Rear shocks for a workin’ 2006

Hello again. As part of hitting “refresh” on my 2006 AC SR5 with 135k I’m thinking of replacing the rear shocks. I have always loved the soft ride, but these days I try to mainly use it for “truck stuff” like towing my 20’ boat, hauling firewood, gravel, or building supplies, etc. If possible, I’d like to stiffen up the rear end a notch, just a notch, without turning the rig into a bucking bronco when empty.

I don’t want to get into adjustable air shocks or anything like that.

As I recall from way back in 2006 when I bought the truck, the TRD’s had stiffer suspensions. Should I just buy OEM TRD shocks?

Is this a shadetree mechanic type of job?

 

I’m not shy about loading her down. From this spring.

 

Bilstein 4600s should do nicely

 

Thanks. Are there Tundra-specific versions or just the one 4600? Would it be a mistake to just do the rear shocks?

 

Yes, you need the 4600 series that fits your truck. And no, upgrading the rear is not a mistake.

 

I put 4600’s on mine and Sumosprings. I didn’t want to mess with airbags or get much more involved than that.
No complaints and it handles heavier loads and towing way better than stock- granted I was on original shocks with 375k or so km and no bump stops.

 

You are talking about the leaf springs, yes? Do I need to swap those out too?

Appreciate it folks.

 

Sumosprings replace the bump stops, like where you’d put airbags, but they’re just polyurethane, kind of a helper spring.
They have different densities for different desired outcomes, I used blue.

https://www.superspringsinternational.com/

 

Damn that's a lot of tree back there. I've loaded mine up maybe 2/3 of the way to that (had my stumps upright ).

Are rear shocks going to help with carrying capacity? I thought that's what springs were for (and the airbags you mention). It would probably be an easier job to throw in some airbags than replace the shocks, to be honest. And you wouldn't be sacrificing ride quality when you're not loaded down.

 

Shocks aren’t even functioning with a load like that. Riding the factory bump stops with that kind of weight. Sumo springs or airbags would be crying.

 

As soon as I saw that picture I thought, you don't need new shocks, you need new leaf springs. Remember, shocks just dampen the bumps going down the road. The leaf springs do the work.

If you plan on hauling that much weight, I would research heavy duty leaf spring options.

 

As mentioned above by @FirstGenVol and @KNABORES leaf springs are what will help with the weight and rear stability.
And maybe a fence to keep the logs from destroying the cab.

 

Upgrading the rear spring capacity and/or adding additional springs or airbags does NOT change what the engineers designed the truck for. Those add-ons and upgrades do not increase the load capacity of the axle.

 

Why not? They are the cheapest solution.

 

It will be hard to have the best of both worlds, the nice ride and the increased capacity. Air suspensions are the solution for that. Other wise, HD leaf springs and 4600 or 5100 Bilsteins back there to tame the bounce.

 

I think he's talking about adjustable shocks, not air bags. Adjustable shocks are not cheap at all.

 

Hmmm.... thanks everyone. Sounds like I need to keep learning here before I hit “proceed to checkout” on anything.

It’s not like I’m driving around with loads like that every day, but I did that (4) times this spring, so it does happen. We heat with wood...

So going forward, the mission for this truck is firewood and other loads of that type, towing my 20’ aluminum boat which is around 5k lbs with the trailer and loaded up for an adventure, and then my logging-road adventures to go shootin’ or whatnot. I mean it’ll certainly make the occasional trip to the grocery store, but we have a 30 mpg Subaru Forester for that, lol.

I agree that’s a big load of firewood. I don’t want to go all-in and optimize my truck for that kind of load and lose the nice ride that the Tundra is known for. But my shocks have 135k on them so it seemed like a good place to start with just helping the truck out a bit.

I’m thinking maybe shocks first, see how I like that, almost certainly a sway bar next because I think that’ll really make a difference with towing the boat, then maybe sumosprings after that if I’m still wanting more. HOWEVER, now you guys have me thinking I should look into air shocks. I don’t even know where to begin. Any hints?

 

Here’s a pic from when I was first bringing the boat home. This is without crab and fishing gear, ice, or the 50 gallon gas tank full. The tongue weight is no big deal. It does wag the back of the truck a bit- which is why the sway bar has appeal.

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/firestone-2245-airbag-install.78837/

Here's a thread that came up for me when looking into it just now. Firestone bags and Daystar cradles seem to be popular. Now I haven't looked into it too much, but I think installing bags to replace your bump stops will be less work than swapping shocks.

 

Id focus on a trailer for wood and keep the in truck loads lighter. Lot easier to make these trucks feel great towing than while carrying a huge load.

Added bonus of the trailer route is that I can drag whole logs on my 18' trailer and process at home.

 

I think I need to hit reset here (my bad).

I was thinking new shocks made sense because I’m going through the truck a bit right now and that just jumped out as a wear item. However, in truth, the OEM shocks are working fine; they aren’t leaking and the back end doesn’t bounce around or anything like I remember trucks doing way back in the day when the shocks wore out.

Instead of focusing on the shocks, I’m now thinking I should focus on whatever it is that would improve the safety and driving experience when I’m towing the boat, or carrying the occasional heavy load. Best bang for the buck.

Is the low-hanging fruit here a rear sway bar?

 

If you want to have less sag in the back then leaf springs. While towing a boat a rear sway bar would help quite a bit from what I've read around here anyway.

 

I just installed ATS springs HD leaf packs in my 2003 2WD. They told me their HD springs are rated for 500lbs each side over stock. They ride really well- I was not expecting how much the ride would improve after installing these. Smoother, more stable, less bucking. My truck isn't even used hard (I mostly use it for camping and misc. household hauling). But by adding a fiberglass camper shell back in 12/2021, the OEM leafs rode on the overloads and the ride was harsh and wallowy. Surprisingly these HD leafs ride smoother than my old OEM leafs, even with a higher capacity. They do sit 1-1.5" higher though, so be aware of that (I was looking for lift). I can't recommend new HD leafs from ATS or General Spring enough; it was one of the best upgrades I've done in a long time.

So now in back I have: ATS HD leaf springs, Bilstein 5100s, and the Hellwig sway bar. I don't tow so I can't comment on that, but I love the ride in the rear end and feel it is much improved over stock.

 

I think I’m going to try a sway bar first. I tow my boat much more often than I carry mumble mumble overloads mumble with the truck.

Looks like the go-to for 2007-forward Tundras is the OEM TRD sway bar, but I’m not seeing an OEM TRD sway bar for the first-gen trucks. Anyone know if an aftermarket unit jumps out as “the one”?

 

Look into getting some air bags. They are fairly cheap ($300-350) and easy to install yourself. Firestone makes them for our trucks.

 

See my post above.

$500 Hellwig 7700 Solid, Heat Treated Chromoly, 1-1/8" Rear Sway Bar

Hellwig 7700 is the go-to rear sway bar, but is pricey. There is also the Addco sway bar, it's not as thick/beefy as the Hellwig but is a little cheaper I believe.

 

The Hellwig in theory would do more than the Addco to help sag since it is adjustable, I would think.

I think the low hanging fruit to get the best of both worlds is the air bags. The air bags will help with the load capacity and have some anti-sway characteristics as well.