Lately, I’ve been noticing a weird feeling when turning. Almost feels like the rear end wants to slide out. Happens at low speeds (when turning from a stop) and high (like a curve in the highway) I did slide once, but that was with the rain. At first, I thought it was due to rain and oily surface, but now I feel like the handling feels off and not like it used to because it happens when it’s dry out as well. I looked underneath and checked the swaybar for looseness, but saw this on the driver side rear shock (see pics) it’s a Bilstein 5100 with the 2” heavy spring from Toytec. Only the driver side as the noticeable residue at the bottom of the shock and boot.

I’ve had this setup for maybe 2-3 years now. I see what appears to be grease coming from the bottom of the shaft after pulling the rubber boot down. I checked the passenger side and it seems dry. I tried jumping up and down and pushing the rear bumper up and down and can’t really notice if the driver side and passenger side feel the same. Other than feeling like the rear end wants to give out, I don’t notice any changes to the ride quality. Tires are in good condition so I ruled that out as well. I do have a drawer (single sided on the driver side; roughly 100 pounds.

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Here’s an additional pic of the boot

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Pull the shock off and push down on it to see if it still has any rebound. Bilsteins are so cheap, might as well just throw a new set on in the rears to give you the piece of mind.

Trying to avoid pulling the shock. If it is blown, I’d prefer to order replacements and do it all at once instead of pulling the shock to test it, put it back in and then remove and place. This is my daily driver.

It's one bolt at the bottom. Undo it and test it and push it back on to the perch. 10 MINUTES.

I would replace the rears if you noticed a change in drivability, maybe do the fronts as well. Rears are an easy job on the 4runner! It might not be blown, might just be misting some and trapped in the boot. Read up on misting shocks. Just make sure you don't tighten/torque the lower bolts while it's in the air. Read up on it.

if its leaking oil that means theres still oil in it ;) just order a new set, swap the one out, keep the other as a spare. or upgrade to fox 2.0's with a shaft guard.

that shock is blown. slight weepage is generally ok, but that is not weep. that is a leak. if that rubber boot wasnt there it would be all over the place

I agree. Blown, time to replace.

I changed bilstein shocks on all my vehicles .. my 2000 silverado I changed the shock in 2004 .. the right front Bilstien shock had oil dripping now ... I will have to replace it in the spring ...
your shock had grease in it / on it ? I never had any shocks in grease .. just oil ...