Official 1995.5-2004 5lug tacoma lifted/lowerd suspension guide and general info

FYI fabtech shocks for a 96 tacoma do not fit the LCA hole.....taking off the spring and trying to get the spring and shock in at the same time is a pain in the ass!

 

Shouldnt have to remove the spring to change the shock, were u doing both at the same time?

 

I thought so as well but, the shock doesnt slide into the LCA

 

Yep, I had fits with it as well. Spent more money in heavy duty zip ties to keep the spring compressed than I spent on the shocks themselves.. lol

This tecnique worked to get the shocks inside the compressed spring without the spring compressor getting in the way. Eventually I got it, but not ideal by any means.

 

2nd mention of Heavy duty zip ties for this job that i've read about.....This might be a job for it.....anxiety level at 100 lol

 

I wouldn't condone it, but I had no choice. I had to cut the old shock shafts to get them out. After purchasing two different kinds of spring compressors with no end in sight, I remembered seeing the zip tie method in a tuner forum. I also found myself staring at the biggest zip ties I had ever seen in the hardware store. I didn't take cost into consideration at the time, but one package was not enough. I think I ended up using between 30-40 zip ties as well as whatever else I had around. The second spring started popping a few on the way in bc didn't want to make another trip to get more. I'll put it this way.. you'll know if you have enough on there when you start loosening the spring compressor. Maybe a few more for extra measure, because they can pop off while you're cramming everything in there.

The safer option of course is to get shocks with smaller diameter so they will fit in the lcas... But I was determined to get them in there. Sorry but I wish I had a recommendation there.

 

Yea, Mama didnt raise a quitter I'm determined to get that in. No sense in trying to return it.....possibly an edit to the front shock sticky on the original post stating that the fabtech shocks wont fit would probably be helpful.

 

I got the spring in!! had to take off the UCA, now stuck on getting the bar pin in the eyelet bushing

 

Put some grease on it n hit with a hammer

 

The picture of my truck doesn't show it, but I've got a lumber rack and canopy on the back. I decided to replace my leaf springs and shocks. Anyone replace their leaf springs with general spring HD's? I also ordered Bilstein 4600's

$84 24-026758 46mm Monotube Shock Absorber

24-026758. The concept was that with the added weight I'd get back to stock ride height, but I didn't account for the extra thickness of the HD leaf. Does anyone have advice for measuring the necessary ext length for your shocks? I'm a little concerned the bilstein shock is not long enough.

 

With the rear shocks that Bilstein makes for the 6 lugs trucks (REAR LEFT 24-184960), which are closer to the ext dimensions I'm looking at with the truck on jack stands + the added length needed to accommodate the added leaf, is the diameter of those models incompatible with the 5 lug trucks?

 

Mount the new springs without the shocks attached, jack the rear-end up until the axle hangs at full droop, measure from shock mount to shock mount. That's your extended length, but add at least a half-inch or an inch or so to the extended travel so you don't max out the shocks and damage them. For compressed length, with the truck sitting on jack stands on the frame jack up the axle until it hits the bump stops, and measure from shock mount to shock mount. This is your compressed length, but make sure to subtract a half-inch to inch or so for same reasons. Also, do this for both sides as measurements may be different. Rear right was about half inch more extended travel in my case.

If you cannot find appropriate shocks to meet specifications, favor the extended travel measurement you came up with and then extend your bump stops so that the suspension compresses and reaches its bump stop limit before the shocks reach theirs. Hope that makes sense..

 

@cadotaco I am also in the market for new springs and was wondering about the same springs you ended up with. Let us know how you like them and if they provided any lift from what you can tell. Thanks!

 

Just blew a ball joint, was hoping to find some advice on rebuilding the front end of my 200k mile '98 2.4. I would like to replace most of the front suspension and chassis parts with something OEM or better (perferably). Was looking at the local parts stores website at what they had for rebuild kits and quickly have become over whelmed. Any advice on what exactly I should be looking for?

 

Make sure that you have the correct 5-lug model selected. That's probably the most important part of getting at least the right part that will fit. You may see the following words to designate 5-lug depending on the source:

2WD
base
DLX
non-PreRunner
Srunner

That being said, your local auto parts store is going to have the in-house brand for most ball joints. I have found through trial and error that Moog and ProForged make the best bolt-on ball joints for our trucks. I went with Moog because I have had good experiences with their suspension parts in the past. I also went with Moog, because I couldn't get Rock Auto to send me a matching set of ProForged from left to right side. The ProForged part does appear to be better upon examination, though.

That covers oem or better for ball joints, but I suspect you want to replace more than just that. Doestch Tech appears to have revamped their website and its hard to find anything related to our truck, but not too long ago they were the best source for lift spindles, lifted coil springs, and UCAs for the 1st gen 5-lug tacoma. (IMHO)

 

@z_thompsonpa is correct, be sure to look for those criteria when searching to help weed out the 6 lug stuff.

with 200K miles and more importantly 22 year old rubber, you could probably stand to replace the control arm bushings too. the 2 MOOG upper control arms below come with upper ball joints. Lower control arms do NOT come with ball joints.

RK620354
RK623055



The rest of the parts you need should be below. I'm pretty sure the parts are the same for all 5 lug suspension regardless of cab or engine/transmission (with the exception of the springs. They differ 4 cyl vs 6 cyl). These are all MOOG parts. Do NOT pay attention to what Amazon tells you. They will tell you they do not fit your 5 lug truck.

Lower Ball Joint

$44 K90260 Front Left Lower Suspension Ball Joint for Toyota Tacoma

K90260
Lower Ball Joint

$38 K90261 Front Right Lower Suspension Ball Joint for Toyota Tacoma

K90261
Outer tie Rod End ES80309 (need 2)
Inner Tie Rod EV409 (need 2)
Lower control arm RK642948
Lower control arm RK642949

I have all of these parts sitting on my garage floor just waiting for me to get off my lazy ass and install 'em.

Oh, I also bought the pro-thane poly strut rod bushings 18-1202 since those probably need replaced too. You can get black or go fast red.

Good luck! At the rate I'm going, you'll probably have it all installed before me!

 

@z_thompsonpa thank you so much man!
I really just want to make the steering and suspension feel solid again. Im not too concerned with a lift or wider look tbh. I mostly use it for gravel roads and hauling firewood so a slight increase in travel or better shocks might be money well spent, but I don't need anything crazy like the long travel guys lol.

Ive seen the Bilstein 4600's being widely used on TW and I've seen reports of a close to stock feel. I figure I couldn't go wrong with a set, and it seems most guys here pair them with the v6 springs (Moog) for a slight lift in the front.

As for the spindle lifts (tbh had to watch a couple of videos to see the different kinds of lift kits...), Id probably just stick with stock. I run around with an old fiberglass campershell, so maybe a new set of leaf springs would be of more benefit within my budget.

 

@ireymon Thank you, sir!
You made this stupid proof, which is exactly what I need haha.Im looking to find another site to order the PF ones from before I stick to the listed Moog set, but Im coming up short. I have the list you gave in a cart ready to go, just waiting to see if I can find an alternative source for the PF set.
@z_thompsonpa
I just looked on Rockauto.com and it looks like they have the pro forged lbj for one side and not the other just like you said :/

 

unless you get lucky and find someone that has the PF one in stock (I didn't find anyone that did), you might have to wait a while. The note below on Summit looks like it drop ships from the manufacturer and won't ship until beginning of January.



Edit: Looks like Jegs may ship sooner

 

This is the 4600 front and back set I found, and feel wrong ordering them from Walmart. Seem solid to you?