Project Toyota Tundra Part 10- Suspension by King Shocks
By Mike Kojima
When we last left off, we had installed bigger brakes as well as wheels and tires on Project Tundra. The big wheels left us with rubbing problems which we addressed by moving the fender liners and modifying the front crossmember. We wanted to get even more wheel well clearance so we decided to raise our truck slightly. The stock Tundra has a nose down attitude which looks a little funny so we wanted to raise the front of the truck by about an inch. We did not want to build a Metal Mulisha bro mobile, just raise our truck a little and improve handling if we could.
To do this we decided to get a set of King Offroad coilover OEM replacement shocks. The King shocks were designed to maximize performance on a stock truck at close to the stock ride height. The King Shocks were designed to run at the stock rear ride height while raising the front about 3″
To Read More about Project Tundra click HERE!
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Our King shocks are substantially more heavy duty than stock. The shock is a monotube in construction which has the advantage of greater heat dissipation. They feature amazingly huge 2.5″ pistons with 7/8″ rods. The pistons are machined from 6061 billet, not your typical cast aluminum. The pistons use high buck Rulon bushings for long wear and low friction. The shock body is cad plated for corrosion resistance and honed to tolerances of 0.001″. The remote reservoirs allow easy external damping adjustment and improve cooling of the shock's fluid. The also move the gas chamber and separator piston out of the shock body so the shock can have even more travel, about 25% more in our case.
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The valve that controls compression damping is now moved to the cap of the remote reservoir which makes the damping easy to adjust.
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The shocks are inverted which means the heavier body is attached to the truck's chassis. This reduces unsprung weight and improves ride response. A rod end is used on the control arm side of the shock for low friction, direct transfer of force to the shock and free articulation in three degrees.
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This CNC billet piece adapts the shock to the OEM chassis mount. The upper shock eye is a small diameter urethane bushing. This is a lot more direct than the stock rubber and makes sure every bit of wheel movement is controlled by the shock. |
