Suspension...so many options!

[Signal]

I've been researching suspensions for quite some time now. I just can't make up my mind and keep finding more and more options.

I'm sure my needs match many on this forum. My '14 Limited sees the road for 95% of its miles, unfortunately. It's my daily driver. The Xreas is OK, but the front is starting to sag and I know it's only a matter of time before it dies. When I go off road I see many miles of fire road with some fairly technical features here and there. I'd like around 2" in the front and 1" in the rear to help me through some of these features. As this is a daily driver, I'd prefer to stay away from shocks that require regular maintenance (IE: King, Icon, etc...)

So, I think I've narrowed my search to the Bilstein 611/5160 combo with an Eibach rear spring or a Fox 2.0 coilover with 2.0 rears and Eibach spring. The Fox is $4-500 more expensive and at about the limit of what I'd like to spend.

UCA...can this wait or should I do it all at once? It seems that I will get an extra inch or so of front flex with the addition of this piece, but at a decent cost. I'm also concerned this will creak and be more maintenance.

For a starters lift OME is nice, the only proble is finding the right 5mm and 10mm spacers for your 4Runner. I have the lift and can't figure out what spacers to get, Amazon has a ton of options but they dont list the years it will fit.

 

[Narat_524]

Kings Maintenance

One of the posts mentioned 30K miles for Kings rebuild. If you were racing Baja, this would apply. If you're fragging the crap out of the shaft with rocks on the rear shocks, this might apply.

Otherwise, as a daily driver/occasional trail-taker, you can get 75-100K before a rebuild. Rebuild kits are around $35-40 and shafts are roughly $60 (Filthy Motorsports). Obviously this can vary depending on whether standard or some sort of custom shock. Barring physical damage and loss of nitrogen, you might eventually get some fade as they heat up. Swap the oil and you're back in the game.

Regardless of Kings or not, hose clamp a flat piece of 1/8" thick X 3" wide rubber on the front of the rear shock to protect the shaft from roost off the front tires, fluid film or WD40 the bodies, and they'll last a lot longer.


Narat

 

[Bumbo]

The maintenance on Kings would drive me crazy. I don't have time to have my truck down for a couple weeks every 30k miles or so.

And this is why I own more than 1 vehical...

Even if that isn't an option, you could always consider getting cheap set of shocks like the Bilstein 5100 and just use pop them in to get you back on the road.

 

[borfoo3]

The Kings (along with Icon and Fox) are made to be rebuilt. It's relatively cheap to have this done, but must be performed every 30k or so (that is the interval they recommend at least). King states you can either send it in or order the kit and do it yourself.

My Kings are 2 years old this year, with close to 31k miles on them (plenty of heavy off-roading and heavily loaded overlanding trips in between) and I don't see a reason for rebuilding them yet. Maybe rebuild at 50k just to see what the internal condition is like

I don't see how rebuilds are that frequent unless you off-road heavily or do constant high-speed desert runs or cook the shock fluid. If there's no damage, oil leaks, degraded shock damping, or any signs of concern then just check the gas pressure every year or so and keep enjoying them.

They're a heavy duty built shock. If the cheapo stock ones last years these should have no problem either

 

[ProfessorP]

Another vote for Dobinsons. I just went through the same thing as you a couple of weeks ago and eventually ended up with product and suggestion overload. Talk with Dobinsons Mike and he’ll tell you exactly what you need for your application.

Here’s a link to my Dobinsons thread. Dobinsons Suspension Lift Installed

 

[Charlievee]

Sounds out about how i use my truck. Do issu daily driving with the eibach. Actually helps road manners.