Bilstein 5160: Tundra vs 3rd gen 4runner
 

I'm looking to upgrade my rear bilstein 5100s on my 3rd gen 4runner. I'm curious the differences between the tundra 5160 and the 4runners. Is the tundra designed to run more weight and thus will be on more stiff on a runner? I noticed that the sizes of the reservoir are different and wonder if the tundra has more oil capacity. Would love as much oil capacity as long as it didnt compromise the ride too much. My main reason for the change is that I overland a bit in my runner and my shocks regularly heat up after hours on the trails.

I'm running the OME 906s with 2 trim packers in the rear for about ~2.7 inch lift. Front is Eibach coils with 5100s I believe. Probably eventually change out the front with 6112, but that would be later down the road. 4runner isnt a daily driver so the ride stiffness isnt a huge deal breaker.

Anybody have a chance to test out both versions?

A big thing to note is the different lengths between the 4Runner and Tundra application - the Tundra shock is longer (compressed is ~0.9" longer, extended is ~2.5" longer). You'll need to make sure your 906s are long enough and your bump stops are long enough to run the Tundra shocks.

Hopefully somebody else can chime in on valving, though I remember hearing the Tundra 5100's are a bit softer than the 4Runner 5100's, which should have comparable valving to the 5160's.

-Charlie

I have extended my bump stops in the rear with my current setup maybe I'll have to do a little more research. I'm curious what the lift minimum is with the 5160 tundra shocks, 3 inches? What's the best way to determine if you are in the correct extention/compression, jack up one side until maxes out on the bumpstop and then measure the distances?

I've never read a thread on this forum about 5160s honestly. I looked into them myself and checked here and nothing but that was also 6 months ago. Good luck I'll stay tuned!

That is correct. Obviously from where the shock mounts at. For most accurate readings remove a shock but not required. If you know your current shock measurements you can also go off that. Flex it in and see how much you have left before bottoming out, add that number to your current shock's compressed measurement, and that is the longest your collapsed shock length can be. I'd recommend a 1/2"-1" safety buffer for when your bumpstops compress more.

Worst case for bump stops (for shock length) is full compression = remove springs and put weight on rear axle (jack it up with diff). Worst case for tire clearance is full flex (jack it up on one side). Both are concerns, depending on wheel/tire/shock setup.

As long as the spring doesn't fall out at full droop, you should be fine flexing.

If you have the boot off the shock, you can see how much travel you have left. Make sure you leave the boot holder in place for the right measurements.

You are probably going to have to do these measurements yourself...

-Charlie

which one did you end up going with? tundra 5160 or fj/4th gen 5160? im gonna be running 861 springs. did you ever measure the compression and extension of you shocks?

What about 4th gen 5160's? That's what I'm running and I love them! When I was researching I found that the extended travel 5100's are just 4th gen standard length:

33-187174 ("long travel" 3rd gen/standard travel 4th gen 5100's):
Collapsed Length (IN): 14.91
Extended Length (IN): 23.5

25-227611 (4th gen standard travel 5160's)
Collapsed Length (IN) 14.83
Extended Length (IN) 23.5

I'm running Dobinsons C59-210v's (~4"; similar lift to OME 861's but progressive) and they are a match made in heaven - not too rigid and not too squishy. The only thing that was different was the lower mount. It's wider than the 5100's I took off, but the bushing is more narrow so they end up working fine with the stock mounting point.

I scratched the idea for now. This year hasn't been the best for doing upgrades. Current setup works for now and I'll revisit this when the need is there. I never ended up measuring the shocks either.