What struts should I get?

I have a 2014 base model Taco. I installed a 4" lift from rough country. Its now time to replace the struts (and much of the front end now) but I'm not sure what struts are good quality and fit a tight budget. I work at a dealership, so I can install them myself, I just need advice on which ones I should get.

My taco is almost entirely a daily driver on roads and highways.

 

Your truck doesn’t have struts. It has coil overs which consist of a coil spring and a shock absorber. I’ll assume you are referring to the shocks. Personally I would just go with the cheapest option in your case. If you want to upgrade a bit there are many options, eg bilstein, OME, Fox, King, Icon, several others I can’t remember at the moment. Just type in Tacoma shocks into your favorite web search engine.

 

4" rc lift? So like a drop bracket? If you work at the dealership then just see if the service department can get your some low mileage takeoffs from a third gen

 

I would love to be able to grab some take-offs from a gen-3. However, I should have stated I work at a Chrysler Jeep dodge and ram dealership. And we don't get very many taco's in here, and of the handful ive gotten none needed struts...sorry, coil overs, or had lifts put on them.

I was more thinking, since the lift kit I got from Rough country just had spacer i had to install on top of the front coil overs, that I could find just a 4" coil over. The I don't need to swap over the spacer. But I am having one hell of a time finding anything other than like Fox which cost between $1200 or 2K.

 

If it was me,I would turf the RC lift and go with either a 3rd gen take off or a Billy 5100 with an add a leaf in the back.

 

On a drop bracket lift the 4” spacer is probably just fine. It is bringing the suspension geometry back into spec. Large spacers on a stock truck are what can cause problems. As long as your current shocks are in good condition I would stick with them.

Alternatively, you could add another 2” of lift with a set of bilsteins, OME, etc. You would likely need something new in the rear (e.g. a taller block) to even it out.

 

Your best "budget" bet would probably be just to swap the spacer to a new set of factory length coil overs. I too was in the same boat as you. Have a drop bracket lift with a 4" spacer on my fronts. I got lucky and nabbed a set of Bilstein 6112's from a member on here for $250 & just put my spacer on the 6112's (set to lowest setting, though I may go up a notch). So for $250, all is great for my needs. (driving to and from work on a paved road).

I had looked for extended length coilovers too at first, but options are limited. I think the options were basically King & Rough Country Vertex coilovers for extended length. But those were both only up to 3" lift I think, so would have still needed a 1" spacer to get back to 4".

 

what do you mean when you say turf?

 

Assuming he's saying "turf" as in "remove", though I've never heard it said that way.

 

I interpret it as 'trash'.

 

i would like to upgrade from rough country in the future, but they are the cheapest i could afford at the time. I have already replaced the rear shocks with 4" rough country shocks because they went bad, the same if for the front struts, I would love to keep them, but they are worn, rusted and squeak significantly.

Side note, I also have to replace the tie rods, and both front axles. I've also had to replace both front wheel hubs and calipers. So, gotta do some financial juggling act to get this truck back to health. I used to mud with this thing a while back, and it did some real pressure put on it.

I think I might just go with the stock option and swap the spacer over to new ones. The whole keeping geometry in spec thing was a good point.

 

Turf throw away

 

AFAIK, King does not make a shock for a 4” drop bracket lift. A 4” drop bracket lift requires that is 4” longer but has stock travel. I believe only Fox makes such a shock. King and Fox extended length shocks only have about .5” more down travel.

@AccuTune Offroad would know better.

 

You won't find any suspension lifts that will achieve a 4" lift. The best you will find will be around 2.5" to 3".

 

Need to confirm its really a drop bracket with large spacer stacked on OEM coilover. If that is the case, your options are limited.

 

it is a spacer on top of OEM coilover.