want a nice ride for potholes - i also need a terminology lesson

pretty sure the chevy is IFS

 

OK, Jersey.... spoken like a true New Yarker.

You don't really "need" a new suspension. Seriously. Go to any third world country and look at their roads. Pavement? What pavement? There's more fucked up roads here on base than all of NYC put together. Yeah, sure, sometimes you get a "pothole" that swallows cars, but let's face it, no suspension is going to help you there.

Anyway, my point is if you see all these rinky-dink third world roads, and hilux's, accords, Toyota busses can do it, your Taco can probably handle NYC. Like every one said, avoid what you can, don't smash into potholes at 40mph.

Oh, yeah, I've driven in Manhattan, and the Taco did fine. If you're in the other boroughs, I can't speak from experience.

Edit: OK, I just reread your original post. If you're just wanting a nice ride, then yeah, you might improve it a bit. But you don't "need" a new suspension. Chalk it up to me speaking out my blowhole.

 

if any of yall have been in the new dodge 1500 those ride so freaking smooth. No leaf springs in the rear instead they have coilovers

 

Didn't know about that one... if i had to take a full size, it would be a f-250 (diesel and not the 6.0). The abuse I have seen those trucks take in the oil field.

Thats how you know a oil field services company is going out of business.... They start buying Chevy's (by the way, they don't hold up in the oil field).

 

Yah I meant coils

And yah bryan go look up ford death wobble on youtube..pretty crazy

 

Just a FYI, I drive about 40,000 miles a year. There are two vehicles I see sitting on the side of the road more than any other, dodge 1500's and Ford f-250-350. The Ford is due to cylinder failures on the 6.0. Dodged are just due to being a dodge. There is only one dodge that isn't rated one of the most unreliable vehicles on the road, and that is the diesel 2500.
That's what everyone I work with drives, and almost every one of them has been sittong on the side of the road once.

 

a good mid travel suspension would be fine.

1. Get total chaos or similar UCAs and make sure you get stainless uniballs.
2. Get a good set of coilovers (kings/foxs) and dont crank up the preload. let the shock take the abuse by dampening the blows rather than the stock shit that just gives way.
3. Add a leaf in the rear and some good rear shocks to match the kings/foxs up front


dont take things personally on a forum. When asking any question expect stupid answers.

Its like saying "it hurts when i breathe, what could it be?" you will always have some idiot say "just dont breathe"

 

yeah its really scary and only happens on the freeway, usually right after hitting an overpass. You have to slow down to around 30 before it stops.

hers is an '07 with 130k miles. It's got the POS 5.4L V8

 

Dodge are just due to being a dodge

1999 F250 diesel for me if I had the choise...that year had the most power out of the 7.3. My uncle has 300k, miles on his and the only issues have been the cam sensors going out twise. And he tows a 3 horse trailer just about every where with 0 tranny issues

 

Same with the 90's dodge diesels. There are plenty of them out there with 300,000 miles plus... Excellent mileage and good reliability.... If you can make its past the frame rust.

 

Wow we got off topic..

 

Hey, sometimes that's valid advice! Seriously, one time I had to tell a NURSE that advice. It was something stupid like "it hurts the patient when I take his blood pressure" and his arm had just had surgery.

I was like "DON"T TAKE THE FUCKING BLOOD PRESSURE ON HIS FUCKED UP ARM!"

OK, not verbatim, but my brain sure screamed it. I'm pretty sure I was pissed off talking to her, and she got it.

 

I think a point may have been lost. I personally dont care about the ride comfort. Sure Id like it a little more soft but in the end i dont care. The reasons Im interested in anythign at all is for the prevention of premature wear and tear, and the noise from the rattling.

When I was younger and living in Atlanta, I had a Camaro. Great car for speeding around, and cheaper than a Corvette. When I was in ATL most of my driving was high speed highway travels. Not many bad highways in Ga. Side streets can be messed up, but we proved they can be bad everywhere. Once I go back to NY, I saw the Camaro go from a decent used car to a beater in less than one year. The different driving habits and road conditions turned it from a $4k used car i was gonna trade in to a $2k i had to unload to get something else before it fell apart. It was just rattled to pieces. I am 100% certain the roads played a huge factor in the demise of that car.

