Is there any kind of special gauge that I need? Just a bit weary of messing with $900 shocks lol

Yeah, a shock nitrogen gauge:

Shock Gauges & Fill Kits - Kartek Off-Road

Same tool you'd need to fill it back up. Hit up any 4x4 (or motorcycle racing) shop in your area, they'll have the tool and Should be more than happy to bleed out some pressure for free.

The pressure determines the "air spring" (nitrogen is used because it's dry), less pressure, "softer" initial feel.

Yeah
What he said.
I’m sure king just assumes that you have an extra 1k lbs weight on your rig.
Almost every set of kings I’ve ever installed I have just removed both sway bars because they are so stiff you just don’t need them.
And that’s across the board from 1ton to 1/4 ton trucks.
Any shop that rebuilds shocks will be able to bleed out some air for you. It’s not hard at all

Hey guys, replying with an update for anyone else who was in the same boat as me.

So, several months ago we did drop them to 150 psi and that made no difference that I could feel. The fronts are just at the verge where I think the weight of the ARB bumper will perfect them, but the rears are still super stiff.

Stuff as in, when I hit a bump the rear axle doesn't move up, the whole truck rockets up and slams down.

I ended up talking with a Tacoma driver I happen to meet in a parking lot one day who also had kings (and a sweet Tacoma as well), he jumped on the back of mine via the bumper and such to feel the shocks and said "damn man these are rock hard".

Then he showed me how plush his shocks were. So maybe something is wrong with my rears?

Fast forward to today, I'm going to send them in to King for a revive, but I've had the problem of not having another vehicle to drive while I take the shocks off of the truck. I really don't want to spend a bunch of money buying shocks to use for like a few weeks...

Anyway, also just a heads up for anyone who's wondering where I've been. Had a lot of stuff going on at home and I was basically just checked out mentally for a long time.. I'm starting to get back into things again

It sounds like something was messed up during the assembly of those rear shocks. I have seen similar problems to this with fork oil getting into the gas chamber of motorcycle shocks, but your shocks have held the pressure just fine from what you say.

There is a chance they overstacked the shim stack or someone third party rebuilt them with poor quality parts/assembled it incorrectly. The only other issue I could see would be a blockage in the damper/piggyback.

I just installed a set on mine as well (600lb coils in front and rear w/adjusters off the shelf valving due to no one having them in stock) and I feel the exact same about them. Front is definitely not plush in any way like expected but is not bad compared to the back being the stiffest shocks I’ve ever felt also. I put brand new 99 tall springs in the rear at the same time and thought it could be those so I swapped my saggy soft coils back in with no difference. I jump up and down on the back bumper while holding my rack getting barely any movement with either springs when days ago I could barely hold on the truck was moving so much and slamming bump stops. I didn’t even know a shock could be that stiff… so yeah I’m in the same boat I guess needing a full revalve.
King has been no help either, they went from telling me to expect a “plush” all around ride before I ordered to now saying “well it’s going to be firmer on the roads but off-road will be much better”. Well just as expected off road is the same thing with bigger and more bumps and I feel ALL of them. Fast or slow it’s just all around uncomfortable now and I feel like im just beating the truck up.
I had bilstein 5100’s all around with eibach 620lb springs before and I’d say performance wise they are the same.. one is just blue/ adjustable/ and rebuildable. Over 2000$ dollars later and I’m actually considering going back so do your homework people.

Also king told me they won’t revalve the oem shocks since they’re already perfect for the truck. Lmao
So how’s that work and are you paying?

It sounds like the springs are too heavy and may need to be swapped out.

Really? They told me as long as you do it within the first year it's free, I mean I got a paper shipping but that's understandable.

OME 890s? I don't think they're that stiff. Plus when I had tundra rear shocks previously with the same coils, it was entirely too soft.

So when I would hit a bump with those the actual will just shoot up to the bump stops or the body would fall straight down to the bump stops. Lol. Versus right now in the rear where if I hit a bump and watch it (there's a parking lot that has a couple of speed bumps but then the businesses have reflective mirrors so I can actually watch the truck go over them) so I can watch the rear shocks hit the speed bump and literally just launch the back end of the air practically... Then it just slams back down

Looks like I’m not alone with this issue. I ordered Extended front with 700lb front springs(recommended when ordering), adjustable rears paired with LC 7 wraps.

The 700lb springs are to heavy even with the AllPro front bumper and winch. So I ordered a set of Eibach 600lb springs. Just waiting for the spring compressor I ordered to install them.

I also plan on putting back the OME 890 back on the rear. I think that the 7 wraps are to tall and making the rear shock bottom out when extending.

I was expecting a nice plush “like buttah” ride like I’ve heard from many of my friends with Tacoma’s and what I’ve read online.

Instead I have a ride that feels like the I have no suspension movement whatsoever.

These third gens won't ride like a new Cadillac just because of the age of both the vehicle and the design/engineering that went into it is now 25+ years old.

I've got kings up front and in the back. 650 lb coils in the front. My truck is heavy though. Full skids, sliders, plate bumper with winch, roof rack, and rear swing out with full size spare. Plus recovery gear in the back, it's roughly 5,000 lbs with me in it. Add in a couple passengers and gear and it's pushing 6,000 lbs.

Empty it rides a little rough but not bad, and it's a heavy old lifted truck. The E load 10 ply tires don't help either. Loaded down with even just a couple hundred pounds in the back it is very very smooth. I've got 861 coils in the back which are pretty stiff springs.

Overall I'm happy with the ride of mine. It's definitely better than the toytec Boss coilovers I had before and the LC shocks I had in the back.

Maybe the stock valving is for trucks with a good bit of extra weight like mine. Do you have any extra weight on yours?

700 lb coils on a 3rd gen seems crazy.

Honestly I have to disagree. I think it's entirely possible to get a soft ride, it's just that no one makes shocks that are valved specially for 3rd gens. I know that say they are... But...I don't think they are really. The design is simple, no reason it can't ride well.

I think once I get my re-valved it should be a lot better. The main thing is that we have a lot of travel... Like suspension travel, but most shocks are too stiff and barely take advantage of said travel. So once it is eased up and let's the axles travel some I think it will be better.

Just my theory

Any resolution to this issued with rears being stiff? I have the same problem with Kings on a 5th gen. Front is super smooth and rears launch cargo into orbit. I've tried putting 200lb in the back and same.

Dang that’s a bummer. Hopefully you get it figured out. I don’t have anything to offer other than if a guy needs an extended shock the Bilstein 5160s are extended if you’re needing a temporary replacement.