Did the same exact thing to my 4runner and I did all the work myself. I am not a mechanic by any means but very mechanically minded (work in engineering). I took out the whole xreas system and replaced them with:
(MONROE 2171371L37270 Quick-Struts w/OE Spectrum Shocks kit
Front and Rear; Except X-REAS Suspension System; w/o Kinetic Dynamic Suspension) from Rock auto. Process was straightforward and easily done over a couple days by myself in my garage. I live in Ohio and this is my daily driver. They have been exellent and I pull my bass boat all over the state with it. Zero issues.
Sorry. its a 2010 limited.

@patrickdotryan

Hello, my 2016 limited has the same issues as your daughters 4Runner did and I was curious how your XREAS delete went, and if the option you chose rides fairly closely to the XREAS did...

(sorry if you posted updates already, I didn't see them if so...)

I'll be posting about my KYB experience as soon as I can start a new thread. I have no idea how many replies I need for the system to allow me to do that.

its my turn now .. getting rid of the old xres ...how did yours come out...any pictures ??any suggestions on brad to buy?Just keeping it stock or a little lift..thankss for the info..

2011 4Runner w/ factory XREAS. It's been slowly leaking for a while, but it's time to address it. My use case - almost entirely on-road use, based out of NC. Also now towing a 2800lb travel trailer on about a monthly basis.

I have the same question as others recently and want to avoid a new thread on an old topic.

Are Blistein 5100s still the recommended go-to, or is there something new and different I should consider?

@OP - did you end up having to add the new strut mounts you asked about?

[QUOTE=saba1418;3852999] @patrickdotryan

Hello,...I was curious how your XREAS delete went, and if the option you chose rides fairly closely to the XREAS did...

Hi Saba and everyone else. Sorry for being a bad forum member, the emails ended up in spam.

Update - I completed the x-reas delete over a weekend by myself with the occasional assist from a kid for things like dropping the skid plate. If you're mechanically inclined it is very easy, really just labor. If you keep your springs, you will need to loan a spring compressor from your local auto store, but it's no big deal.

I opted for the Bilstein 5100 shocks all round, and kept the existing springs. 4WD shops want you to get much beefier shocks (like 6112s up front), but Bilstein recommends the 4600s as an option, so the 5100s are already a high quality step up from those for a mostly road-going truck. There is ride height adjustment on the fronts, but I opted for the stock position, since my daughter is short! I thought I posted a how-to, but clearly not!

Ride-wise, the 5100s are fantastic. The truck feels like it rides better than it did before, and my x-reas was only weeping a bit, so I'm assuming I had close to the original ride feel before the swap out. I was worried about "brake dive", but there doesn't seem to be any of that. Likewise body roll, that seems about the same. Overall, I'm extremely happy, it feels like a new truck.

A few notes:

@Scuba6 you should get new spring mounts as the rubber part that the spring sits in up top will have a deep spring impression. They're cheap and contribute to ride feel.

The top nut on the rear shocks cannot be reached by a torque wrench, so you'll have to guesstimate that one. Everything else can though.

Removing all the old pipes etc is a lot of the labor, but for me, I didn't want to leave all that old junk on the truck. I wanted it to feel crispy new like it cam from the factory with SR5 suspension.

Overall?
Very happy I did it. Replacing x-reas at the dealer with new x-reas is like a $6,000 ding. Getting a 4WD center to replace with 6112 front / 5100 rear was about $2,500. This whole deal was about $600 in parts and a pretty easy weekend job for a whole "new truck feel".

Sorry @saba1418 - I messed up the quote above so you may not get the notification. Hopefully this fixes it.

Another thing I thought of. While I had it all apart I replaced the sway bar end links and a ton of little plastic plugs in the plastic skid plate splash guard and some missing rubber fender splash guards too. Not needed, just worth spend a small amount more while doing all that labor.

OK, hopefully this works, here are some of my photos, including the spring compression and the difficult to reach (with a torque wrench) rear top nut.

Attached Images

               

My only suggestion, after have done it 2 or 3 times, is to forget about a spring compressor and use the floor jack under the lower control arm to compress the spring, remove the single top nut securing the front shock and the spring and shock come out disassembled. Reassembly is just the reverse procedure. Saves a lot of time with spring compressor and possible danger.

Great tip, thanks @rdruss . That would for sure be faster. I took the springs out for the following reasons:

• I wanted to replace the upper rubber spring mounts as they wear out and replacing them really helps ride quality.
  
• I also wanted to see if the springs were worn out, and if not, to fully degrease them and the surrounding area because leaking x-reas creates a mess.
  
• Using a good spring compressor is pretty simple and safe as long as the right precautions are taken. I used a ratchet strap (not shown in photo!) to my workbench so if it slipped, it had limited scope to travel.

Thanks everyone for sharing - these tips can only make it easier for the next DIYer!

Modern springs don't "wear out". In the old days (1950s to 1970s) springs would sag, but not now.

Thank you, this is all very helpful!

I spent the morning driving to a few different mechanics in the area that neighbors recommended and should have some quotes back this afternoon. Although your description and the various youtube videos on the topic make me confident that I COULD do it...this may be one that I need to let the professionals do if the price is fair. Guess I'll know if anyone is "fair" this afternoon.