Coilovers vs springs

K

KANE666

New member
Hey Toyota friends. Will someone(s) educate the pros vs cons of coilovers vs springs? I don't need new springs, but I'd like to replace my shocks and maybe down the beginner trail I'll maybe want a 1-3" lift so I'm considering coilovers. I figured if I'm going to replace the shocks and have future lift plans I may just want to do it all now with coilovers, however I want to get some feedback on them to help weigh out my options. I don't plan to make my bone stock 98 Limited an advanced crawler, but I will take it to the Bandlands for some off street crawling so I will need an advanced suspension. I like that when I'm ready to lift it I can just crank it up without having to buy new springs. Just seems like a go to if planning to lift later.

What do you all think?

:noidea::confused:
 
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Coilovers are pretty much springs over a shock that you can easily adjust the preload of the spring with a tool that either compresses the spring or decompresses it, by doing this, you can easily change the ride height of the front of your 4runner. These are easy to work with and ride very well, however, they can get pretty expensive very quick.

On the other hand, just having a regular spring/shock (strut) set up does not allow you to easily make adjustments to the ride height of your vehicle. In this case you have to figure out how much you want your 4runner lifted and shop out springs and shocks accordingly. If you are content with the same lifted ride height, this option will be much cheaper.

This is where the Bilstein 5100 is awesome because they are adjustable (with a spring compressor) because you can move the spring seat at the bottom up and down the shock shaft to give you a variety of ride heights. Add a front bumper? No worries, just move the spring seat up a groove to compensate for the additional weight.

Hope this give you a general idea! Currently riding the 5100s and I enjoy them very much
 
Acorn22 said:
Coilovers are pretty much springs over a shock that you can easily adjust the preload of the spring with a tool that either compresses the spring or decompresses it, by doing this, you can easily change the ride height of the front of your 4runner. These are easy to work with and ride very well, however, they can get pretty expensive very quick.

On the other hand, just having a regular spring/shock (strut) set up does not allow you to easily make adjustments to the ride height of your vehicle. In this case you have to figure out how much you want your 4runner lifted and shop out springs and shocks accordingly. If you are content with the same lifted ride height, this option will be much cheaper.

This is where the Bilstein 5100 is awesome because they are adjustable (with a spring compressor) because you can move the spring seat at the bottom up and down the shock shaft to give you a variety of ride heights. Add a front bumper? No worries, just move the spring seat up a groove to compensate for the additional weight.

Hope this give you a general idea! Currently riding the 5100s and I enjoy them very much
Click to expand...

Great explanation!

To clarify a little farther if you're as noobish as I am/was when I was first looking into my lift, the front suspension is already a "coilover" in that it is a strut inside of a coil setup, while in the rear the coil and the shock (shock and strut are technically different, but you see the term interchanged a lot) are separate from one another. Because of this you'll be gaining lift in the rear from the coils alone, the rear shocks are just absorbers, while in the front the struts play a part of the lift since it's connected to the coil.
 
Nooga_Rock said:
Great explanation!

To clarify a little farther if you're as noobish as I am/was when I was first looking into my lift, the front suspension is already a "coilover" in that it is a strut inside of a coil setup, while in the rear the coil and the shock (shock and strut are technically different, but you see the term interchanged a lot) are separate from one another. Because of this you'll be gaining lift in the rear from the coils alone, the rear shocks are just absorbers, while in the front the struts play a part of the lift since it's connected to the coil.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was going to say.

Stock front setup is already a coilover, the Icon/King/Fox/etc. threaded body front shocks are adjustable coilovers. Adjustable being the key word not coilover. A 5100 with it's adjustable spring perch functions like an adjustable coilover, it just works a little differently. I've seen people make that mistake before, not that it really matters because I generally know what they are talking about.

Anyway, carry on... :cheers:
 
Acorn22 said:
Coilovers are pretty much springs over a shock that you can easily adjust the preload of the spring with a tool that either compresses the spring or decompresses it, by doing this, you can easily change the ride height of the front of your 4runner. These are easy to work with and ride very well, however, they can get pretty expensive very quick.

On the other hand, just having a regular spring/shock (strut) set up does not allow you to easily make adjustments to the ride height of your vehicle. In this case you have to figure out how much you want your 4runner lifted and shop out springs and shocks accordingly. If you are content with the same lifted ride height, this option will be much cheaper.

This is where the Bilstein 5100 is awesome because they are adjustable (with a spring compressor) because you can move the spring seat at the bottom up and down the shock shaft to give you a variety of ride heights. Add a front bumper? No worries, just move the spring seat up a groove to compensate for the additional weight.

Hope this give you a general idea! Currently riding the 5100s and I enjoy them very much
Click to expand...

Great explanation. And there are a couple different Bilstein 5100 flavors you can use that have different number of seat settings.
 
To the o.p., unless you've got a big check to blow, the 5100's flavor so are a very good option. $350-450 for all 4 vs $800 and up for the more easily adjustable versions. I've never had a need to re adjust my 5100's, but it's not that bad.
 
Inv4drZm said:
Exactly what I was going to say.

Stock front setup is already a coilover, the Icon/King/Fox/etc. threaded body front shocks are adjustable coilovers. Adjustable being the key word not coilover. A 5100 with it's adjustable spring perch functions like an adjustable coilover, it just works a little differently. I've seen people make that mistake before, not that it really matters because I generally know what they are talking about.

