October 17, 2024
Ever since I relocated my rear shocks, or at least ever since I got it right the second time, I've been running 2.5" ADS Racing Shocks with a 10-inch stroke and resis. They have been performed fantastically and after rebuilding and revalving them after a couple years of use, they worked even better!
The first set of 10" smooth body shocks ADS made for the rear end of a 1st gen Tacoma, and the only trend I ever started.
Really, I had no desire to ever run a different shock, and I figured that the ADS would probably outlast me, though they probably wouldn't outlast the Tacoma - because we all know it's impossible to destroy a Toyota Pickup.
But then, I significantly modified the rear suspension by installing Chevy 63 leaf springs. Not only do these Chevy 63s have a much softer ride than my previous leaf springs, but they are also significantly longer, allowing the rear axle - and wheels - to travel further than they did before. And that meant I was bumping up on the limits of the 10-inch stroke of the ADS shocks.
Of course, bump stops protected the shocks from topping out when the leaf springs were fully compressed, but on the other end of travel - when the shocks were fully extended - there was nothing protecting the shocks from becoming the limiting factor in suspension travel. I'd considered installing some limit straps - similar to those I'd installed in the front - but I'd never gotten around to it.
And then, I got an inquiry about whether I'd be interested in selling the 10" ADS shocks. Viewing this as an opportunity to solve my problem by getting a shock that "fit" the travel profile of the Chevy 63s, I was definitely open to the idea, and a few days later we'd settled on a price.
We'd also settled on a date for the sale, and it happened to be one day after the new 2.5" ADS Racing Shocks with 12-inch stroke and piggyback reservoirs would arrive in a big brown truck. It was time to get to work.
I won't bore everyone with the details - especially since a read through my rear shock relocation quickly demonstrates that I have no idea what I'm doing - but sufficed to say, I needed to cut the existing lower shock mounts off of the rear axle and weld new ones in place that were positioned to take advantage of the longer stroke that my new shocks would provide.
Having done that many times in the past, it was a short - if tedious - process and soon the rear axle housing was devoid of shock mounts and I was waiting the final few hours for the new shocks to arrive.
ADS changed their logo, so I had to get new shocks. 
The new shocks were functionally similar to the originals - with a 2.5" body - but sported a 2-inch longer stroke and piggyback reservoirs that would allow for a cleaner installation, since I wouldn't have to position and strap the reservoirs to the rear shock mount under the bed. Plus, they were shiny!
A few minutes after they arrived, I was measuring and mathing in order to figure out positioning of the new mounts.
Reasonably certain that the new positioning would work - and aware that if it didn't, I had no extra parts to try again - I pulled out the Millermatic and cringed as I spattered little bits of melty metal in boogery beads that - while functional - not even a mother could love.
Then, it was time for a bit of grinding and painting, and soon I was mounting the shocks under the truck. I had less than 12 hours before my old 10-inch beauties would be gone, but I'd made it, and the results looked fantastic.
Now with two additional inches of down travel.
Fantastic, that is, as long as you are distracted by the shiny silver shocks, and don't look too closely at the mounts.
For anyone curious, here are the build specs for these new shocks.
In this Series
So, Dan.. been awhile.. I have had my nose buried in my Bronco project but am finally coming up for air (it runs, mostly), and once again eyeing my 3rd gen. A recent trip to Alvord and Sheldon Antelope Refuge reminded of how woefully inadequate my TRDOR's suspension is when it's.. ahem.. being worked. I've had custom valved Bilstein and Fox shocks on the Bronco since forever, which I rebuild myself regularly. A must-have feature for me, ruling out OME right there. Somewhere on the ginormous Tacoma World forum all my questions would probably be answered, if I could keep my eyes from rolling back in my head while wading through thousand of pages of posts. You do such a great job of distilling (that forum needs a "Distill" feature) this sort of information. So why did you settle on ADS shocks? I was leaning towards Kings and probably doing business with Ben @ Filthy. Looks like he sells both. Looking forward to the upgrade. Unlike my Bronco where I had to fabricate nearly all of the mounting and front suspension and steering parts myself. Which I never (you can quote me on this) want to do again.
Thanks for your insights!
Oh yeah, one more thing.. I noticed that the shocks you installed don't appear anywhere on the ADS website, at least based on the configuration (port and mounting) of the reservoir. Custom?
Always nice to have a long(er)-term project, and that Bronco sure has been that for you!
When it comes to ADS, let me first start by saying that I have almost no experience with suspension on a 3rd gen. For some reason I always thought that the suspension on the TRDOR was supposessed to be a nice, rebuildable Fox setup. Maybe that's only on the TRDPro line though? Anyway, to add to my list of "why you shouldn't listen to me" caveats, I'll also say that going with ADS was something I initially did because I didn't know much of anything...
The ADS decision happened back in 2018 after I went on my first "real" trip with the Tacoma. Or at least, the first trip where I pushed the Tacoma a little bit (and my own skills a lot). This was the De-Tour, with a bunch of "guys I met on the internet" that I now call good friends. At the time, they were all (or almost all) running King, and I think that for the most part, they thought that they liked them.
