talk to me about shocks

[rustbucket]

I'm starting to plan my light suspension build for the spring once I finish the trans swap.

I see all sorts of talk about lift and tires but no one ever mentions shocks. Do you just run oe length shocks? I would hope not with as much lift as some of you have.

Suspension plan is as follows:
Fix saggy rear end- add a leaf maybe? Or complete new spring packs
BJ spacers with new ball joints
New tie rod ends
(pretty much every thing up front replaces due to unknown age)
Shocks all around

Only want a 2-3" lift, was looking at wabfab unless someone has another suggestion.

Staying ifs for now. If I get the truck dependable enough(driving full time with no major repairs for at least a year) I may consider Sfa..

What shocks do you recommend? I see wanting offers some at a good price but I know of noone using em.
Ome is good stuff but a full kit is out of my price range, as I'm trying to keep my total cost for parts between $6-maybe 900..

Rancho? Monroe? I know very little about truck shocks other than what they do. Car suspensions.....I know plenty lol

 

[Quatre Coureur]

U can get a complete OME suspension, rr springs, F&R shocks, steering stabilizer, bushings etc. for around $700 from rocky-road.com. $900 with front torsion bars. Im currently running RS9000s on my 88 4RNR and RS5000s on my 85 P/UP. They're ok. No complaints. I hear good things about Bilstein 5100s. Pricey tho @ arnd $90 apiece. Got the Ranchos on Amazon for arnd $180 with free shipping.

 

[Iroke17]

buy my lift kit i have for sale in the for sale section...

 

[ozzyleven]

If you can afford it, just buy Bilsteins. I have the heavy duty ones on my Tundra and at 110k, the original set still has life in them and they pass the shock bounce test at the mechanic every time. Granted I don't off-road my Tundra, but I really think that much life out of a set of shocks is very impressive.

 

[KidVermicious]

Don't buy a lift from WabFab, he just marks up other companies' stuff.

An awesome budget IFS lift is to stuff a couple extra leaves in the rear pack and go to a 6 inch shackle, with ball joint spacers in the front. Tweak the tbars to level up or down depending on how much lift the leaves gave you in the rear. You can find used BJ spacers for $50 and extended shackles for about the same, and if you look long enough you can find somebody ditching a set of Toyota springs and snag them up for free or way cheap. You won't need longer brake lines or a diff drop or any of that stuff, and you'll clear 33 inch tires (I had to trim the fender liner just a bit in front to get away from rubbing at full stuff). I ran stock length shocks on that lift for 2 years before switching to the Doetsch 3000's I'm running now (which are not the best, to be honest, kinda stiff for my taste).

If you've got the coin, buy OME. It's about a 2" lift, and is supposed to ride better than stock. Don't get the beefier tbars unless you've got a heavier front bumper, just stick w ith BJ spacers. Ironman makes a similiar set for slightly less and I've heard no complaints, but they don't have OME's rep or market presence either.

 

[darkwaterdiver]

I was just in the same boat you are. I bought the IFS list kit from WabFab (With his recent free shipping promo I actually saved money vs buying it from Toytec) for my 88, and I am also having Wabbit add a 1" body lift while he has it. I went round and round about the shocks too because I really wanted Bilsteins. I was told by so many different places that certain Bilsteins would work well with the 2" lift while others said the exact same shock wouldn't work with the 2" lift. While I am quite sure that there is a Bilstein shock out there that would work perfectly, I couldn't find anybody that could tell me with any confidence exactly what I needed. I ultimately punked out and just bought the ES9000 Pro Comps because I knew they would work. I haven't gotten to drive it yet because I am having a lot of work done to it right now, but hopefully the Pro Comps work out OK. Since its not my DD I'm sure I can live with it.

 

[KidVermicious]

Toytech marks up other companies stuff too, but at least they've heard the words "customer service" before.

If you're buying balljoint spacers, get them from SDORI or 4Crawler. Go to the source and support the little guy.

/gets off soapbox

 

[darkwaterdiver]

I've never personally dealt with Toytec so I can't comment on their customer service, but I've never had a bad experience with Wabfab like I've seen others claim. I'm all for supporting the little guy, but they(Wabfab) kind of fit that bill on certain things. I'm not trying to be a troll for his business, as a matter of fact, I never knew the guy even existed until about a year ago when I had a problem with the transfer case on the POS A340H in my 92. He bent over backwards answering questions and trying to help me out. So much so, when I finally decided to do the R150 swap, I took it to him and let him do it. Since then, he has done a lot of work for me and I've been more than pleased.

 

[rustbucket]

buy my lift kit i have for sale in the for sale section...

I'll look at it, and think about it.

Thanks for the insight guys, this is my first step into truck suspensions. Keep the discussion going.

 

[fourwd1]

The bottom line is, if you want a smoother ride, you have to put out more money.
Old Man Emu is at the top of the heap, Monroe and Gabriel are at the opposite end of the spectrum. The ones from the big box suspension companies are pretty low too.
I have Rancho 9000's on my rockcrawler, but I'd never put them on a daily driver.
But then ride quality depends a lot on the springs, good shocks on cheap springs aren't going to help the ride much.

 

[rustbucket]

What about Procomp or Superlift? It won't necessarily be a dd but I'll drive it a few time a month most Likley and preferably full time in the winter it it doesn't break again lol

Like title says I'm more interested in shock knowledge vs lift but they go hand and hand. I like researching I just need suggestions on what brands to look into. Is matching a shock to a specific spring rate needed.? Or just finding the correct length for lift?

 

[rusty904]

Reviving this thread! What'd you end up with for your shocks/lift? I'm in the same boat now. My truck came with 265/75/16's and I'm looking to add a little more clearance.

 

[MacGyver1979]

Monroe air ride..... you get what you pay for

 

[rusty904]

Haha, yikes. I may go for the bilstein 4600's. Looks like I can pick them up on amazon for $242.96 shipped for the set. I'm planning on fitting 2.5" longer shackles from all pro. I'm looking for just enough lift to clear 265-75-16's.

Will the 4600's be able to accommodate me?

 

[MT Tatman]

I went with Fox racing shocks on my whole suspension upgrade. They cost a bit more than the Bilsteins, but I love them in conjunction with my bigger/longer springs. I got my lift parts from Allpro, and they are a splendid bunch of folks there! Great to deal with, and they answered any questions that I had. You should call them up and chat with them. Let them know what end result that you want, and they will steer you in the right direction.