Anyway, carry on... :cheers:
Click to expand...

If you were to adjust the front with a adjustable coilover setup, wouldn't you need the back to match, and since rear springs wouldn't be adjustable, wouldn't that essentially eliminate the benefit of being able to adjust the front when it would ride lower or higher than the back since they wouldn't match? (Unless you didn't care that the front is riding higher).
 
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I am all for 5100s, I also have them on all 4 corners of my Silverado. Great shock, lots of value, and probably about the best OE style replacement you can buy.

Just my opinion, but I think the best VALUE in suspension if a 6112/5100 combo for not that much more money.

To this day I am still impressed with the performance on and off-road.

I also really enjoy the pre-set perch without dealing with threaded coil overs. Set it and forget it, maintenance free. Unless you want to increase maintenance on suspension, you will never have the conversation with yourself about the threads rusting over.
 
amalik said:
If you were to adjust the front with a adjustable coilover setup, wouldn't you need the back to match, and since rear springs wouldn't be adjustable, wouldn't that essentially eliminate the benefit of being able to adjust the front when it would ride lower or higher than the back since they wouldn't match?
Click to expand...

For the most part yes, but changing out the rear coil isn't overly difficult. Also, if say you added a front bumper, you would be adjusting the front coil to bring it back to where it was before the weight, so you wouldn't need to change the back.
 
Nooga_Rock said:
For the most part yes, but changing out the rear coil isn't overly difficult. Also, if say you added a front bumper, you would be adjusting the front coil to bring it back to where it was before the weight, so you wouldn't need to change the back.
Click to expand...

I feel that is where most people go wrong… sure you can level it out using the front coil, but that still doesn’t change the fact you need a stiffer spring rate to accommodate the additional weight.

You would be under-sprung without changing out the spring for something stiffer. Without it the performance would be somewhat compromised.
 
amalik said:
If you were to adjust the front with a adjustable coilover setup, wouldn't you need the back to match, and since rear springs wouldn't be adjustable, wouldn't that essentially eliminate the benefit of being able to adjust the front when it would ride lower or higher than the back since they wouldn't match? (Unless you didn't care that the front is riding higher).
Click to expand...

You would adjust the front to match the back, you dont really need both sides adjustable. As mentioned above you can adjust for bumper/ winch weight up front but there are better ways to do that (spring rate). Drivers side lean can be compensated for but small spacers can also do a lot of the above.
 
Spacers... that's basically how I leveled the driver side lean. 1/4" spacer is all you need. Very simply fix and easier than dealing with a threaded coil.

The front to rear ride height between my 6112 on the 2nd highest notch, and my OEM 2895 was damn near perfect.

I wanted a hint of forward rake so it levels out properly with a little load in the rear.
 
I don't mean to hijack this thread or anything, but there seems to be some pretty knowledgeable dudes here and I'm not allowed to post my own thread.. Maybe y'all could help out another noob here? :hello:

I'm looking to lift my 99 4runner with tundra 5100 shocks and Toytec front coil springs for the front:

Bilstein Height adjustable 5100 shocks

112-620 - Toytec/Eibach front coil lift springs

and some LC coils (7 or 8 wraps) for the back:
https://shop.cruiserparts.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=34789

The problem is; I can't manage to find out what shcoks I can use for the rear. Or when I do find a set that would be compatible, I can't seem to find a site anywhere that will sell them. :ybrick: Could anyone help a brotha out with that? Will that front setup I posted work? Thank you friends!
 
If you want adjustable, coilovers are definitely the way to go, especially ones that let you adjust the dampness. The handling will be much better too, so if you have some extra cash go for it. If your springs are still good then it might not be that necessary but the difference is def significant and it changes the feel of ride for sure. Here’s a pretty decent article about them: Coilovers vs Springs: Should I Replace Only the Spring or Install a Coilover?
 
tone77 said:
If you want adjustable, coilovers are definitely the way to go, especially ones that let you adjust the dampness. The handling will be much better too, so if you have some extra cash go for it. If your springs are still good then it might not be that necessary but the difference is def significant and it changes the feel of ride for sure. Here’s a pretty decent article about them: Coilovers vs Springs: Should I Replace Only the Spring or Install a Coilover?
Click to expand...

Not specific to 3rd gen but just generally- if you run say stock springs and use the billstein adjustable to accomplish your lift goals vs say using the adjustable billstein shock at 0 with a longer spring, and say both get you to 1.75 overall lift, what’s the difference in RIDE quality and characteristics all else being equal?
 
4runningyeti said:
Not specific to 3rd gen but just generally- if you run say stock springs and use the billstein adjustable to accomplish your lift goals vs say using the adjustable billstein shock at 0 with a longer spring, and say both get you to 1.75 overall lift, what’s the difference in RIDE quality and characteristics all else being equal?
Click to expand...

I would say the setup with the longer spring would give you a better ride as you are accomplishing that lifted ride height with less preload.
 
4runningyeti said:
Not specific to 3rd gen but just generally- if you run say stock springs and use the billstein adjustable to accomplish your lift goals vs say using the adjustable billstein shock at 0 with a longer spring, and say both get you to 1.75 overall lift, what’s the difference in RIDE quality and characteristics all else being equal?
Click to expand...
If the spring rates are the same and the only difference is the spring length then there will be no noticeable change in ride quality between the two.

Edit: This is assuming the coil springs in question are fixed rate and not variable rate.
 
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