Originally Posted by Jetboy

They shouldn't need frequent maintenance. The biggest issue on the higher end stuff is the use of spherical bearings - aka uniballs or spherical bushings. They're not very long lasting in the dirt because they're not sealed and they have a very thin layer of plastic that provides the low friction surface. Dirt and grit + thin plastic film = short lifespan. That's the primary reason I have to pull my shocks out every 1-2 years. They're cheap ~ $10 each and there's 2 on each shock. So it's not a big expense, but it is an afternoon of time. And there's almost always something seized on the hardware that I have to either use a torch or a cutoff disc to remove and then replace. It's never as easy as it seems like it should be.

I've never *needed* to do any servicing internally. I have replaced the shock oil, but never had a valve go bad or a seal go bad. And that probably wasn't necessary.

The OEM fox setup uses rubber bushings. IMO rubber is better in many ways. The most important in this case is that it doesn't wear out for a very long time. And they don't use remote reservoirs. Unless a wiper seal goes out, they're probably a lifetime sort of shock.

Between the two - I'd take the OEM bypass shocks over my FOX 2.5s for my personal use. They weren't on the market in 2015 when I setup my 4Runner suspension. If I were buying today - I'd look for something with rubber eyelet bushings not spherical bearings as a pretty important feature if I didn't want the maintenance.