Tacoma or 3rd gen shock valving questions/discussion

[troyboy162]

I dont know if Bruce comes here any more, but I was wondering what he or lance used for shims in their shocks?? They had different shocks and trucks but it would help give me a starting point and some free learning. There isn't much on the internet as people generally stick with defaults for normal trucks like ours and that works quite well for the most part

I'm sure you guys know but, coil-overs and the like are able to be tuned through a number of means. One easy way is to change the shim stacks on compression or rebound. It has a dramatic affect on handling as I have seen through my FOA troubles.

The first shocks they sent me had a firm feel to them and big hits (big for me not for a racer lol) and small jumps were not a concern. Now I believe that was probably the "default valving" of med compression/light rebound. It was fun to drive but seemed to feel the smoothest with quite a bit more speed then I'd normally carry through sections. Butte valley in DV had me driving fast for the fun of it and also to smooth out the long rough ride lol. Large bumps were not a concern nor was a little air time lol. Washboard felt like a normal truck and reverberated through the truck with the normal rattling.

The second set is much different and I think they are a flutter stack of light compression/light rebound. The result is pretty awesome for normal driving. Washboards are spooky smooth and normal speeds result in a nice ride. The negatives are a series of rolling bumps can cycle the suspension to the point of bottoming if I attempt any speed. Pretty easy solution is to slow the F down and drive normal lol. Big hits (for me) seem to be still ok and small jumps are not quite as confidence inspiring. From what I read this is classic flutter stack behavior that is ripe for some fine tuning to the specific vehicle.

I may try valving when its time to change the shock fluid out. This would mean only a few extra minutes of work since the shocks have to come apart anyhow. I have to get the rear done first anyhow to see how it all works together. Its funny but I never though much of my pro-comp rear shocks, but with a good front end, they can really do quite well.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJb1AgvNZG0

FOA Compression Valving
2.5 (2.0- delete 1.7 shim)

Extra light
1.7 .008 ____________________
1.6 .008 ________________
1.5 .008 ______________
1.375 .008 ____________
1.25 .008 __________
1.125 .008 ________

Light
1.7 .010 ___________________
1.25 .010 ________
1.7 .010 ___________________
1.6 .010 _________________
1.5 .010 _______________
1.375 .010 _____________
1.25 .010 __________
1.125 .010 ________



Light/Med
1.7 .010 ___________________
1.25 .015 ________
1.7 .010 ___________________
1.6 .010 _________________
1.5 .015 _______________
1.375 .015 _____________
1.25 .015 __________
1.125 .015 ________

Medium
1.7 .015 ___________________
1.6 .015 _________________
1.5 .015 _______________
1.375 .015 _____________
1.25 .015 __________
1.125 .015 ________

Med/Firm
1.7 .015 ___________________
1.6 .015 _________________
1.5 .015 _______________
1.375 .020 _____________
1.25 .020 __________
1.125 .020 ________

Firm
1.7 .020 ___________________
1.6 .020 _________________
1.5 .020 _______________
1.375 .020 _____________
1.25 .020 __________
1.125 .020 ________



Extra Firm
1.7 .020 ___________________
1.6 .020 _________________
1.5 .020 _______________
1.375 .015 (2) _____________
1.25 .015 (2) __________
1.125 .015 (2) _______

[4x4mike]

I don't have much to add other than some questions/suggestions.

What about changing the oil weight to control damping? Or the rebound washers and or the size of holes or valves in them? Do your shocks have adjustable compression or rebound damping?

As far as Tacomas and 3rd gens I think peoples experiences are all over the board. I found this out when I was looking to buy my Bilstein 5100's. There is a Tacoma version and a Tundra version and guys run both. Of course everyone uses different springs and have difference vehicle set ups as well. I ended up with the Tundra 5100's and they are great offroad, just stiff on road. Part of me doesn't like the fact it's for an entirely different vehicle, size and weight wise. They were hard enough to install for to to consider they didn't belong.

[troyboy162]

nitro pressure, oil weight, shim stacks, spring rates, piston mods all can be tweaked to get things perfect. I figure shim stacks are easy and will get me closer then needed. I dont have external adjusters on the shocks and thats kinda a bummer. Ive read they work by choking the fluid at the resivour and cant have the same effect as proper shim stacks. So I am forced to go the more effective route although a couple clicks one way or another from a adjuster would probably suit me just fine lol.

you are right about the subjectivity of shocks. Between trucks, terrain, and driving style one mans "great shock" is another mans "terrible shock". I had no complaints with the OME/procomp set up I ran for years.

[troyboy162]

I have a pretty good setting right now. Its tuned only by seat of the pants and I have no charged it through whoops or anything. its also specific to my crapy FOA shocks. .020 would be super stiff in a king shock.

front:
Compression .015 rebound .010
~10wt oil

Rear
Compression .020 rebound .010
~5wt oil

The heavier front oil helped tremedously. Even with the .015 shims, the front would dive too easy in G-out senarios. the heavier oil contributed some to a stiffer valving feel, but more importantly the front end dosnt dive all the time anymore. Simple rolling terrain cycling half my suspension travel got old quick lol.