fox or new bilstein coilover options I need to clarify before I pull the trigger?

flounder1

flounder1

New member
OK so this is my fist post, I have read through all of the posts and answered just about everything I need to know except the following. I have a 2010 sr5. And I drive about 60 thousand miles a year for my job. I am tired of the nose dive and just the general ride. This is my 3Rd 4 runner and i can't get a more reliable truck for the cost. Just wish they could upgrade the seats to more like my wife's rav 4. Anyway I have to deleMas I am going to keep the truck for about another 50k miles. And I am looking at the new fox 2.0 coilovers and possiby the 2.5 coilovers unless the new bilstein coilovers come in under a 1000k.

Here is my question if I just do the 2 inch lift do I need to drop the diff. Don't care about money here just don't want to regret.?

My other question is if I go with the fox 2.5 , 3 inch lift option and keep set At the 2.5inch lift setting do I need to change the upper control arms. No matter what shocks I go with they are going to come off when I trade in and put on new truck. Probably the 2016 or 17. And would keep upgrading when I getc the new truck. I don't really go off road to much except fire trails and sand. Not a rock crawler. I love back roads and can't always drive my a4. This truck lives on the highway so any suggestions would be helpful. Also any real reasonsoon for remote resise in the rear for my purose besides the fact it's the cool thing to do. Lol
 
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You don't have to change UCA's if you're staying 2.5" and on pavement, since you're planning to transfer them eventually to a new truck go with adjustable coilovers such as fox, since you can rebuild them eventually when needed. Even if you'd go 3" of lift diff drop is not needed
 
If you are doing that many miles, I would recommend Toytec Ultimate, or something else based on Bilstein 5100s. Having to replace bearings and rebuild once or twice a year on a vehicle you rely on for work will be a real hassle.

To get a "good" alignment, you'll need aftermarket UCAs lifting more than about 2" By good, I mean more than 4 degrees of caster, lower than that and it is squirrely on the highway.
 
I agree with [MENTION=78273]Jeremy556[/MENTION],

Fox recommends every 50k for street only rebuilds, meaning you going to have to get that done every year.

I have a set of 2.5 Fox coilovers but I only drive around >10k a year. I personally think you drive too much for something like that, unless of course you buy two sets. Then you only have two hours or so of downtime, instead of two weeks, while you swap out the new/rebuilt set.
 
marshal said:
Fox is 3 times the shock Bilstein could ever wish they were.
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Bilstein makes high end racing shocks, too, but the 5100 series are not, and not meant to be.

On a 50k mile a year street vehicle, I'll take rubber bushings over spherical bearings, every time. I've replaced my shock bearings enough to be tired of it.
 
I installed Fox 2.0 (F&R) last week w/o new UCA's and the alignment was maxed out for Camber & Caster. my 2015 4runner SR5 had bump steer and wandered on the freeway.. it was not a very fun driving experience. in my case, not using a new UCA's was not an option for me.

Installed Total Chaos Heim Joint UCA that allowed camber & caster adjustment. at the same time, i changed to Fox 2.5 w/resi +DSC at all 4 corners. Fox told me they use Total Chaos to R&D their shocks so thats what I bought (I also had good luck with them in the past on another truck).

obviously, the 2.5 w/DSC is of no comparison to the 2.0 system. I will say the 2.0 was a vast improvement over stock. the only reason I changed to the 2.5 is that the 2.0 has to be completely removed to adjust spring preload! I was not interested in having to always break down my suspension to dial in my ride. plus, having DSC and the ability to set low & high speed compression with the turn of a dial is fantastic!

if you can swing it, the DSC truly is heaven... it makes you completely re-think suspension and the art of driving. I'ts hard to explain, but driving a vehicle that does not "crash" over bumps but only gives a fluid sensation is amazing. In fact, it was a little disconcerting for about 20 minutes of driving.... after i left the install shop, i almost felt something was wrong because there is no banging or complaint from any of the 4 corners of the vehicle... just a harmonious union.

you cant go wrong with the 2.0, but if you can swing it, the 2.5 will make you grin ear to ear. my only complaint with the 2.0 was it did start to fade after 30 seconds of high speed washboard off-road use (the 2.5 is simply an animal off-road and found myself traveling at much faster speeds over the same terrain w/ less interior disturbance than the 2.0)

Finally, do yourself a favor, get UCA's. Youll be happy you did on many fronts like suspension wear, tire wear and overall drivability. i didnt do UCA on a 2009 GMC Sierra and ball joints went bad after 25K miles.
 
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RESQLAB said:
Installed Total Chaos Heim Joint UCA that allowed camber & caster adjustment.
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Why? Without a bracket drop lift, the normal TC UCAs are fine, and don't need heims replaced every other week.* It's hard enough finding an alignment place that can align with 4 lower adjusters, but add in 4 upper adjusters and you are really asking for trouble.

