Ideas for my Next Upgrade?

[jlm6985]

Got a few dollars sitting around (willing to spend about $350) and the Bilstein 1500s are right in my price range. I would be using the stock springs.

I've got two questions:

1) Could someone who has done the switch give a fairly detailed description of what they think post-op? I mean more along the lines of "How does the ride feel? Stiffer? Too hard/soft?", "Were you able to understand the instructions well enough that you could do it yourself? If so, how long did the change-out take you?", and ultimately "Do you feel that the Bilstein 1500s were a good investment?... Do you feel you got a good amount of bang for your buck?"

2) I am open to other ideas for what to spend my money on... thoughts? Don't come with "Plasti-dip"... I like my truck's faux-chrome appearance and would like to spend my money on something that would improve something performance-related. If anything... appearance-wise, I'd like a little more faux-chrome. The two-tone rear bumper that some have looks pretty sweet to me. See:

 

[jlm6985]

Thanks all!

 

[krupnation]

Are you talking about the Bilstein 5100's? I figured you just made a type-o, I'm not to familiar with the Bilstein 1500. I will tell you that I just installed my FJ Cruiser springs / Bilstein 5100 combo and it is awesome. Total for the entire suspension was $450 ($80 for FJC coils, $20 to ship them, $350 for Billie 5100's from ORW on eBay).

All I can say is the ride is significantly better in that there is less body roll in corners, less brake dive under heavy braking, sucks up speed bumps like they are nothing, and makes the runner feel more like a truck than a station wagon. Not to mention that you get 4 different settings on the front shocks so you can level it out a bit. I have mine set on the 3rd snap ring which gives approx. 1.75" of lift in the front. I'd highly recommend the FJC / Bilstein setup.

 

[Aquabear]

Agreed with Krup. Just put on 5100 but also with springs, check out my write up- and alot of others as well. I'd do it all over again. The ride is superb. Doing my mod made me fall in love with my truck all over again!
Now to get tires.
Pull the trigger and go for it!
Good luck!

 

[jlm6985]

Are you talking about the Bilstein 5100's? I figured you just made a type-o

You got it! My bad.

...in terms of upgrades, I failed to mention that I ordered (but haven't received yet) LEDs for the interior the other day.

 

[empty403]

Got a few dollars sitting around (willing to spend about $350) and the Bilstein 1500s are right in my price range. I would be using the stock springs.

I've got two questions:

1) Could someone who has done the switch give a fairly detailed description of what they think post-op? I mean more along the lines of "How does the ride feel? Stiffer? Too hard/soft?", "Were you able to understand the instructions well enough that you could do it yourself? If so, how long did the change-out take you?", and ultimately "Do you feel that the Bilstein 1500s were a good investment?... Do you feel you got a good amount of bang for your buck?"

As Aquabear said there are many detailed write ups on the 5100s. If you plan on doing this yourself make sure to have these not so basic tools: a spring compressor, 1/2" torque wrench, 1/2" metric sockets, pry bar, metric open end wrenches. I think that should be it.

The most common ride height selected by most owners on this forum is the 3rd from the bottom (1.75") - looks great with AT tires, but not so with regular tires. Installing the rear shocks alone will raise the rear just about 1/2". The ride will still feel plush on smooth roads/ soft bumps but will be firmer on rough roads/sharp bumps. It has less body roll when turning and less nose dive while braking hard compared to stock. The rear felt a bit bouncy at first but after about 6000 miles the rebound dampening slowed down and they felt the same as the front. I would definitely recommend the Bilsteins. If you think the ride is rougher, it may be because you're used to the feeling of the worn out softer shocks.

If you do not want or plan to lift the vehicle just get the Bilstein HD as they have exactly the same valving but cheaper the only difference is it's yellow but you can't see it unless you go underneath the vehicle.

When installing the rear shocks do not use the new upper rubber bushings from Bilstein. They are too thick and will be almost impossible to install the shocks. Just buy new bushings from Toyota, Rockauto.com or wherever.

Also, for me i just wanted the front slightly lower than the rear so I had set the front shock to the 2nd line from the bottom and I found I got about a 1.4" of lift instead of the 0.75" it said on the instructions. The 3rd line for me was more like 2.5". Also, I wanted the rear about 1 - 1.5" higher than the front so when I load the vehicle it's more or less level. Right now my rear is just less than 2" higher than the front because the new rear shocks added about 0.5" and the airbags I put in added about 0.3" of lift.

 

[chaz]

as stated in empty403 old post, only the rear hd bilstein have the same valving as the 5100, the fronts are different. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/suspension/84359-hd-5100-5160-bilstein-valve-rates.html

 

[jlm6985]

Also been considering the Gibson exhaust from Burtman Industries: Burtman Industries

Same price range. How's the bang for the buck?

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

Hard to beat new shocks and fj coils. 5100s are nice, others have used oem fj shocks and also been very pleased. If your interested, I've got a set of front shocks off of an FJ ill sell for cheap and also a set of Bilstein HD rears for a good price. About 10k miles on the Bilsteins, not real sure how many on the FJ shocks, less than 30k I believe.

I don't know much about that exhaust system. Most of what I've heard on others is that its mostly for sound and doesn't produce a big gain on the 4runner. You'd be better off just getting a new muffler welded in and having the tip moved out the side.
I say do the suspension out of those two options. You should look into a full fj suspension if funds are tight. You should be able to get a low mileage set of shocks/coils for $200 or less, leaving enough money for other things. The full fj setup won't be quite as good as the 5100s off road, very little difference on road though. I did just fj springs on stock shocks and noticed most of the improvement from that. I later added 5100s, made some difference but not as much as the fj springs made.