5100s just didn't feel like they were ever really doing their job. I always hear good things about pairing the OME shocks with the OME springs though. Maybe 881 with OME nitrochargers would be a good setup for you.

 

Ended up going with 5100 and 881 springs. Installed them today and everything went super easy, got it done under 2 hrs.
Drove it for a little bit and they felt much better than stock ones and somewhat leveled out the truck. Total lift was around 2.5" but from what I read from other owners is that the front will settle down about 1/2" which is unfortunate for me but oh well it is not recommended to go higher than 2.5" anyways.


Before:


After:

 

Hello everyone!
Sorry for not updating for a while, I got super busy with the family as we had our baby #2 and there went my freetime. BUT I still managed to find some time to work on the truck in the meantime.
Anyhow; after the front end lift the, the truck needed an alignment done very bad. Took it in for an alignment but failed because the right side adjusters were rusted on. I tried to get them loose but ended up damaging the bushing. So it needed new bushings and I decided to do the job myself "should be easy" I thought but boy oh boy was I ever wrong. I went through and experienced pretty much every horror story you've read on here about control arm bushing replacement. What a pain the nut sack!

 

And after all of that trouble I still couldnt get the truck aligned properly. They said that the left side aligned perfect but the right side got maxed out on the adjuster and only got close to being aligned.

 

@COMAtized99

 

Installed a longer brake hose and a 3 degree pinion angle shim under the leafs for the vibrations as CB drop didnt really work. The shim cured that issue right away.