4th Gen Suspension Options/FAQ

Hey guys,

I got a 2005 sport edition that used to have the X-Reas system.
The previous owner replaced the system with other Bilstein shocks.
I have nothing to compare it to on a 4runner but my buddy has a 2018 Off Road Tacoma and his shocks are WAY smoother. Can't feel small bumps and it bounces nicely over bigger bumps.
Any idea what I could get for that same feel? Would it even be possible to come close by swapping the shocks?

Thanks!
 
Hey guys,

I got a 2005 sport edition that used to have the X-Reas system.
The previous owner replaced the system with other Bilstein shocks.
I have nothing to compare it to on a 4runner but my buddy has a 2018 Off Road Tacoma and his shocks are WAY smoother. Can't feel small bumps and it bounces nicely over bigger bumps.
Any idea what I could get for that same feel? Would it even be possible to come close by swapping the shocks?

Thanks!

A lot of it could be tires/ tire pressure. Are you both running the same tire rating (P or LT) and same pressure; that alone could give a different ride quality.
 
I just bought a 4th gen. The guy I bought it from, bought it from a small time mechanic who fixes up toyotas in his spare time. As such, it doesn't have any paperwork on what was done. I trust the mechanic but the kid I bought it from didn't seem to know everything that had been done. I know that the back is lifted and I think it is a full 3" lift. The rear shocks are 5100's. I was told that the front was also lifted but only to 2.5". However, when I started looking at it, I don't think the front was lifted. The front shocks still look to be the yellow stock bilsteins and definitely don't look new. Also, the clearance between the tire and the body is 9" in the back and 6" in the front. The guy I bought it from mentioned that he replaced the front suspension. Im wondering if its possible he didn't know there was a lift on it and just had them replace the fronts with stock? Im also wondering what my options are to fix this and how I would even know what happened. I have no idea if it has new coil springs.
 
Hey guys,

I got a 2005 sport edition that used to have the X-Reas system.
The previous owner replaced the system with other Bilstein shocks.
I have nothing to compare it to on a 4runner but my buddy has a 2018 Off Road Tacoma and his shocks are WAY smoother. Can't feel small bumps and it bounces nicely over bigger bumps.
Any idea what I could get for that same feel? Would it even be possible to come close by swapping the shocks?

Thanks!

The 5100's or the 4600's? Lift springs or stock?
 
2004 sr5 4x4 daily driver and no extra body weight. Thinking of going with 5100 around and wheelers springs both front and back, no spacers. I think the wheelers are comparable to the eibachs 620. I understand these have a stiffer ride than stock and I don’t mind since I may use it for trails and camping. Anyone have this set up? What is the lift gain, my research is between 1-2” front and back. Just hoping to get a little extra lift but no higher than 2.5”. Please advise if I need to set the front at a different perch to level/slight rake with the rear springs.

Thanks

I recently installed Bilstein 5100 (set to 0) with the toytec springs (620lb)in the front of my 06 sr5 (v6) I got 2.5 inches of lift. Toytec recommends the 0 setting on the 5100. I'm extremely happy with the slightly stiffer ride. The handling, brake dive, body roll improved dramatically. Now I need to figure out how to lift the rear. Currently has an unknown spacer that was installed by previous owner. It brings the vehicle nearly level, but with a slight backward rake. I'm looking into the 2" icon springs and I''m curious if that will lift the rear enough to create a slight forward rake. I'd like to be level when loaded with gear. I think we're trying to achieve the same results so i'm curious to hear what you decide.
 
I see a lot of lift numbers thrown around and measurements of various sorts, but I can't seem to find the stock numbers anywhere. I'm just curious to know how much lift i'm getting, but I'd like to know what to compare those numbers too. My 4runner came with a spacer lift and 180k miles so I assume the springs were sagging at least a little. If I want to get accurate lift results, the stock measurement from the center of the hub to the top of the wheel arch would be extremely helpful.
 
I see a lot of lift numbers thrown around and measurements of various sorts, but I can't seem to find the stock numbers anywhere. I'm just curious to know how much lift i'm getting, but I'd like to know what to compare those numbers too. My 4runner came with a spacer lift and 180k miles so I assume the springs were sagging at least a little. If I want to get accurate lift results, the stock measurement from the center of the hub to the top of the wheel arch would be extremely helpful.

Stock ride height

here you go
 
I just bought a 4th gen. The guy I bought it from, bought it from a small time mechanic who fixes up toyotas in his spare time. As such, it doesn't have any paperwork on what was done. I trust the mechanic but the kid I bought it from didn't seem to know everything that had been done. I know that the back is lifted and I think it is a full 3" lift. The rear shocks are 5100's. I was told that the front was also lifted but only to 2.5". However, when I started looking at it, I don't think the front was lifted. The front shocks still look to be the yellow stock bilsteins and definitely don't look new. Also, the clearance between the tire and the body is 9" in the back and 6" in the front. The guy I bought it from mentioned that he replaced the front suspension. Im wondering if its possible he didn't know there was a lift on it and just had them replace the fronts with stock? Im also wondering what my options are to fix this and how I would even know what happened. I have no idea if it has new coil springs.

Post some pictures. I highly doubt you have a 3 inch lift in the back with no lift in the front. Especially given the tire space measurements.
 
I have read a lot of people advise against putting 5100 on higher settings when using lift coils which makes sense to me.