ADS was just getting into the game with Tacomas - and other "overlanding" (shudder) - trucks, coming from a desert racing background. ADS had taken a lot of what King did, and tweaked it slightly, improving seals and performance, using some new tech for manufacturing, that kind of thing. Most interesting to me, however, was that ADS was able to offer me a 10" stroke, smooth body shock, that had compressed/exteded lengths (15.25/25.25")that were 2" shorter than the next shortest (which I think was King). That was important to me because of how tight the rear relocation is under the bed of the Tacoma, so it made going with ADS a no-brainer for me.
That 10" shock has now become one of their 1st gen Tacoma staples, so it was kinda cool to be the first one to ask for - and install - it. Though, I've never seen any royalties from that. Probably, I'm just not instafamous enough. Thank goodness.
Since then, I've really enjoyed their quality and customer service, so it was a no-brainer for me to go with the 12" shocks in the rear. These - like 95% of what they sell, which is still to the desert race teams with completely custom trucks - are not listed on their site, but were easy to get. I just told them I wanted the same shock as my 10-inchers, but with a 12" stroke. They asked if I wanted standard or piggyback resis, and a couple weeks later, my shocks showed up in a big brown truck.
As far as different brands go, my perception these days is that:
So, tradeoffs everywhere really, and I think that if you're looking to revalve yourself anyway, it probably doesn't matter much. Plus, Ben @ Filthy is awesome, so I'd be 100% good with going with whatever he recommends. He'll get it all valved correctly for you anyway, so again, brand is less important.
Did I "distill" that enough for you? Seems so long to me that I've probably bored you to death.
The suspension on a 3rd gen TRDOR is great as long as you don't load the truck with camping gear and a RTT and/or try to drive fast off road! I can easily keep up with and even run off and hide from my friends with their built 1st gen and 3rd gen respectively, when driving my antique. In my 3rd gen I watch them disappear over the horizon as the shocks fade and the rear suspension bottoms. Yeah, I have high expectations and they are going to be met before long, with an infusion of $$$, lol.
Thanks for the detailed reply and explanation. I think you've sold me on ADS. BTW I have been told that at one time ADS was actually manufacturing parts for what is now their competition, though I'm no sure which one. I have now-ancient Fox 2.0 reservoir shocks on the front of the Bronco. I've been lusting for some 2.5" shocks; I may ditch the well-worn Fox units in favor of a pair from ADS while I'm at it. Hmmmm....
Ahh, I can totally see loading the Taco down being an issue. Of course they speced all that suspension out for a stock (lightweight) truck, since that's how 90% of them are used. Duh.
I'd love to hear where you end up with the 3rd gen. It's rare to find folks who have trucks that really work (and I know from the pics that the Bronco is dialed), then move to a newer gen Tacoma, and get that into similar shape. Exciting, I think.
As for ADS or another brand, really, I bet it doesn't matter all that much. Surely the attention to valving, and any other performance "bits" you get (bypasses, compression clickers, etc.) have a much larger affect on the performance than the brand.
And yes, the 2.5" shocks are a lot nicer than the 2.0s. Just so much more volume in there.
And good on you for putting "overlanding" in quotations. There were flocks of fauxverlanders on the Alvord a couple of weekends ago, racing around at top speed, which was probably limited by the tons of gear they had strapped to their vehicles. My friend and I were the only ones who got there "over land." 8^)
Fauxverlanders! I love it! Haven't heard that one before, but it's going into rotation with instatubers and youstagramers.
Did you fly in? Oh man, if you did, I'm so jealous. But you must'nt've, since you had the Bronco and friends trucks...
The "left behind by my friends" trip was to Knott Creek Reservoir for fishing in early October. I skunked the others to make up for the humiliation of being left behind by suspension that found me wanting and wishing I was in the Bronco.
The over land trip to Alvord was indeed by air. Check your email.
A favorite pastime of my fellow travelers (with apologies to Trotsky, but totally different meaning here) and I around the campfire is to bash terms like "overlanding" and related. Thankfully it seems like the enthusiasm is still mostly limited to "discovering" long-popular and well-trampled spots like the Mojave Road. And Alvord on Veteran's Day weekend.
Dang Dan, great job! I've been meaning to ask about the tail pipe exhaust.....is this location working better than the actual Toyota location? When I stand to the side of mine from a distance, the tail pipe end sure does not leave much ground clearance.
Thanks Bill! That exhaust is something I did way back when I did the original shock relocation, since the tailpipe was in the way of the new passenger side rear shock. I don't know that it's "better" than the original Toyota location, but I haven't had any problems with it at all. I've never caught it on anything or had any exhaust in the cab, so I've just left it that way. In fact, I've still got that same beer can heat shield on it, mostly as a memory of doing the work with Zane; we both like to see it under there when we're looking around, hahaha!