Do I need new struts?

Hello everyone. My '04 seems to sit very low in the front compared to the rear, and I know trucks are supposed to have a rake but mine is pretty bad. I crawled under it today and on level ground the bump stops are just about an inch from the frame!! This means I only have an inch or less of travel! And the front end droops out considerably when I jack it up. Here are some pics of how close the darn bump stops are. Can anyone with a stock ride height 1st gen (4x4) take the same picture please so I can compare? It would be greatly appreciated.

Side note: If you've replaced your struts what brand did you go with and how are they holding up? I'm thinking Monroe quick struts. Not interested in lift struts right now, simply not in the budget.

 

I just put Monroe quick struts on my '04 Tacoma, cheap and lifetime warrenty. Monroe shocks on the back as well. It greatly improved the ride of my truck. I work in the woods for a living and it rides good I think, my truck sees off road almost everyday for work, a lot of people on here will talk bad about the monroes, but if you simply want a stock ride I would say they are perfect.

Yours are definitely wore out! You're basically running on the bump stops, you can see where they have been hitting, a lot by the looks of things.

 

An inch travel at the bumps equals to a few inches wheel travel.

And its the coils that hold the truck up and have sagged so replacing just the strut wont help but since the quick struts come with them thats a good choice.

 

I put the Monroe quick struts on my 96, they have been holding up fine for several years.

 

I don't have a 1st gen but the springs really determine the ride height, the struts just provide the compression (up travel) and Rebound (down travel). If your front suspension is lower than normal it might be due to the springs sagging due to age.

 

I know the springs determine the ride height that's why I want quick struts haha. Thanks for the advise guys.

 

I replaced my rear shocks with napa premiums this winter as they were pretty much doing nothing. My truck sees a fair amount of light off roading but lots of rough dirt roads every day. Looks like I'm going with monroe.

 

My rear shocks are still compressed in my garage (old ones) they were doing nothing for my ride.
4 new socks/front coils made a huge difference. I have about 4000 Miles on the Monroe's.