Pipsisiwah

My Tacoma is pushing 50,000 miles now. Probably less than 400 of those were off-road (shame on me). I can feel the suspension slowly becoming clunkier, especially over potholes and such. The tires have about 10,000 miles on them, no abnormal treadwear.

When I bounce the front left and right fenders up and down, there is one and a tiny rebound at each, with a bit of side-to-side sway. The factory Bilstein shocks are not leaking. Nevertheless, I believe all shocks lose quite a bit by 40k miles. Is this "old-school" thinking? The ride height has not changed, so I guess the coils are not sacked.

I want to restore the ride back to factory new. Would I be throwing away my money by replacing the shocks at this point? If so, is there anything else I can do to restore the original ride characteristics?

j-man

in my opinion, the stock suspensions always suck azz, go for some new coilovers like SAW's or similiar, or atleast get some new bilstiens to put in the stock coils. You wont be disappointed.

Pipsisiwah

When you get older your hemorhoids will guide your choice on suspension ride characteristics .

I really liked the new ride of my 1998 TRD. And 40+ years of replacing shocks on various cars and trucks never seemed to bring back the new ride feel. I'd hate to pop for new Bilsteins F&R and not feel a difference...

Maybe somebody else will jump in and add their 2-cents worth...

yarosig

You want to inspect all of your bushings that's what usually cause cluttering I heard.

tderose

If cost is an issue, which it appears to be, consider these options:

option 1: go with the stock TRD Bilsteins from the stealership if the stock ride is what you're looking to obtain, and retain your stock TRD coils.

option 2: If you're off-road only about 10% of the time, and may be looking for a better than stock ride, go the OME suspension all the way around like I did. I am off-road about 20% of the time, and my '98 non-TRD is my daily driver. I love the way it rides, and it serves my needs for utility (hauling/towing - adds roughly 500lbs in hauling capacity over stock leafs springs!) If you chose to go this route, you won't be spending too much, and you'll have a great dual-purpose suspension system that is effective off-road as well. One point I would like to make with regards to their shocks. A lot of people use Bilstein shocks with OME springs; however, OME has specifically valved their shocks to work with their springs both front and rear. Furthermore, this system will provide you with approx. 2.5 inches of lift which will not harm your front CV's like the taller lifts. Below is a link of my truck's appearance. Too many pics that will clog up the post.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f151/new-nc-117161/

Also, for the best price on OME suspensions, go with these guys!
www.trdparts4u.com

Here is a pic of the OME suspension that I'm referring to, and is currently under my truck! Good luck!

881's


all parts laid out