I test drove the 98 Tacoma TRD I'm thinking of buying today. I know it's made some pretty heavy dump runs, and is getting towards 20 years old.

When I hit any bumps, the back end had no cushion. It just felt like there weren't shocks back there at all. Just jarring. Would that be worn out leaf springs? Somehow in all my older Toyotas I've never run into this.

If you push down on the back bumper and let go, it bounces a few times. But when you hit bumps it just bucks.

I'm thinking of just replacing them with stock ones from General Spring, or their heavy duty version ($99 a side or $150 a side). Price seems better than a lot of the others and this truck is not going to see any crazy wheeling.

Any advice?

 

probably shocks

You can remove shocks and hit the same bumps that made it buck

stiff shocks (compression) will give a jarring ride.

 

Empty trucks are going to ride hard .

While new springs and shocks can`t hurt hard to say if the ride quality will improve .

This is where being able to compare several of the same trucks is nice.

If it has the heavy duty springs it will ride harder then stock it is a truck meant to haul weight

Find a few big people 200 pounds plus have them stand in the bed if the truck bed really sags the rear springs are shot

If you were close I would get my ex-wife she put on a few pounds .

 

Ok, thanks.


Not to sound like a jerk (but here I go) but I've been driving Toyota trucks for almost 20 years, and I have a pretty good idea of the difference between stiff shocks and shocks that don't work. There was no give. Just a slam. It wasn't a "buck" like a stiff suspension bouncing the back of the truck or making the back end skip. It was just a thud. This is on a 17 year old truck which has been used to haul concrete and other house renovation waste to the dump. Shocks are the stock bilstien and haven't been replaced since the early 2000's.

My 83, which had a stiffer suspension than any other Toyota I've owned or rode in, did not have the feel that this truck does. It actually feels more like the shocks are frozen than just toast, but I watched the back of the truck bounce up and down when he pushed down on the back bumper, so I know they aren't frozen.

Anyway, maybe I'll start with shocks then, and if that does it, I'll just put in some air bags for when I tow, and call the leaf springs "good enough" for now.

Thanks.