I searched, but didn't quickly find answers.

I took my 2016 TRD Pro in for an oil change to an independent shop; they say my right front strut is leaking and they recommend replacing the front shock absorbers with OEM and reusing the springs. Price quoted is $1260 + $126 for alignment.

What say you? Should I use this as an opportunity to upgrade to something better? Does keeping the current springs make sense? How about the price - does that sound about right? Seems high to me, but I bet the dealer would want more.

This is my daily driver and it doesn't get a lot of offroad use, but it does get some and I generally like to maintain a very nice setup. 115K miles and I'd like to keep it going for another 30K+. I like to keep my vehicles 10 years, at least.

Thanks.

I didn't think they could just replace 1 or 2 OEM Pro model(bilstein) shocks on the pro as I believe toyota sells it only as a set of 4 with the front springs included.

Just because they are leaking does not mean they are bad and need to be replaced. See: https://www.rav4world.com/attachment...11-pdf.181198/

This is helpful and interesting, but looking at the photos they provided, I do think a replacement is warranted.

I've not needed to replace the shocks on my '18 SR5 yet, but I had twice replaced the shocks on my '02 Tacoma TRD. However, the front coils that the truck came from the factory with are still on the truck, now with over 250k miles. That truck has had a high percentage of off road miles, with rock crawling to a degree allowed by the fact that the truck remains stock.

I assume the front set up on the 4Runner TRD is still a separate shock within a coil spring, not a true strut assembly?

The first time I replaced the front shocks on my Tacoma, I went with OEM Bilstein's and had the dealership replace them. I didn't have the tools nor confidence to tackle that myself. Later, I replaced the rears at home with OEM shocks purchased at the dealer (live axle w/leaf springs).

The second time was about eight years ago. Before I retired I was working at a Carquest with an employee discount and purchased a set of KYB shocks for both ends and had a local tire shop replace them. It was confusing because company computers were showing available fitment with two different shocks for each end as OEM substitutes. After researching I chose what seemed to match the OEM shocks best.

The KYB replacements were fine overall, but I wasn't completely satisfied. The ride on and off road was far firmer than the OEM Bilstein's, almost harsh. However, irritating and excessive side to side sway off road was eliminated.

I'm not sure what a true strut assembly is, I'm afraid. But it does seem that a separate shock sits within a coil spring.

At this point, I am leaning towards sticking with OEM. I thought this might be a good opportunity to do something fun, but I don't think I've got the appetite for it. I may shop around a little bit, though. $1200+ seems like a lot for a pair of shocks.

Thanks all for the replies.

A strut assembly is simply a shock absorber, spring and bracketry built as one unit.


I just did a quick search on Carquest's website. Bilstein replacements for the TRD Pro list at $151.28 each for the front end. Even Fox brand are less than $400 each for adjustable units.

Helpful - thank you!