XREAS Help!

mbition

New member
I have an 08 4runner, and am wanting to replace the front coils with some OME 883's to level it out. The only problem is the xreas...How do I disconnect the banjo bolt on the strut to remove the strut assembly from the SUV without losing all of the fluid? Can the fluid be replaced/topped off? Help!
 
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I have an 08 4runner, and am wanting to replace the front coils with some OME 883's to level it out. The only problem is the xreas...How do I disconnect the banjo bolt on the strut to remove the strut assembly from the SUV without losing all of the fluid? Can the fluid be replaced/topped off? Help!

Jack up the whole vehicle and no problem... If you jack and support the vehicle so that all four wheels are fully extended you will lose a maximum of a few drops. As far as adding fluid is concerned I have never seen a procedure or fluid type. I just skimmed through my service manual and didn't see anything beyond the procedure that says jack it up so that all 4 wheels are fully extended.

Many have put on lifts with XREAS and had no issues by lifting all 4 corners to full extension. J.A. has a great write-up of installing a spacer lift on an XREAS T4R, it's worth a read: http://www.top4runners.com/ja/2007/lift.html


Please post follow-up! I think you'll be one of the first with 883's. I'm very interested in a ride/height report and if you have a V6 or V8:nerd:

:cheers:
 
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Do NOT remove the banjo bolt on the strut! You will destroy your system and will have to have a new XREAS setup installed. Disconnect at the fitting downstream of the strut line. The link to J.A.'s site will explain in detail.
 
Do NOT remove the banjo bolt on the strut! You will destroy your system and will have to have a new XREAS setup installed. Disconnect at the fitting downstream of the strut line. The link to J.A.'s site will explain in detail.

If removing the banjo bolt ruins the system, then how do they install a new system? There must be some way for the mechanics to fill the system in the first place, right?
 
If removing the banjo bolt ruins the system, then how do they install a new system? There must be some way for the mechanics to fill the system in the first place, right?

There is no way to recharge the system. You have disconnect at the check valve, not the banjo bolt. if a component goes bad, they replace it when there is no pressure in the system.
 
So does the new componet already have fluid it in? What if one strut leaks, do you replace just that strut, or the whole system? Sorry for all of the questions, but it seems crazy to me that a system would be set up this way. Toyota is usually smarter than this.
 
I've spoken with four 'high quality' off-road shops, and we're not talking ... off pavement, these are the BEST in Denver, and they ALL told me that the XREAS system is one of the most advanced and reliable shock systems , they've ever seen!

Granted, there are problems on occasion. However, ALL of them said that this system is one that they'd rely on more than almost any other and for me to go as far as possible, w/o removing it.

With that said, I said to myself 'OK, if you have no problems, don't change it'. And I'll stick to that. If I do have a problem, I'll either go to straight Bilstein replacement or a lift from OME or Toytec.

When I see people bashing the XREAS system, I take it with a grain of salt... even more that one grain now that FOUR top off-road installers here in an 'off-road capital' gave their KUDOS to XREAS.

YMMV.
 
I'm not bashing the system, and I apoligize if I came across that way. I'm questioning the serviceability of the system, if you cannot refill/ change out the fluid or if one part breaks and you have to replace half of the system, that doesn't seem very effective, nor efficient. Both are things I usually think of when I think of Toyota.
 
So does the new componet already have fluid it in? What if one strut leaks, do you replace just that strut, or the whole system? Sorry for all of the questions, but it seems crazy to me that a system would be set up this way. Toyota is usually smarter than this.

Yes, there's fluid already filled from the factory.

From what I've read when others had leaks, at least half of the system was replaced, i.e. front right leaked, the left rear was replaced as well.
 
I'm not bashing the system, and I apoligize if I came across that way. I'm questioning the serviceability of the system, if you cannot refill/ change out the fluid or if one part breaks and you have to replace half of the system, that doesn't seem very effective, nor efficient. Both are things I usually think of when I think of Toyota.

Some times you want to have a serviceable part (e.g. radiator/transmission) where you anticipate changing conditions and the need to re-use the existing components.

Other systems (e.g. hydralic lifters for the hatches and hoods) it's easier to simply engineer it to have a replaceable part.

IIRC, the X-REAS system uses a set amount of fluid w/o a reservoir. This requires no mechanical parts (increases reliability) but removes the ability to service it. Because there's no metal-metal wear (e.g. diff) changing the fluid is not a requirement nor necessary.
 

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