Your 2005-2021 Toyota Tacoma rig deserves only the finest suspension setup, which will be fairly easy to upgrade to, while considering plenty of advice and real-world experience from suspension-modding enthusiasts.
Introduction
Millions of miles are being put onto the Toyota Tacoma pickup trucks each and every year all around the world. The vehicle itself can be utilized for a variety of different activities beginning with transporting industrial hardware and ending with towing trailers and recreational vehicles. However, if you begin to consider your Toyota Tacoma automaker-installed suspension’s performance dissatisfying, then there are plenty of shocks, struts, and coilovers, supplied by a variety of manufacturing companies, which can improve its performance in no time at all. The latter will allow you to push your rig to the utmost, as you are engaging in rock crawling, 4x4ing, off-roading, and so on.
Shock Absorbers for Daily Driving
This article section explores the daily driving shock absorbers for your Toyota Tacoma. These components are designed as O.E. replacement parts, being approved for use by the automaker. They will provide plenty of comfort and control, being designed with the aforementioned qualities in mind. Such dampeners will ensure required durability and longevity, as you are driving about your daily tasks, in urban areas, and anywhere on paved surfacing.
KYB Gas-A-Just
These dampeners are specifically created for everyday driving, with occasional engaging in towing or hauling. KYB Gas-A-Just components are a potent upgrade for automaker-installed hardware, featuring durable monotube designs, charged with pressurized gas. The latter is done to increase control and improve handling, altogether with a variety of other performance specifications for your SUV or pickup truck. Gas-A-Justs offer a considerably longer service life than majority of O.E. replacement components, while ensuring plenty of improvements over stock parts. However, any suspension-modding enthusiast needs to remember that these dampers will have more surface feedback than stock components, which may somewhat degrade the overall ride quality.
Bilstein 4600 Series
The components can easily be regarded as that very standard of shock absorbers by which most others should be measured. Bilstein 4600s are engineered to improve driving control and handling, while helping upkeep plenty of comfort, especially in comparison to majority of other O.E. products. These components offer increased service life and durability, while also providing limited towing, 4x4ing, and off-roading capabilities. 4600s will help lessen any and all body roll and frontal diving, while being an excellent upgrade over automaker-installed hardware. The products are fairly similar to yellow Bilstein shock absorbers, which come supplied as standard hardware on Toyota Racing Development vehicles. However, it must be added that these shocks are available at a fairly high price.
KYB Excel-G Series
These products are available from KYB as direct factory replacements, which are offered for majority of existing applications, in order to restore original control and handling characteristics. Excel-G shocks are specifically designed for daily driving, being manufactured as aftermarket components, offering considerable precision and quality of build, so as to ensure ideal fitment and performance. These dampeners are available as budget-level components, created to restore original driving specifications of your sport utility vehicle or pickup truck. KYB Excel-G shocks are capable of ensuring some of the softest driving possible. Although, any suspension enthusiast must remember that their service lifetime does not exceed that of original equipment products.
Shock Absorbers for 4x4ing and Off-Roading
The following section goes into considerable detail to describe a range of available shocks and coilovers for venturing off the beaten path. The products mentioned below offer both dependability and durability necessary for driving on rough terrain, while ensuring better compliance with different surface irregularities and resisting impacts from various obstacles.
ICON 2.5 VS Series w/ Remote Fluid Reservoirs
These products offer ICON’s proprietary designs in valving technology, which combine digressive tuning, in order to achieve superior control and handling both on the road and while driving off the beaten path. They also ensure much better linear responsiveness in the higher ranges of performance, so as to guarantee more reliable driving at high speeds. Tens of thousands of miles can easily be put onto ICON 2.5 VS Series, riding your Toyota Tacoma as hard as possible, while taking onto countryside trails and mountainous terrains. To add to the aforementioned, these components come with excellent adjustability options, which offer much better tuning. Besides, their all-inclusive sets ensure complete package approach, being supplied with such options as RXT bump and leaf stoppers and control arms Delta Joints.
Bilstein 8112 Series w/ Remote Reservoirs
These components are among some of the most recent additions to the Bilstein range of products, while presenting a true challenge to the majority of race companies working in the off-roading market niche. Bilstein 8112 Series dampers come with highly-technological designs, which include such elements as rebound stops and jounce cutoffs, thus ensuring a considerable improvement in ways of ride control, regardless of whether in the desert or on the trail. These components offer superior German engineering, being made with pride in the U.S.A. They come with 60-mm pistons, while offering almost 3.5” of height adjustment. The products will ensure unsurpassed control for your Toyota Tacoma, while you are venturing off-roading and 4x4ing.
FOX 2.5 Factory Race Series
FOX 2.5 Factory Race Series shocks will improve both quality of ride and comfort significantly. Their big-bore 2.5-in. size allows for greater retention of oil, lower temperatures, and pressures. The latter will allow for taking onto rough terrain at considerable speeds, all while keeping control of your sport utility vehicle or pickup truck by means of race-level tuning. FOX 2.5s come with sizeable reservoirs and considerable adjustability options. The components can be easily serviced and rebuilt, while offering custom tuning for the real pros. However, it must be noted that FOX 2.5 Factory Race Series dampeners require servicing in-between 30-50,000 miles, in order to ensure necessary performance and longevity of work life.
Shock Absorbers for Towing and Hauling
This article part describes products specifically designed for towing or hauling trailers. All of the shocks mentioned below will ensure for your rig plenty of on-the-road control and stability, which are much needed to transport different loads. Regardless of whether you may have to tow a recreational vehicle or haul a horse trailer, these components will surely help you improve handling and hence traction, which will translate into more powerful and safer towing / hauling experience.
Rancho RS9000XL
Rancho’s ubiquitous RS9000XL shock absorbers have been on the market for over a decade now, offering plenty of durability and adjustability. The components are regarded as being among some of the most versatile and durable, especially in the pickup truck and sport utility vehicle community. RS9000XLs come with special designs, which allow for the quality of ride to be adjusted from soft to hard, while offering plenty of benefits to owners of different trucks and SUVs. The components come with considerable bodies that are capable of retaining plenty of oil, thus ensuring superior dampening. However, all suspension-modding enthusiasts need to remember that RS9000XLs may have issues with adjustment settings and knob breakages.
Teraflex Falcon Sport Tow System
The products come with lasting 2.25” shock bodies, which offer a considerable increase in oil retention volume, while having increased piston sizes in comparison to products supplied by competing companies. Teraflex Falcons come with pistons that ensure significant improvements when it comes to handling on paved surfacing both under load or unloaded, all while offering improved off-roading capabilities, which will keep your wheel-and-tire combos firmly planted on rough terrain. These components offer lesser body roll, while guaranteeing reduced bottoming out. Teraflex Falcon Sport Tow Systems ensure excellent leveling capabilities, while having adjustments of ride control from soft to hard, while also being both serviceable and rebuildable.
Bilstein 5100 Series w/ 46-mm Pistons
The 5100s are designed for daily driving, offering limited off-roading capabilities. The dampeners are among some of the finest-selling products from Bilstein, being more firm than the preceding 4600 types. The latter ensures better handling on raised rigs and improved control on vehicles with bigger-size wheel-and-tire combos. The shock absorbers come charged with pressurized Nitrogen, while offering leveling-kit capabilities. Bilstein 5100s are superb for upgrading from stock hardware, being both lasting and durable, all while ensuring superior handling on paved roads and during 4x4ing. Besides, these components are ideal for towing and hauling. In general, the dampers can be seen as being among the first upgrades to treat your Tacoma to, being true jacks-of-all-trades.
