I need some advice here. Here's my current setup on my '01 Tacoma ext cab: Camburg LT w/ SAW's(old style w/ balljoints) in the front, Chevy 63's w/ 10" Bilstein 5125's valved at 255/70 in the rear. I relocated the rear shock mounts so the uppers are right against the bed (above the frame rail) and the lowers are off the back of the axle but do not hang down. The shocks angled back by 20 degrees. Right now when the leafs are flat, the shocks are fully compressed and the bumpstops hit.

I need more rear suspension to keep up with the front and was thinking about getting some Bilstein 12" shortbody 7100's. The compressed length is within .125" of the 10" Bilstien 5125's I have now so they will fit and give me 2" more of droop. From there I could put a longer shackle on to use the additional droop, but it wouldn't be getting me any more uptravel, plus they are the same valving, so I'm not sure if it would make much of a difference. Do you guys think it would be worth upgrading to the 7100's considering I would have the same valving and uptravel? I understand the advantages of them being rebuildable/revalvable and that they should be more fade resistant, but would the ride quality be any better?

Here are the spec's on the two shocks:

5125 10" shock
BE5-6248-H5
travel: 10.17
valving: 255/70
extended length: 25.93
compressed length: 15.91
shaft diameter: 14mm

7100 12" Short Body Reservoir
AK7112SB
travel: 12
valving: 255/70 (can be revalved)
extended length: 28.06
compressed length: 16.03
shaft diameter: 14mm

if you are not going to spend the time/money to fine tune/revalve them dont waste your money and get a set of 5150s

I can revalve them if needed. They can also be revalved to 275/78 or 360/80. Do you think making them stiffer would help them keep up with the front suspension without adding any uptravel to the rear?

The 5150 really isn't a step up over what you have now. Run what you have or go 7100's.

A ride quality advantage of the 7100 is that they will have less gas spring ramp up and will be slightly smoother.

Search as I have discussed gas ramp a few times and don't have the time currently to review.

Thanks, I'll research that. I am not considering 5150's, just going from the 10" 5125 I have now to a 12" shortbody 7100 since they are the same compressed length.

I have the 12" short bodies on the front of my XJ and the regular 14" ones in the back. I've revalved all four. I valved the fronts at 255/78 with hydraulic bumps and the rears at 360/80, which took most of of bucking out of the rear. The big number on the valving is the rebound rate, and the smaller number is the compression rate. Throughout all the stock Bilstein valvings, the compression doesn't change a whole lot, but the rebound changes drastically. On mine, I think slowing down the rebound was the key in stopping the donkey kick.

I think you'll be much happier when you have more travel in the rear than the front.

-Dan

Thanks for the info Dan. Unfortunately, I can only hope to have equal amounts of travel front and rear (13" or so) since I don't want to cut the bed up. This is a daily driver truck that gets used so I'm somewhat limited.

Thanks for the info Dan. Unfortunately, I can only hope to have equal amounts of travel front and rear (13" or so) since I don't want to cut the bed up. This is a daily driver truck that gets used so I'm somewhat limited.

Maybe I read wrong, are you getting 13" travel from the chevies? If so Im very surprised.

Maybe I read wrong, are you getting 13" travel from the chevies? If so Im very surprised.

Right now the travel is limited to 10" because of my shocks, but there is definitely 3" more travel to be had between longer shackles to allow more drop-out and by letting the springs go negative. FWIW there are guys with Tacomas getting 13" of travel with stock length Alcans and Deavers, so I better be able to get 13" with a 63" long spring.

Here are some pics of my rear suspension drooped out if that helps at all.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6184/dsc05395ao1.jpg

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4905/dsc05398vq7.jpg

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2369/dsc05400fl4.jpg

The alcans and deavers move like that because of many many thin leaves. The pic you show at droop of bump stop only shows maybe 8" between it andd frame. Unless that gets eliminated, I dont see more travel. Not bashing you at all, just never been very impressed with the travel the chevy's have.

No I understand what you mean Brian, I know these aren't Deavers and don't expect them to perform like them either. I am hoping though that a longer shackle might get me enough travel to fully utilize the 12" shortbodies I'm putting under there.