Now, having this 08 Tacoma with 60k on it, and working in a place that requires me to hit some "meaner" streets than usual, I feel it would be wise to invest a couple bucks in the truck to give it a better chance of having a long life.

I just rebuilt the entire front end on my nephews 79 Z28 .... im talking ball joints, UCA/LCA bushings, subframe bushings, shocks springs, ect ect ect. You could only drive that car on certain streets cause the car was so low and so lose it would drop on the pavement like someone shot out the tires. It was just worn the hell out. As some may know, when the bjs have rivets they are originals. one side was, the other side was replaced at some point in time.

Now Im not tryign to compare 30 years of suspension parts to a 3 year old truck. But my point is the prevention of premature wear......getting more life out of it......not havign something like a worn shock lead to a bigger problem. Do you see what I mean? Im not tryign to reinvent the geometry of factory suspension. Im just trying to make the truck better off in the long run. Why are some of you so against the idea? Do you really think that nothing will help and its just throwing money away? If that is infact true, I feel sorry for you and hope you dont think abotu your engine the way you do about your suspension system.....cause that would mean you dont change oil cause it already has oil in it.

Anyway, i took a video of the part of my trip to work. It not the best video, but I want to show you what Im talking about. This isnt one of the land mine streets....this is just a regular avenue. Nothing special and nothign that bad. Just a bouncy bumpy road that will rattle a truck.

Those who said drive slower. This is less than one mile of my trip. Im only goign like 30 miles an hour. most of the time like 20mph. Its a 21 mile trip and take almost 1.5 hours. You really think im going to drive slower? Id like to get a few hours sleep and not have to get up at the crack of dawn.

Those who said go around the pot holes. UH....right. Im gonna try that <roll eyes>


keep in mind, any shaking you see other than when i first position the camera is from the road. you can see sections where there is no vibration (good road). those few seconds of steady camera arent that much so watch how the truck is rattled by the shitty road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8QHfr1MuqU


So, what can i do to the truck to help?
All stock.
2008 double cab 6 ft bed. so i actually prolly get a better ride than some cause of the longer wheel base. imagine if this was a 1991 regular cab? My teeth would still be chattering !


LMK !

 

Those guys also drive cars on two wheels after they hit a ramp. Shoul di do that to save on tire wear since id only be using two tires ata time instead of four? Keep in mind, those thrid world countries turn those trucks from somethign new and nice to something beat to heal in a year. Not what I want....plus, if i said it was driven in the Congo for 4 years would you buy it?

I know it can drive over them. Im just not looking foward to having to replace things sooner than i should have or not soon enouogh and having a bigger probelm.

 

Go with the widest tire you can possibly stuff in there. More then likely, some part of that wide tire will keep you from even going down in most pot holes.



Where i live, pot holes are also everywhere, but on dirt roads, not so much on pavement. I was running a set of 305's for a couple months while searching for the right wheel/tire and while i had them on there, most pot holes seemed pretty much non-existent.

 

its not even so much pot holes...i can kind of avoid individual pot holes. heck out the video and you'll see more of what im talking about.

i am about due for tires.

i would like to be able to do a few upgrades, put some new wheels and tires on it and get it ready to go all in one shot.

 

If you can, that would probably help

You're right, the cars get beat there - they also last 20 years somehow.

Like I said in my edit, I realize you WANT something better, not need. so don't worry about my post.

 

Man what a crappy place to live. I think the pot holes ruining your truck are the least of your worries compared to the way people drive there, you included!

There are roads here in the farmlands that are just as bumpy that I drive on everyday. If you're just concerned about wear and tear I think the Tacoma can more than handle the bumps and holes in the video, keep up on regular maintanence and good shocks and tires. You're not gonna bend the control arms or frame, any other parts are just the usual wear items like bushings, balljoints and tie rods. I wouldn't compare it to a Z28, two completely different vehicles. Worst case scenario for you is that you wear some suspension components and gotta replace them, not a big deal and won't turn your truck into a beater unless you neglect it.

 

bigger tires with lots of sidewall. better suspension.

or go all out and sas

 

I would never be able to drive in that place, just by the looks of your video. People like you would make me nervous driving there for the first time, lol