In my set up I used 5th gen TRD trails or off road coils (they are a bit taller then stock 4th gen, like .5" difference) - should they be considered lift coils as well and therefore should I used some other coils in order to get desired lift without jeopardizing the shocks?
 
2017 Stock Shocks and springs

Hey guys! Does anyone know if I can put 2017 Tacoma front struts and rear shocks on a 2007 4runner? Much appreciated. I found a set online and old ones are leaking.
 
I recently installed Bilstein 5100 (set to 0) with the toytec springs (620lb)in the front of my 06 sr5 (v6) I got 2.5 inches of lift. Toytec recommends the 0 setting on the 5100. I'm extremely happy with the slightly stiffer ride. The handling, brake dive, body roll improved dramatically. Now I need to figure out how to lift the rear. Currently has an unknown spacer that was installed by previous owner. It brings the vehicle nearly level, but with a slight backward rake. I'm looking into the 2" icon springs and I''m curious if that will lift the rear enough to create a slight forward rake. I'd like to be level when loaded with gear. I think we're trying to achieve the same results so i'm curious to hear what you decide.

Thanks. Haven’t found a good consensus on this set up as everyone that I’ve read or commented stated very different results. I guess I’m going to have to experiment. I will start out at 0 and see how it looks. Wheelers stated to set it at 0 and let the springs do the lifting. I hope the rear just isn’t too high. Will post pics once I’m done but won’t be until a while, still waiting on sale deals on the rear 5100.
 
My five cents: the Toytec 1/4" front spacers are excellent. The net lift is indeed a 1/2". Puts the front ride height where the 4th gen's should be. Low cost and simple to install. A better ride as the front suspension bottoms out less.
 
Hello, I recently purchased a 4runner and heard clanking front end area and I assumed it was struts needing done so I did 5100s on all 4. It was easy to see the OEM shocks were totally shot but I still hsve the front end clunking? Is there another common part that might cause that? I kind of pulled on things but couldnt feel anything loose?
 
Hello, I recently purchased a 4runner and heard clanking front end area and I assumed it was struts needing done so I did 5100s on all 4. It was easy to see the OEM shocks were totally shot but I still hsve the front end clunking? Is there another common part that might cause that? I kind of pulled on things but couldnt feel anything loose?

Could be sway bar, exactly when does it clunk?

Also is it a 2WD or 4WD?
 
I did suspect swap bar. I clunks about the time tires rollover a bump so thats why I thought it was shocks. I dont regret doing the shocks because they were shot anyway and it better leveled out. Its 4WD.
 
Last edited:
I did suspect swap bar. I clunks about the time tires rollover a bump so thats why I thought it was shocks. I dont regret doing the shocks because they were shot anyway and it better leveled out. Its 4WD.



Another common leaky/shot part on these trucks is the upper control arms. Look at the ball joint if it’s oily/leaking grease they’ll need replacing.


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I am looking into suspension combinations for my new to me 4th gen. I would like Bilstein 6112s in front and 5100s in the rear. Best pricing I’ve found seems to be on bilsteinlifts.com. Now I understand that this website is not Bilsteins real site but they seem legit. Can anyone validate or debunk this? I can’t find much info


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I am looking into suspension combinations for my new to me 4th gen. I would like Bilstein 6112s in front and 5100s in the rear. Best pricing I’ve found seems to be on bilsteinlifts.com. Now I understand that this website is not Bilsteins real site but they seem legit. Can anyone validate or debunk this? I can’t find much info


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I just purchased a body lift from them. Fast shipping and no issues.


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I am looking into suspension combinations for my new to me 4th gen. I would like Bilstein 6112s in front and 5100s in the rear. Best pricing I’ve found seems to be on bilsteinlifts.com. Now I understand that this website is not Bilsteins real site but they seem legit. Can anyone validate or debunk this? I can’t find much info


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I recently ordered the 6112 and 5160 set up off bilsteinlifts.com, shipped fast....but, when I went to inspect the new set up one of the wiper seals on one of the 6112s was bulging out and folded up (an obvious defect) so immediately I went to contact customer service and found out they don't have a phone number (Lame!) so I emailed them with a picture and they responded with "they need to contact the manufacturer and will keep me posted"...to make a long story short, a week later they still didn't give me an answer or a replacement.....so I sent a final email stating I talked to bilstein customer service with the same photo and got a response in 30 minutes to "send it back to bilsteinlifts.com" I then stated if they didn't send me a new 6112 by the next day with tracking I wanted a refund.....they responded with a fedex label to send it back and they sent the new set of 6112 the same day.....

Not interested in playing these games, considering I was going to do the install this past Saturday.
The new 6112s are coming in tomorrow, so I'll install them this weekend.

Do I recommend them? I wouldn't say yes, although it was fast initially....it took way too much time and a pain in the neck just to get a new part with very little communication.

Should have driven 30 minutes to the Bilstein manufacturer in Poway, CA and bought it from them.

Note:
They do state they don't use a phone number to cut down on costs so they can keep prices low (I'm not apposed to this model)
 
Last edited:
I am looking into suspension combinations for my new to me 4th gen. I would like Bilstein 6112s in front and 5100s in the rear. Best pricing I’ve found seems to be on bilsteinlifts.com. Now I understand that this website is not Bilsteins real site but they seem legit. Can anyone validate or debunk this? I can’t find much info


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I ordered mine from Wheelers Offroad. Fast competitive prices and real humans to talk to.
 

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