joneseyyy
New member
I wouldn't call my feedback negative - more just a high maintenance interval FYI
I drive in East Coast 4-season weather and spray the suspension off weekly when they're salting roads.
fox or new bilstein coilover options I need to clarify before I pull the trigger?
- Thread starter flounder1
- Start date
I wouldn't call my feedback negative - more just a high maintenance interval FYI
I drive in East Coast 4-season weather and spray the suspension off weekly when they're salting roads.
E-ROCKER
New member
I'm on my 3rd or 4th set at 80k miles. Stock shocks have a fixed upper mount and a bushing at the lower mount.
I had a set of Icon's on my FJ for a little over 1 year. Had to replace the passenger side bearing very quickly (maybe 10k miles) and both sides when I sold them. I replaced them with some Walker Evans 2.5's (they use the same bearing, top and bottom)that I used on the FJ for over 4 years putting about 80K miles on them (including hard wheeling, rock crawling and desert running). When I removed them from the FJ to have them rebuilt they still had not failed like the Icon's did. Yes, they were loose and needed to be replaced but they had not failed. I probably should have rebuilt them way sooner than 80k.
I am not trying to be a dick here, just stating facts of my experience with both shocks that use the same bearing.
On another note I have seen the top hats on those icons fail/break in half many times. I have personally seen 3 different Tacomas have this happen.
Last edited:
flounder1
New member
so thank you everyone who has given me some great feedback minus one ahole.
Anyway here is a couple follow up questions that I have come up with in helping me make my choice. If I were to go with the fox 2.0 or 2.5 would the rooster shields help prevent the debreis from entering the bearings to help lengthen the life of the bearing or is there another solution to that problem like a boot or larger O ring or something to help cover the openings but still letting the bearing do its job.
Second question do both fox models use the same Teflon bearings from Fk the description on the 2.0 just says heavy duty?
third and last question would the bts or the 6112 that are to be coming out in Jan be a better option as they use as far as I can tell a bushing like factory.
and if so for highway and back roads which is going to give me a flatter feeling truck? meaning less pitch left to right and front to back. I don't mind a stiff setup as long as its not to stiff and the rest of the suspension is not doing its job. I am ok changing bearings once a year but a 10000 mile failure I am not good with. thanks in advanced for positive feedback and real word experiences. I would go with the tried and ture 5100 but they seam to be completely disposable to me. not thrilled because till you get the toyotec setup you are at almost I think 700$ anyway.
Anyway here is a couple follow up questions that I have come up with in helping me make my choice. If I were to go with the fox 2.0 or 2.5 would the rooster shields help prevent the debreis from entering the bearings to help lengthen the life of the bearing or is there another solution to that problem like a boot or larger O ring or something to help cover the openings but still letting the bearing do its job.
Second question do both fox models use the same Teflon bearings from Fk the description on the 2.0 just says heavy duty?
third and last question would the bts or the 6112 that are to be coming out in Jan be a better option as they use as far as I can tell a bushing like factory.
and if so for highway and back roads which is going to give me a flatter feeling truck? meaning less pitch left to right and front to back. I don't mind a stiff setup as long as its not to stiff and the rest of the suspension is not doing its job. I am ok changing bearings once a year but a 10000 mile failure I am not good with. thanks in advanced for positive feedback and real word experiences. I would go with the tried and ture 5100 but they seam to be completely disposable to me. not thrilled because till you get the toyotec setup you are at almost I think 700$ anyway.
Hey on this topic particularly....
Quick question regarding 5160's/6112's and looking to go 2" lift....
I'm in a 5th gen 2011 and if I pull the trigger on a lift using the above mentioned gear and probably no more then 2" of lift.... Does that sound like something that will be require me to jump on this UCA bandwagon? Cuz I'm not particularly sure I feel good about it after all the reading I've been doing about these UCA and some of the drama people experience.
Still a newb... Help a brotha out. I think I've already decided on going bilstein. And I'm probably going to want to stuff either 255/75r17 or 255/80r17 for tires in there.
.
Quick question regarding 5160's/6112's and looking to go 2" lift....
I'm in a 5th gen 2011 and if I pull the trigger on a lift using the above mentioned gear and probably no more then 2" of lift.... Does that sound like something that will be require me to jump on this UCA bandwagon? Cuz I'm not particularly sure I feel good about it after all the reading I've been doing about these UCA and some of the drama people experience.
Still a newb... Help a brotha out. I think I've already decided on going bilstein. And I'm probably going to want to stuff either 255/75r17 or 255/80r17 for tires in there.
