Ride Quality Question

lddrew

lddrew

New member
So we just purchased a set of 99 tall springs off the net, and Bilstein HD's and everything needed to assemble them.

The truck currently rides like a boat and the back sags. My thoughts were to replace the springs and shocks and get some lift, and much better overall ride quality.

Now for the part that doesn't make any sense... Our mechanic (i'm beginning to worry about his mental ability) said that he didn't think that spending all this money would make the ride any better.. said they "all rode like this"

So I guess the question I am asking is does your T4R bounce and rock for 10 seconds after crossing a bridge???? the ride is jarring and just terrible. The shocks are clearly blown (but he said they look "brand new") What the heck is going on here. Like he's trying to talk us out of refreshing the suspension.

Depending on what you guys say we'll probably take it to someone else. thanks
 
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mine did that with the stock suspension. Actually after a while the top studs to my rear shocks just completely broke off and I was bouncing over ever little bump. I ended up getting the ome 3" lift and my ride quality is 200% better. I know my case is a little more extreme than yours but there is a noticeable difference when you put your new suspension on.
 
lddrew said:
So we just purchased a set of 99 tall springs off the net, and Bilstein HD's and everything needed to assemble them.

The truck currently rides like a boat and the back sags. My thoughts were to replace the springs and shocks and get some lift, and much better overall ride quality.

Now for the part that doesn't make any sense... Our mechanic (i'm beginning to worry about his mental ability) said that he didn't think that spending all this money would make the ride any better.. said they "all rode like this"

So I guess the question I am asking is does your T4R bounce and rock for 10 seconds after crossing a bridge???? the ride is jarring and just terrible. The shocks are clearly blown (but he said they look "brand new") What the heck is going on here. Like he's trying to talk us out of refreshing the suspension.

Depending on what you guys say we'll probably take it to someone else. thanks
Click to expand...

Well, I'd never see HIM again. Not only is he an idiot as a mechanic, but hes an idiot salesman.

Going with a "Big Lift" isn't going to net you a nice smooth ride, but you can Definitely go with a 1-3" lift and have the truck feel like "New" again. Just remember that you get what you pay for.

The 99' springs.. all 4? Are you saying that you've already had the (brand new?) bilsteens installed along with the 99's? I'm a little confused here.
 
Mine rides nice. But previous owner upgraded to hd shocks. Ride suffers a little i think because of the BFG AT KOs in it but still not bad. Certainly doesnt bounce like you described.
 
the guy is probably a rice burner in secret, yes they ride like boats when compared to a car but they ride very nice compared to other suv's in thier class, ride quality is a very subjective thing, if the guys used to racing f-1 driving a buggiti can feel like a boat, it's all relative...let him think they all ride like a boat if that what he really thinks about them...

as for you wasting your money, not a chance your ride quality is going to improve greatly and be far better then your 10+years and however many odd miles you got on them, the mech isn't very bright in terms of sussing out what people really mean when they ask a question, you weren't asking if it was going to ride like a lambo, you're asking if it was going to ride better then before and how much better in his mind the ride ought to be after the work, then again your not paying the guy to be smart in that sort of way either, if he knows how to do the work and seems to be handy with the tools i'd give him the benfit of the doubt tht\at he's just kind of socially awkward lol,

personally i had a stock coil and bilstreins all around before i switched to OME and now im' either going back to billies or just saying the hell with it and getting some icons and order the valving i want and be done with it, i thought the OME rides terrible for a dd but that's my own opinon as there are plenty of people who are more then happy with OME's , like i said it's all subjective and personal taste...regardless, the money you spent will be worth it over what you had before and if your happy with it wgaf what your mech says about how 4runners ride?
 
theizzardking said:
the guy is probably a rice burner in secret, yes they ride like boats when compared to a car but they ride very nice compared to other suv's in thier class, ride quality is a very subjective thing, if the guys used to racing f-1 driving a buggiti can feel like a boat, it's all relative...let him think they all ride like a boat if that what he really thinks about them...

as for you wasting your money, not a chance your ride quality is going to improve greatly and be far better then your 10+years and however many odd miles you got on them, the mech isn't very bright in terms of sussing out what people really mean when they ask a question, you weren't asking if it was going to ride like a lambo, you're asking if it was going to ride better then before and how much better in his mind the ride ought to be after the work, then again your not paying the guy to be smart in that sort of way either, if he knows how to do the work and seems to be handy with the tools i'd give him the benfit of the doubt tht\at he's just kind of socially awkward lol,

personally i had a stock coil and bilstreins all around before i switched to OME and now im' either going back to billies or just saying the hell with it and getting some icons and order the valving i want and be done with it, i thought the OME rides terrible for a dd but that's my own opinon as there are plenty of people who are more then happy with OME's , like i said it's all subjective and personal taste...regardless, the money you spent will be worth it over what you had before and if your happy with it wgaf what your mech says about how 4runners ride?
Click to expand...


