I own a 97 Tacoma 4x4. I replaced the original shocks when I bought it used three or four years ago with Monroe's. Noticing the front wheels hopping more than usual lately, I inspected the front shocks and found oil all over the bottom half on the left shock. Never a good sign.
I originally posted this question here back when I was looking for replacement shocks and there were several suggstions, including the Monroe's. The other suggestion was a shock that cost a lot more than the Monroe's, but I can't rememberit's name now, think it sounded German but I don't think they were Bilsteins. But perhaps they (whatever the shock name was) would last longer.
Part of the problem with the Tacoma is that the tire is adding it's own resiliency to the equation the shock is trying to solve. In other words, the shock isn't just damping the rise and fall of the suspension, the tire is acting like a superball. Every time it hits a bump it adds it's own rebound frequency to the motion causing a lot of high frequency oscilations. Obviously, the Monroe's couldn't take it.
So what are some suggestions for Tacoma shocks?
Thanks, Corky Scott