Been a few threads recently on soft oem suspension, nose dive, many mentions that kdss and xreas are less rolly, even fun talk on car sickness… all got me thinking:

Planning on leveling my limited with bilsteins soon (6112s). 2.5/1.5 setting. I’m totally fine with the current xreas feel, wouldn’t want it more rolly. Stiffer would be fine too. So my question is, for those who ditched xreas for something else. Was the result better or equal in terms of less roll or dive? More planted feel? Or did it make it more rolly? The 6112s are digressive so i “think” all things will remain firm. I just don’t want to accidentally go in the wrong direction here.

Thx

well, speaking from the zero experience I have with bilstein, I can speak from experience with XREAS. after 155k miles I had a rear weep in one of my XREAS absorbers. I decided to replace all 4 corners with well, another set of XREAS shocks. I won't go into why, but I did do my research

what I've found is the bilstein will be firmer than stock (non XREAS) and similar to XREAS, maybe a tad bit firmer. now if you lift, you will be higher off the ground and have a higher centre of gravity, which needs to be considered when comparing pre and post. overall I think you'd be happy with the 6112s if you like the XREAS

the 4runner will always be kind of rolly though, you won't really be able to find a setup where you can have offroad performance with the ability to take onramps at 70mph. XREAS tries to do this, and when it works it's pretty good, I think toyota tried to solve a problem that didn't exist with XREAS and created more of a hassle for buyers as their vehicles age with XREAS

Tell me more about replacing the XREAS system pls..Who did the change out, how much did it cost etc..etc..

Only at 60K but had a front right failure that was replaced under warranty.

They did the front left and back right together although it was just the front that needed replacing.

Following to see what others have gone with once they seem to fail around 150K via posts here.

it's a bit of a long post, but I feel the context is important

after 155k miles I noticed a slight weep in my rear passenger absorber. no dripping, but some dust accumulation on the absorber. so naturally I started to search for alternatives to the XREAS because of the cost + I thought about an upgrade. I didn't need a top tier aftermarket system and I wasn't looking to add 2-3" of lift and run massive tires. I still need my vehicle as a daily driver which sees almost all highway use. I looked into bilstein (5100s I believe) and icon with icon being the more expensive option (I don't remember what icon setup I looked it, I think it was a 1" lift with stock rake)

this was in early 2021 when part shortages and supply chain issues were causing all sorts of problems. I must have called maybe 5 shops all within 1-2 hrs from me to get some pricing and ideas (I don't really live in a big city). one shop called back, said they were short on parts and staff due to corona, and said they'd contact me. they never did

I went to my local toyota dealer to have them take a look. Given the mileage I was fully expecting to have to replace all 4 corners + the hard lines because that's what everyone says you need to do when a shock goes bad. the absorbers come over pressurized from the factory and a slight fluid loss does not mean you need to replace the hard lines. in my case I caught the weep early. I replaced all 4 corners, I have all the part numbers, they replaced some bushings too, maybe front springs, did an alignment, etc. total cost was about $3,300 CAD after tax. you need a tech that knows what they are doing and uses the pintle valves properly to minimize any fluid loss when servicing the system. I spoke with the tech who did the work for a bit and he explained the entire process and the steps he needed to take - so I was satisfied the work wouldn't be for nothing

for me, the cost of an aftermarket system would total around the same give or take a few hundred $. I would have had to wait probably 6-8 months for availability at the shop I wanted. if I waited and the absorber leaked too much fluid and I couldn't get aftermarket I'd then have to replace the hard lines. also my OEM XREAS lasted 155k miles, if I can get another 100k+ miles out of my new shocks I would be happy with that. I also didn't want to be driving half a day for any subsequent suspension issues to an aftermarket shop

Interesting. I am going down the same path as you with a leaking shock on my xreas. My dealer was like - gotta replace the entire system. Sorry. -

At almost $4K. So I was looking at other setups. But I like the xreas ride. I’m at 150k miles as well. Just hard to swallow that $4k part. Ugh.

Finally, someone admits that trucks were largely designed to go straight at higher speeds.

I had the original X-REAS on my 2011 limited just up until last week.

The shocks had 200k miles on them and were pretty shot. I removed the whole X-REAS system and swapped in Bilstein 5100s as well as OME 2885/2889 coils resulting in a 2.5" lift on all 4 corners.

I find that the nose dive and lift is less, but there is certainly more roll. I personally love the way it feels currently. Either way pretty much anything is better than stock shocks with 200k miles.