Shock diagnosis help

I have a 2009 TRD off road DCSB. A leveling kit was installed a month ago. After the leveling kit was put on, evidently a spindle was damaged and there was a lot of noise/banging taking place in the front end on the passenger's side. The shop "fixed" that. However, I live two miles from a paved road and I'm still hearing unnatural noise if I hit a bump or pothole on the front passenger side. Is this the shock not compressing properly? Honestly I'm mechanically illiterate and trying to learn as I go, so any input/suggestions would be appreciated.

 

What is this, voyeur-ville? C'mon folks, help a brother out.

 

Spacers move the shock lower in the front suspension's travel range, and the shocks do not gain any additional uptravel to compensate. This can result in shocks under spacer lifts being "topped out" upon suspension compression. Shocks are not designed to do this. It is usually damaging to the shock.

Since the shock is lower in the suspension setup and hasn't gained any uptravel, uptravel of the suspension overall can result in the shock topping out before the bumpstop limits suspension travel.

Clanking/clunking can be a sign of shock top/bottom out as well as shock damage. You may want to get this looked at. I advise against spacer lifts or leveling kits under all conditions.

 

Exactly what jandrews said. Spacer lifts/levelling kits are bad for your struts

 

Thanks to the both of you. I didn't know any better and was ill advised at the store where they were purchased and installed. They pretty much deal with "mall-crawlers." I don't off-road as a hobby, although I travel forest service roads on a regular basis and use 4wd alot. Since the level kit has only been on one month, hopefully I can get a credit and replace it with something useful. Thanks again, your knowledge is invaluable to me.

 

Better solution to level the front end is a new set of coilovers with either a longer coilspring or higher spring rate. The latter requires some planning and research as too high a spring rate can result in stiff ride. Coilover assemblies such as Bilstein 5100s with an appropriate coilspring can be had relatively inexpensively (say $500 or so) plus whatever installation runs you.

Adjustable coilovers are the best solution, as they allow for spring rate adjustability, and thus ride height adjustability, with the option of adjusting back to previous settings if ride quality does not turn out as desired. This can all be done on the truck without disassembly/reassembly. The caveat, however, is that they are expensive (Around $1200 new for a pair).

Regardless of method, you will want to ensure that the coilover has adequate shock travel that it will not be damaged by suspension articulation. Suspension travel of a stock tacoma is 8". A coilover with 9" of shock travel that sits approximately mid-range of travel at ride height is ideal.

 

We have a 2011 tundra that comes into work with a procomp spacer lift that is on his 3rd set of struts. He keeps snapping them

 

Thanks again guys, I'll definitely apply this information to my decision.