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Old 03-10-2024, 10:56 AM #1
raab02 raab02 is offline
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Anyone go back to stock shocks from aftermarket?

Three years ago I installed Bilstein 5100s and poly sway bar bushings on my '18 SR5 for leveling and body control. No complaints with amount of front lift and ride.

About a year go, I moved to an area with terrible roads - broken pavement, potholes, multiple speed breakers for a few miles in all directions.

In an effort to improve the truck's compliance over small bumps, I upgraded to Fox 2.0s (retaining the stock coils in the rear only). I hoped that the switch from digressive to progressive would help soak up the small stuff. I knew it wouldn't be like a Raptor, floating over everything, but i was hoping for some improvement.

What I got was amazing body control over smoother stuff, but a very harsh ride in my most common use case of 25-45mph over crappy city streets. I feel like the truck has little to no damping over even the smallest imperfections. It seems like I feel every single crack, expansion joint, piece of gravel, uneven repair - everything.

Finally, the front out-of-the-box lift from the Fox's is juuuuust this side of too high - in some scenarios I get a little negative rake which I can't stand.

All of this has me considering a return to stock with just a touch of leveling from front spacers.

The truck is otherwise dialed in, paid for, and perfect for my needs, so I'll say now that "shoulda got a GX" isn't realistic at this moment. I'd love to keep rocking this thing for another few years while I save for a house.

Anyone else gone back to stock and been happier with the ride?
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Old 03-10-2024, 01:43 PM #2
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Quote:
I feel like the truck has little to no damping over even the smallest imperfections. It seems like I feel every single crack, expansion joint, piece of gravel, uneven repair - everything.
This is my experience as well, and fwiw I'm running stock suspension (+ KDSS) with a 1" front spacer lift.

What tires are you running? I noticed the biggest negative change in ride quality and handling was due swapping in larger, heavier, C load tires.
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Old 03-10-2024, 06:16 PM #3
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I've had nothing but bad luck with Bilstein. From leaking shocks to extremely bad rot in short amounts of time. Longevity issues and shitty customer service. I was done

Been rockin Dobinson's for over three years now and they are the best affordable shocks I've ever used.
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Old 03-11-2024, 07:31 AM #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PCMSF View Post
This is my experience as well, and fwiw I'm running stock suspension (+ KDSS) with a 1" front spacer lift.
Well, there goes my theory about stock at least being cushier...

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Originally Posted by PCMSF View Post
What tires are you running? I noticed the biggest negative change in ride quality and handling was due swapping in larger, heavier, C load tires.
it's a good thought, but I have General Grabber APTs in stock sizes, SL load rating. I picked them since they have a nice mellow AT/HT mix and an accoustic layer as well. They're mounted on TRD wheels which are also pretty light.

I'm wondering if the TRD Pro Foxes are any more forgiving. There's a good deal on a new set out there that is tempted. OEM-ish ride, and keep a small amount of leveling without spacers.
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Old 03-17-2024, 03:59 PM #5
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I have a 2024 TRDORP with Dunlops and a 2022 GX460 with Michelin Defenders. The tires on both vehicles are stock size with 33 psi in both. I find the ride over small imperfections in the road a little better on the 4Runner and equal everywhere else. If you're running a tire with stiff sidewalls or high psi that will affect the ride quality.
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Old 03-17-2024, 11:30 PM #6
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I keep reading how smooth the Trd pro Fox shocks are so that may be worth a try.


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Originally Posted by raab02 View Post
Well, there goes my theory about stock at least being cushier...



it's a good thought, but I have General Grabber APTs in stock sizes, SL load rating. I picked them since they have a nice mellow AT/HT mix and an accoustic layer as well. They're mounted on TRD wheels which are also pretty light.

I'm wondering if the TRD Pro Foxes are any more forgiving. There's a good deal on a new set out there that is tempted. OEM-ish ride, and keep a small amount of leveling without spacers.
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Old 03-18-2024, 11:35 AM #7
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260K miles on our set of Bilstein 5100s. Only complaint, the rear boots split.
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Old 03-21-2024, 12:31 PM #8
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Originally Posted by Hbc234 View Post
I keep reading how smooth the Trd pro Fox shocks are so that may be worth a try.
In fact that's what I did! Snagged a set off ebay and will get them installed next week. Across my 2 4R's, my buddy's 4R and his wife's i've installed probably 6 sets of shocks so I'm throwing this one to a shop I like. I've had my fill!