.
Jhalko
New member
I ran 2.5" of lift with factory UCA's for a year, it was slightly out of spec but drove pretty well. Just swapped my UCA's last week, it definitely drives better and got plenty of caster now. I would move forward and just see what the alignment is and if you have any rubbing and go from there, make sure it's a shop that knows what they are doing though.
[MENTION=66316]1engineer[/MENTION] and [MENTION=96008]Engineer[/MENTION], thanks for your comments. It's becoming very apparent to me just how high maintenance these shocks can be. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the rebuildable bilstein shocks (I.e. 5160/6112)? Do you think they will exhibit the performance of the icon/radflo and reliability of the 5100s? Or am I just asking for too much?
Jetboy
New member
FWIW - I don't think 100k mile service interval is uncommon for Fox shocks for example. They are a very simple product. All they consist of is an aluminum tube, a piston and a stack of valves. Of course that's a bit of oversimplification, but really there isn't much to a Fox/Icon/Radflo inside. No bypass circuits. No adjustable compression or rebound. If you want to tune the stack of valves (washers) you can make every one of them ride the same. You can make a Fox digressive and an ICON progressive. They're basically all the same with different valve sets. Nothing really unique about any of them other than the factory valving.
If the 6112 were threaded it would be a very easy decision for me to go with them. I had 5100's on my last 4runner and never thought twice about servicing them or doing anything else with them. I didn't love how firm they were on the road. Some people do. I've read that the 6112s are plusher in small bump compliance. It should just be a matter of time before someone chucks up a 6112 in a threading machine and makes a proper coilover out of them. If I had the right set of dies for them I might have done it myself.
A true bypass shock will give you considerably better dampening and ride quality across the board. The OME BP51's should be pretty good when they arrive if they're tuned well. Once they are out for a bit I may ditch the Fox 2.5s I have for them.
Good luck with whatever you choose!
If the 6112 were threaded it would be a very easy decision for me to go with them. I had 5100's on my last 4runner and never thought twice about servicing them or doing anything else with them. I didn't love how firm they were on the road. Some people do. I've read that the 6112s are plusher in small bump compliance. It should just be a matter of time before someone chucks up a 6112 in a threading machine and makes a proper coilover out of them. If I had the right set of dies for them I might have done it myself.
A true bypass shock will give you considerably better dampening and ride quality across the board. The OME BP51's should be pretty good when they arrive if they're tuned well. Once they are out for a bit I may ditch the Fox 2.5s I have for them.
Good luck with whatever you choose!
Last edited:
marshal
New member
[MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] is right - 100k intervals on Fox's and kings are totally doable. what goes wrong and starts squeaking is the heim style mounting eyelets on the top and bottom of the shock. they're not good for all that long if grime gets to them, but thankfully a snap ring is the only thing that holds them in so they're easily replaceable.
there are specific differences across the board between the shock manufacturers, being quality and various components. for an example, Fox uses a lot of copper for gaskets in their shocks and braided stainless in their lines. King uses rubber internal gaskets and high pressure rubber hoses in their lines.
just a couple differences.
obviously Sway-a-way, Fox and King are the only race spec manufacturers out there. Bilstein makes race spec shocks but there doesnt seem to be a ton of people using them anymore. their valving system is funky and not standard.
there are specific differences across the board between the shock manufacturers, being quality and various components. for an example, Fox uses a lot of copper for gaskets in their shocks and braided stainless in their lines. King uses rubber internal gaskets and high pressure rubber hoses in their lines.
just a couple differences.
obviously Sway-a-way, Fox and King are the only race spec manufacturers out there. Bilstein makes race spec shocks but there doesnt seem to be a ton of people using them anymore. their valving system is funky and not standard.
Silver4RunnerIS300
Member
Forgive me for reviving an old thread but during a search for answers I stumbled across this post...
Was looking into getting replacement spiral retainers because I broke a couple of mine during removal of the bearings. Here's some useful part numbers for anyone looking to replace them
I picked these for replacements because they are stainless steel instead of carbon steel. A little more expensive but considering how bad mine were to remove I hope it's worth it.
Stainless Spiral retainer rings in a pack of 5
WHM-125-S02
If you want the regular steel ones in a pack of 10
WHM-125
sidenote: Summit has the best deal for the COM10T bearings from what I found.
timesinfinity
New member
apologies for my lack of understanding and not trying to thread jack here but what is the advantage of a lower spherical bearing over a rubber bushing?
