10” vs 12” Shock Length

Why are 10” shocks perfect for the back of your 3rd gen 4Rrunner?

Throughout our years of experience off-roading 3rd gen 4runners we have found that a 10” travel shock is more than enough for the majority of owners. By utilizing a 10” travel shock we are able to still have a well balanced rear suspension while not pushing the limits of the stock geometry components. Now what does this mean? Well, say if you are running a 12” shock on your stock suspension geometry. This is going to run you into many issues on the trails. Although having more suspension travel sounds nice, it doesn't always help. With the stock geometry and a 12 or larger shock you will run into the suspension binding up and causing severe roll steer. Roll steer is when the axle is flexed out so much that it starts to steer or turn due to the short link length from the factory. On a trail this can mean a multitude of things. Breaking links, falling off your line and getting body damage due to the rear end not tracking straight during articulation, etc. Using this size also helps with packaging on the vehicle, we are able to run up to a 285 with no frame notch with 4” or less of backspacing. With a larger shock and tire you run into the issue of rubbing the shock body at full tuck. Now this might be okay with some people, but we do not recommend that large of a shock unless you plan on notching the frame as well as re-configuring the rear geometry (3link, 4link, etc).