So how was the ride with the billies and stock coils.
 
the front struts on my 98 are a little worn, the rears were just bad. I replaced just the rear shocks and it was a night and day difference. it rides so much better now, I still want to do the fronts, I just cant afford it right now. but overall, it still rides like an "SUV". my last vehicle was an 04 Chevy Aveo, the stock suspension on the aveo was horrible, it felt like riding around in a boat on waves, it swayed all over the place, so i replaced the shocks and struts with KYB and replaced the springs with an eibach prokit set up. the aveo rode really smooth after that. in comparison, i love the ride quality of my 4runner so much more. the mech you talked with may just have not wanted to do your suspension work, honestly the rear shocks on the 3rd gen runner are a pain to replace
 
Okay thank you so much guys, i just wanted to make sure we weren't wasting 800 bucks

and right now it is on stock coils and shocks with 102,xxx on the clock

needless to say i was expecting a tremendous improvement and this guy was just like "yeah, i don't think much is going to change"

thank you for all of your input. i don't know what to think about that guy now... oh well. thanks

I will do before/after pics and a write up on my comparison. thanks everyone!
 
WHORERUNNER said:
Wanna sell me your billies. :bluejump:
Did you run them with 99 tall springs.
Click to expand...

haha yeah i sold them to a local forum member for like $50 bucks or something like that..i got an OME and LC coil lift getting ready to go on sale after christmas though, lol

yeah it was my stock coils (99 talls) and some run of the mill billies , meaning they we good ones but just ordered from flaps instead of a specialist like we find on this site...

everyone says my truck rides fine now, but i can feel it, it's way stiffer then the billies and in my opinion and i think that maybe there's nothing wrong with the OME ride as much as it is me chasing what the billies gave me before, im on the fence at this point about just going all the way with some icons and upper arms to boot or if i should just go with one of the SS or toytech kits that both use the billies as well... im really raking myself over the coals on this atm 2 am in the morning here and im still looking around at coil overs....

as for your set up you should be very happy with it, i was with mine when i had it and the coils where stock at that point with 150k on them, the shocks were added/upgraded to the billies around the 120-130 mark and i ditched everything all together around the 190k mark
 
I run '99 Tall springs and Billy HD's. Rides a million times better than it did with the 188K mile stock shocks and springs I replaced.

It'll never ride like a Cadillac, it's not suppose to. You'll be very pleased with your upgrade though.
 
WHORERUNNER said:
Sounds good, Did you guys re-use your mounts, or buy anything extra for the install on the billies
Click to expand...

yeah i'd just buy new mounts , they are nothing special so you can pick them up at any auto parts store for around $20-50 bucks a side, i would just to get the new bushings and what not, just to be sure by mount you mean the top plate or top hat right?
 
theizzardking said:
yeah i'd just buy new mounts , they are nothing special so you can pick them up at any auto parts store for around $20-50 bucks a side, i would just to get the new bushings and what not, just to be sure by mount you mean the top plate or top hat right?
Click to expand...

Yup, top plates. I went on autoanything and they have 4 bilsteins hd for $297.00 plus 15% off totlal come to around $255 with free shipping.
Sorry not trying to hi-jack your thread op.
 
lddrew said:
So we just purchased a set of 99 tall springs off the net, and Bilstein HD's and everything needed to assemble them.

The truck currently rides like a boat and the back sags. My thoughts were to replace the springs and shocks and get some lift, and much better overall ride quality.

Now for the part that doesn't make any sense... Our mechanic (i'm beginning to worry about his mental ability) said that he didn't think that spending all this money would make the ride any better.. said they "all rode like this"

So I guess the question I am asking is does your T4R bounce and rock for 10 seconds after crossing a bridge???? the ride is jarring and just terrible. The shocks are clearly blown (but he said they look "brand new") What the heck is going on here. Like he's trying to talk us out of refreshing the suspension.

Depending on what you guys say we'll probably take it to someone else. thanks
Click to expand...

:hunter:

It depends. If you just put the stock springs back on like the dealer did for my recall, the improvement is tiny. I don't think the mechanic would envision putting premium parts in and then it would just be a tiny improvement, maybe not worth the cost. It is a different situation when you are spending other people's money.
 
I replaced the stock coils and shocks on my 02 Runner right after I bought it
with Performance Products progressive coils up front, Downey's in the rear and HD Bilsteins (Blue/yellow).

That gave me a much better controlled ride than the stock suspension.
Great on the road but a bit rough offroad.

I ran that combo for 9 years. Then last May I upgraded from 265/75/16 tires
to 285/75/16 tires and the HD Bilsteins were just not valved correctly for the
larger heavier tires. They beat the crap out of me - bounced all over....LOL!!

Shortly after that I went with the 5100 Bilsteins (Toytec coil overs) and
Toytec's 5125 Bilsteins in the rear.

So, for stock sized 265 tires the HD Bilsteins are OK but if you upgrade to
285's go with the 5100 series Bilsteins for a softer (not bouncy) but controlled ride.
 
thanks so much for everything guys, just dropped it off to get everything installed. it's amazing, some people wanted 600 bucks to swap this stuff out. i was just like have a nice day
 
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