* very slight exaggeration
 
not really.. i saw the align spec print out. dont have the exact figures near, but it was not something that was livable in my case. hopefully OP will have better luck and will not have to spend the additional $$$

I hear ya on finding a good alignment person... fortunately, my place also did the suspension, is a Fox dealer and have never missed a beat on other stuff.
 
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fox or bilsteins

I went with fox 2.0s and like the ride. I however will never drive 60k a year. I can't speak for the ride quality of the bilsteins but i do know they have digressive valving instead of a linear or progressive like the fox 2.0. My alignment shop had no issues getting everything back in spec (with stock uca) and I believe the caster ended up at 3.4. It feels better than before for nose dive and body roll. I drove 6 hours round trip a couple of weeks ago and it felt just fine doing 75-80. Also to add I did not get a diff drop. As for the real question at hand if you were not planning on going offroad and didn't want to spend to much money maybe the bilsteins might be the ticket for you. I ended up spending $1100 on f/r shocks and then another $100 on rear spacers. I was thinking 5100's are around 800. Albeit you can rebuild the foxes where the bilsteins can not be rebuilt. For your purposes stated you might be 6 of one half dozen of another.
 
Jeremy556 said:
Bilstein makes high end racing shocks, too, but the 5100 series are not, and not meant to be.

On a 50k mile a year street vehicle, I'll take rubber bushings over spherical bearings, every time. I've replaced my shock bearings enough to be tired of it.
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I'm aware and still stand by my statement. But I totally agree too. Spherical sucks. That's why I don't get why all you people install this ICON bullshit
 
OK so not to start a pis sing war here but the comments about the lower bearings failing every 25k miles. Has anyone actually have that experience or is it that whit buffalo that exists in people's egos in this forum. So to get back on track here what do the factory shock use? Meaning if they haven't failed yet I am not worried about that.. how ever if you are all saying to press out the fox's and replace with a energy suspension parts. If so has anyone actually done that process.

I am now ruling out 5100 they were never an option for me I was referring to the 60 mm coilovers coming out in Jan.

Also what are you guys paying for the 2.5 fox?
 
flounder1 said:
.... I have a 2010 sr5. And I drive about 60 thousand miles a year for my job. ....
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Whaaaat?

So, you have what, 200k on your 2010 - and NOW you're tired of the suspension? And you're going to spend $Large$ for another 50K miles and trade it on a new 2016 or 2017, and swap the used suspension onto a new vehicle, and put the old suspension back on the 2010? Seriously?

:der: :loco:

:suspicious:
 
Instead of changing everything out now and changing again after 50K, why not just hold off, buy a new T4R and then put the new upgrades you mentioned on the new T4R?

Gives you more time to research your options as well.
 
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OK so you don't have to be a complete dick. That ego bulls hit is what keeps people from growing and asking questions. Where ever you got your facts from i dont know but i don't have 200k on my truck I have 75k. If you don't have anything good to say then don't. Go back to playing your call of duty in your moms basement and let me know when you are old enough to have a grownup conversation.

As far as the truck is concerned the suspension has not diminished over time. I am just looking to improve it but I didn't want to do things twice or get to install day and so uh oh I don't have something. Also that is why I am looking at rebuild able shocks. Last I checked the only thing that breaks on shocks are the internals.
 
OK, I ass-umed the 200K. Sorry.

Is this better?

You're going to spend $Large$ for another 50K miles and then trade it on a new 2016, and then swap the new/used suspension onto a new vehicle, and put the old original suspension back on the 2010, and have to realign both of them?

That's a whole lotta work and money for < 1 year of driving.

Fix the '10 as cheap as possible, build the new one.
 
Hey Flounder...

I have my 200 mile Fox 2.0 F&R shocks if you are interested? They would be a cheap fix to your solution and not a big commitment.

I'm asking $1,000 for them and may be able to get my shop to handle the sale and shipping for us? I'll know more on Monday because they told me a guy w/an FJ was already sniffing around...

BTW- they are still set at the Fox factory ride height setting of 2". For what you are using them for, they would be a great option. I enjoyed the brief period I had them and are a wonderful upgrade from OEM.
 
You might consider the adjustable shock so you can dial the ride. I've got the 2.5 ICON's with CDC and never owned a better shock. Always been a fan of FOX, still ride with them exclusively on my bikes and highly doubt you'd have any regrets with them on your 4Runner.

However the ICON's use digressive valving so you don't get the roll and jello feel on the street. With the 60k a year the CDC allows you to dial out the nose dive and DV reduces the roll.

Either way you'll be much happier over stock.
 
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