Some suspension questions.

Interesting that you bottomed out completely during the G-out. Did your bump stops catch it or did you bottom out the shock?

 

Good question, lol, as I haven't put enough miles on mine to know for sure, but I'm sure if you google it, there will be a truck suspension specialist near you that works on that brand. You can also send them back to the factory (in my case King).

 

Maybe I'll just toss them in the storage as well just to spite you

*looks at warn winch that's also in storage*

 

Wonder what the price for a king rebuild would be.

 

That's what the bumpstops are for. If you bottom out the shock, you just destroyed it.

That's why I don't like spacer lifts (those hockey puck things that bolt to the top of a coilover. That just lowers the entire shock body, and if it's a big enough lift, you'll hit the shock before the bumpstop.

 

a couple hundred, probably.

 

Based on a lot of what I read, wheeling once a month and daily driving on the roads probably 20-25k should be the time to rebuild?

 

That's probably pretty fair.

 

Didn't bottom out parse, just met my bump stops and well the dirt mound met my skid plate.

Funny how many trails, dirt roads, and obstacles there are on the way to the mall

 

Do you think with the extended travel I would need larger bumps?

 

There are front bump stops that a lot of guys here like that I've yet to use.

A lot softer than the OEM bump stops which means the shock through the front end will soften up quite a bit.

 

Also how will I know when they need to get rebuilt? Just a shitty ride/leaking?

 

One other thing about the extended travel shocks:

So, with a normal travel shock, you have a fixed amount of wheel travel. You bottom out on the bumpstops, and top out on the shock, that's how all Tacoma coilovers work.

So when you lift a coilover by increasing the spring rate, or getting a new (longer spring), the total amount of travel doesn't change, What changes is where the truck sits at right height.

Lets say you have 8" total travel, and stock it sits right at 4" (middle of the travel). Now you lift it an inch so now it sits 3" from the bottom, and 5 inches from the top. So what you've done is decreased your down travel, but increase up travel.

With the extended travel shocks, you get that extra travel so when you lift it, you maintain the same down travel (approximately).

So with a 1" lift, you keep 4" of down travel, but have 5" up travel, etc...

 

Hmmm makes sense. Thanks for the info. I’m running 305/70r16s so I probably need at least around 2.25” of lift to not rub. That’s about what the OME 883s are giving me right now. Plus I’ve got SPC UCA’s so the caster adjustability helps a lot.

 

This could be a tell-tale

 

I got mine rebuilt by a TW member locally that rebuilds shocks. There are a bunch of places you can ship them to when you need them rebuilt, there are a couple guys on here that do it. As well as DSM, Accutune...probably several other companies as well. Shouldn't have any trouble finding a place to do it when the time comes.

The timing depends entirely on how you use them. I know people with 70k on their coilovers and still no rebuild. If you offroad regularly you can expect less than that, considerably less if you wheel hard. I know that Icon used to advertise rebuilds every 50k for street use, 25k for moderate weekend offroad use, and 10-15k if you used them in heavy offroad conditions. I think it's fair to apply that to all the brands.

I had about 15k on my Kings when the bearings in the lower eyelets went bad, the entire coilover didn't need a rebuild just the lower bearings needed replaced. Was able to do that pretty easily myself for maybe $40 in parts. I got the entire coilovers rebuilt at about 25k miles because I wanted them revavlved, probably could have done another 10k or so before they needed it.

One thing you can do to help prolong the life of the bearings is make sure to blast them with a hose regularly after getting the truck dirty...dirt works it's way into them and they don't last as long. Clean them and they'll last longer. Also don't spray anything other than maybe a dry lubricant on them if they squeak...anything else attracts dirt

 

your truck is just marking its territory.

 

My truck thanks you for using 'it' as a pronoun when identifying it.

 

No.

The extension in travel is in the down travel direction. The bottoming out doesn't change.

As @Kwikvette said, there are aftermarket ones that make for a "softer" impact, but you don't need new ones to protect the shock.

 

Damn. Wish my frame was that rust free.