I'll report back on my impresssions of ride quality.

Last edited by raab02; 03-21-2024 at 12:38 PM.
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Old 03-21-2024, 04:05 PM #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CutthroatSlam View Post
260K miles on our set of Bilstein 5100s. Only complaint, the rear boots split.
I have about 40k on mine and still brag about how much they've helped the vehicles responses to roll and dive. They're stiff but I wouldn't call them stiff by any means.

I, knock on wood, haven't had a leaking issue and if I do, they really aren't that expensive to replace.

As such, I can't imagine going back to stock. I like my set up a lot. I'm still running 265/70s BFG KO2s, Load Range E, though and I wouldn't mind going to a TA, Load C for my next batch. Either I have another bearing going out or these tires are louder that I remember.
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2015 4Runner SR5 4x4, Bilstein 5100s at 1.75-F with 1.5" Cornfed-R, AirLift 1000 Airbags, 265/70 BFG KO2s, Shrockworks Sliders
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Old 03-21-2024, 05:42 PM #10
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Originally Posted by AggieOE View Post
I have about 40k on mine and still brag about how much they've helped the vehicles responses to roll and dive. They're stiff but I wouldn't call them stiff by any means.

I, knock on wood, haven't had a leaking issue and if I do, they really aren't that expensive to replace.

As such, I can't imagine going back to stock. I like my set up a lot. I'm still running 265/70s BFG KO2s, Load Range E, though and I wouldn't mind going to a TA, Load C for my next batch. Either I have another bearing going out or these tires are louder that I remember.
We're running Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT (load range E) on the 2014 SR5. Have 50K miles on the tires and they have about 40% tread left. That never happened on any load range C tire in the 350K miles we've put on the 4R. I will never go back to load range C. There is no discernable difference in ride, but a huge difference in wear longevity.

In contrast, the Dunlop load range C tires that came on our 2023 ORP have 21K miles on them and have less wear left on them than the Cooper LTs on the 2014.

Last edited by CutthroatSlam; 03-21-2024 at 05:45 PM.
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Old 03-21-2024, 07:19 PM #11
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I swapped my 4R back to stock before selling it. The OEM Tokico shocks have a nice ride for highway use IMO. I have no issues with them. And TBH I think they ride better on the highway than the Fox 2.5s I had. Those were a bit firmer than stock.

In my 2016 Tundra it had factory Bilstein shocks. They are digressive much like the 5100 and a lot more transmission of harsh small bumps than a softer shock like the stock tokico on the non TRD models in the Tundra. For me - I swapped to Fox 2.0s. The set of 4 ended up around $750 shipped (they are the c-clip ones) and I set them on the lowest setting. They are a big improvement. Very close IMO to stock twin tube tokico shocks. But they have noticeably more rebound damping so there's a lot less head toss on the bigger bumps at low speed - like curbs and big pot holes in parking lots. I've been surprised how good they are for a low budget. And how much softer they are than the Fox 2.5s I had. My wife who is not a car enthusiast noticed the difference immediately and commented on it, which is unusual because she said she could never tell any difference on my 4Runner between any of the setups. I think the factory tokicos are probably in the ballpark of the same ride and if you're wanting something pretty comfortable at low cost - they'll probably work well. If you wanted something with great softer highway ride without a huge cost, the Fox 2.0 c-clip are better than I expected.

My only annoyance with the fox 2.0 is that they advertise as having a zero lift option, but the lowest ride height clip is still about 1 inch of lift. I don't really offroad my Tundra - it's my tow and road trip truck, so I would have preferred to keep the front at stock height. (And Fox sent them with 14mm reducer spacers on one front shock - Tundra uses a 16mm bolt, so they had to send a new set of spacers which was a PITA mid install. I just drilled the 14mm out to 16mm and will put the new ones in when I take them off next time because I only had a 5/8 bit then had to ream it out and it's a bit janky how it looks even though you can't see it.)

Nice thing about going back to stock shocks is you don't have to guess - you can just go test drive one stock and see how you like it before you do it.

Last edited by Jetboy; 03-21-2024 at 07:25 PM.
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Old 03-22-2024, 02:07 AM #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raab02 View Post
In fact that's what I did! Snagged a set off ebay and will get them installed next week. Across my 2 4R's, my buddy's 4R and his wife's i've installed probably 6 sets of shocks so I'm throwing this one to a shop I like. I've had my fill!

I'll report back on my impresssions of ride quality.
Please do interested in going this route
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