g_mau18

hey everyone, I recently rode in my friends 04 tacoma and man that thing drives like your riding on a cloud, so quiet too even with swampers on it. I have an 88 yota and it rides so rough over even little bumps and stuff and the tires are extremely loud, is there anything I can do to make it a smoother, nicer ride? Cuz I would never get a tacoma, the old body styles are beautifully aggressive.

87LVRunner

I have owned both the older Toy and the newer Taco. My ride was solid on my 89 when I had the t-bars slightly cranked, an add a leaf in the back, 32X11.5R15 BFG M/T and Bilstein shocks. It was still a positive ride, but pretty darn close to the Taco. OH, and for the record, the Taco is gone and the 87 4Runner is in the garage!

Junkers88

Some more information might help us answer you.

What size/brand of tires are you running?
What air pressure do you run on the street?
How old/new are the shocks?
Have the T bars been cranked?
Leaves flattened?


Mine rode like a pig until I replaced the shocks with OEM's and greased the heck out of everything. Now it rides almost as well as the 2000 runner that I used to have (sold it when the 86 came home). All in all though you have to realize that the 04 is going to ride a little better than the 88 simply because the 88 is older and will be more worn to some extent.

algranger

what he said ^
also your leafs may be tired you could consider oem replacements

g_mau18

Hey junkers88, you seem to have a wealth of info, I am running wildcat m/t's 31", with the max psi i think 45. I have no idea when the shocks have been replaced, they might be stock. What kind of shocks should I get? by t-bar you mean torsion bar? what does that do? what does flattening the leaves mean? and if I take my truck into the shop do I just tell them to grease the hell out of everything? thank you junkers

g_mau18

damn... i am a newb

Junkers88

Don't start thinking I know anything, really. I learned every little thing I'm about to post on this site.

Ok 45 psi might be part of the problem. Thats a round rock under a light truck although it does help with mpg. You might think of dropping that down to 35 or so. I run 35 in my 31's and like it.

The shocks I bought were Monroe's from Napa. They were a little on the expensive side but the change in ride quality was well worth it. My rears were so shot that when I pulled them off you could compress them by hand and they stayed that way. The fronts were rusted solid.

Yes "t-bar" means torsion bar. It takes the place of actual springs in the front end of an IFS (independent front suspension) truck. If they have been "cranked" for lift then they will make the front end really stiff.

Flattened leaves..... go out to your rig and look at the rear end from ground level. If the spring pack is flat and sitting on the overload (the fat one at the bottom) then the spring pack is worn out and thus "flattened". An add a leaf kit will usually eliminate that.

As far as greasing goes your best bet is to go spend 30$ on a grease gun and a few tubes of grease and do it yourself. A shop will charge a pile to do this and then try to talk you into all kinds of other repairs. I bought a grease gun 10 years ago and it's been used about a million times. Plan on doing the grease when you do your oil changes. This way you know the rig is lubed and you get a chance to take a look at everything every 5000 miles or so. You'd be surprised how much you can save when you spot a problem before it actually breaks.

Junkers88

Don't think this way. What you need to think is that there is a whole other spot in your brain that just got the "Toyota" badge fused to it and it's now doing the "Oh what a feeling" jump-dance-thing just waiting for information.

Welcome to the addiction.

g_mau18

sorry to keep bugging you junkers, that last reply was classic. so i need to buy an add a leaf kit, get a grease gun, where exactly do i grease? how do i know if my t bar has been cranked or not? well i guess its pretty obvious, its sitting higher than stock yotas with no susp lift. so i should also buy a susp lift and loosen the t bar im guessing? thanks man

Junkers88

Glad you liked the reply, and don't worry about bugging anyone here as we have all been there at one time or another. Just ask Swampthing, I bother the crap out of him every chance I get since he thinks he can drink more than I can.

Clint??



First thigs first. Go out to your rig and measure the distance from the rim [if you have 15's (stock)] to the bottom of the fender front and rear. Mine measures 14" on the front and 11 1/4" on the rear. I'm sorry that I don't know what the factory measurements are and remember that the front fender (if our year models have the same body lines) is higher up than the rear. This will give you the amount of sag that you have, if any. If the front is sitting higher than stock rigs as you mentioned then the t-bars have been cranked (if it sits level then you may also have some sort of lift in the rear) and this will account for the increased rigid feel of the ride. If so you can back them off a bit although you'll have to do a search since I have no idea how to do it properly.

Once you find out how much you rig needs to come up or lower you can decide on a lift or an add a leaf. My recommendation is this. If you like the stance of the truck and the rear is lower than the front then do the add a leaf and run it. If the ride is terrible and you want to change it then buy a set of ball joint spacers and relax the t-bars back to factory settings. You must understand that a "lift" has several functions.

1) to get the body and undercarriage away from terrain demons. This is why I'm lifting mine a little.
2) to clear larger tires so that the pools of testosterone don't drown you when you wheel.
3) in your case, to allow for a relaxed stance on the front end to make a better ride.

Grease..... crap there are several points to include, but not limited to, the front end and drive shafts.

Back to the lift idea. This is a trap that we all fall into. A little lift leads to bigger tires (and nuts) and that leads to wanting a locker or two, bigger meats=more lift, armour............ now you're broke and wondering how in the hell this happened. Addiction. Please take into account that something like a ball joint lift isn't a 2 hour job and you're back out chasing split tail. It's a little time consuming and you have to have the front end aligned buy a professional.

Now on a last note. I am by no means an expert I just take what I learn here and apply it to my truck and wheeling trips. Take my advise as advise only and not some sort of dirrective or law. I'm still the biggest newb on here.

Jay351

Dude... I'm so there... but im lovin' it!