Whats wrong with my shock?!?!?

WHATEVER you do, DO NOT LOOSE THE NUT ON TOP. Try and shove the shock back into the center and TIGHTEN DOWN the nut on the shaft.

At 6 years old, I would be looking at replacing the shocks, either yourself or at a shop. The shop will remove the coils and shocks as a unit, then they will install them in a spring compressor to disasseble and reassemble them

I urge you not to try jury rigging a spring compressor. Either rent one or go to a shop.

Either fix the loose nut, or get the truck into a shop, QUICK.

 

Dude. Easy fix. Tighten down that top nut. Ive installed bilsteins, ome, icons, foxes, swayaways and kings on these trucks. Once you tighten it down, it should realign the shock shaft back to the center. Not a hard fix at all.

 

turning that nut..the shock shaft will spin, no?

i would take it in and get new shocks. you will need a spring compressor.

 

hold the shaft with a pair of pliers.

 

It looks like something is wrong with the top hat that the strut rod sits in. I don't think tightening the nut will do anything for you. It looks like the cup that the strut rod guides in to has corroded away. Check it out and post pics if you can. The safest way to remove that shock is going to be by loosening the cam bolts on the lower control arm to take the tension off the bushings, then separate the lower ball joint from the spindle by removing the two bolts at the bottom, then remove the lower shock bolt and nut and drop the shock out.

 

That.

The nut is where it should be. The rod looks to have poked up through the top and is just flopping around.

 

That's what I was thinking. I think the strut mount plate is broken and allowed the rod to move out of position. I would not drive it like that. Either you fix it where it is now or have it towed to a shop. Sounds like a good reason to upgrade to 5100s.

 

Pretty sure those are 5100s

 

that looks terrible.... hope u get it straight man

 

Im going to try to tighten it like you guys say, but what about the boot that fell down? How do i get that back in place?

 

Cut it out. You don't need it. Most our aftermarket shocks don't even come with boots

 

Ok attempted to tighten the 19mm nut, with no luck. The shaft wants to spin with it, and i cant find anywhere to hold the shaft.. I think the nut may be seized on the threads

 

tightening that nut is only going to bring it to the end of your threads. What does the other end of your shock look like?

 

The top of the shaft has side flats to grab hold of with vise grips or crescent wrench. Easiest to use a ratcheting box wrench on the nut and vise or crescent above to hold the shaft from spinning. It works. I changed out my front struts a few weeks back.

 

and what is your wheel well soaked in?

 

To tighten it you put a crescent wrench on the top end of the shaft to hold it. Unfortunately like some of us mentioned before, tightening it down probably won't do anything. In that pic it looks as if you can see the end of the threads just under the washer right there.

There's something a lot more wrong than just tightening a bolt.

 

Good point. It looks as if something is missing below. There should be another rubber bushing and metal flange just below in reverse of the top ones. We wouldn't see it that photo but with all that extra space it seems as though a sizable gap is from missing pieces. I'll post the blow out diagram shortly.

There's a perfect photo further down this thread showing the top of the strut: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/117453-front-shock-install-how-2nd-gen-4wd.html

 

so the shock is installed upside down?

 

looks like the shaft should be installed on the LCA and the reservoir on the Coil bucket side...

 

No, it's oriented correctly.