Rear Shock Options for 08 Pre Runner

Hello,

I have a regular cab pre runner and I was hoping to get some rear shocks for it. So far my parts list (nothing is on the truck yet) includes toytec height adjustable coilovers (used from a forum member w/ 18k miles), stock uca's, and a deaver 3 leaf add-a-leaf pack. I bought the rear springs because off-roading with the stock leaf springs was not very fun with the rear end hopping all over the place. They're not on the truck yet - I bought them from a local guy who used to work for Demello Off Road. He had them put together with a pack from a 2014 sport. I also have some light racing uca's which I bought at the same time as the springs. I'm going to get new ball joints and bushings for these before I install them and see if a local fabricator who built the bumper I bought can gusset them so the welds don't fail on me.

I don't really want a huge lift - as little as possible really - for now ride and being level are the main issues, and I'll be putting on a 75 lb pre runner bumper and front skid combo so I wanted some struts that were adjustable to compensate for the weight increase up front. After I install the leaves I want to be level front to back. My question now is what rear shocks to get to keep the leaf pack from raising my rear height to a minimum (the person I bought them off said I'd go up about 1.5"). I'm not sure which ones to get and I'm a little curious about three options.

Option 1: 5100's from Toytec:http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/Rear-Bilstein-5100-Shocks_p_135.html Price: ~$215 including shipping

I see a part number C476 on these and they say they'll give up to 2" of lift.

Option 2: 5100's from 4WheelParts

$103 Bilstein 5100 Series Shock Absorber - 24-186728

http://www.4wheelparts.com/prodDetail.aspx?partNo=BIL24-186728&catID=1&subCat=90&ptID=3306 Price: ~$150 including shipping

I see a part number BIL24-186728 here. There's no mention of adjustability like the ones on Toytec, but they're ~$65 cheaper - a tank of gas for me. Are they the same ones as those being sold on Toytec, but with different part numbers (is the Toytec number a Toytec part number and not a Bilstein part number?)

Option 3: Icon VS 2.0's form Toytec: http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/ICON-Tacoma-Rear-VS-20-Shocks_p_989.html Price: ~$350 including shipping.

These are supposedly rebuildable and I could get them valved specifically for my truck. My question is, is it worth the extra ~$135 over the 5100's from Toytec or ~$200 from 4WheelParts? I hear that any of these options should be an improvement over stock and really I just want something that can compliment the extra performance of the new leaf pack I'll be installing. I don't go off road a lot (graduate student in LA) but when I do, I want to enjoy the heck out of it lol. I really want to be able to explore a lot of dirt roads with the occasional rough patch without the rear end getting squirrelly. I know tire air pressure has to do with that but I want to make sure the suspension is dialed in as much as I can on my student / part time worker budget. Thank you for your advice in advance.

Anthony

 

I can't completely tell from your post, but I want to make sure that you're not under the impression that shocks provide or reduce lift on their own. The Bilstein 5100 front struts do have settings for the spring perch that can provide additional lift, but not the rear shocks. Option 1 and 2 that you listed are the same thing.

I just last week I installed OME Dakar leafs on my Prerunner and installed the 3-4" extended length Bilstein 5125 shocks and 5100 struts in the front with OME 887 springs. If you're only doing an Add-a-leaf, might as well save the money and just get 5100 shocks. I have expensive rebuildable /revalve-able shocks and struts on my mustang and in the several years that I've had them, I've never gotten them rebuilt.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I was told the rear add 3 pack will add about 1.5 inches of lift in the back and I didn't know if that would mean that would cause the stock rear shocks to bottom out before the rear would be at full droop. Either way I'd like to upgrade the rear shocks and I saw that some shocks I was looking at were rated for 0-2 inches of lift and some were not which I thought meant they could handle a setup with that much lift and not bottom out at full droop but I could be wrong about that I suppose. I bought the fully adjustable toytec co's for the front so I can level the front with whatever the back comes out to be after the lead pack is on and I put on my bumper.

I plan on doing major upgrades to the suspension in a year or so with reservoir shocks and air bumps and maybe a 2+ long travel kit for the front and a spring under conversion for the back but for now I'd like to get good off road capability on a budget that is still an upgrade from the stock setup.

I rethought my use of the LR uca's and now I'm looking at other options. The JBA uca's also featured on this forum seem like a good option but recently there have been posts about them not allowing for enough caster in the alignment. People said they ideally wanted 2.4* but were only able to get about 1.9* max. I emailed the company to see what they had to say about it, but I haven't heard back (it's only been one day though). I would like to get uca's that would work with a 2+ kit if I'm going to spend more than I would for the JBA's but I'm not sure if that would work with the stock lca's and if they are even available for sale outside of buying a complete 2+ lt kit. Any insights? Seems like the 5100's are what I should go with in the back for now based on your feedback and considering the price at the 4 wheel parts.

 

With the standard 5100 shocks, I believe that they will be the limiting factor in droop. You want your bump stops to be the limiting factor in bump to keep from bottoming out, as can be assumed. I think for the 1.5" your gonna have, the standard 5100s will be fine. I had 2" lift blocks before the Dakar leafs and the previous owner had the stock shocks installed and I didn't experience any problems. Although, I don't go rock crawling or anything either.

Why would you reconsider the LR UCAs and consider the JBA UCAs that might have problems? Just wondering. I installed the LR UCAs this past week along with all my other stuff. I am getting an alignment tomorrow but from information available I don't expect to have any problems getting it in spec.

 

Thanks for the info. It seems that after reading this that the pros for the JBA's is durability and low cost for replacement ball joints. The cons are basically the alignment issue. The LR uca's are more adjustable but after reading this I'm skeptical of their durability especially because I don't know who owned them before me and how they were treated. I'd have to buy new ball joints, new bushings, and want get them gusseted like camburg, dirt King, or total chaos ones. That could towards a set of arms with less / no issues.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/spc-light-racing-ucas.278381/