Suspension setups you regret?

I don't think I'll ever take a shock company seriously when their ads say things like, "6-7 inches of lift" and "for the most demanding terrain" referring to lift that supposedly fits a 4Runner haha

https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/2022-...2155KumwnRS5em823dpP6uwLlp58F4nBoCuWoQAvD_BwE

 

Maybe because the thread title is 'suspension setups you regret'...?

 

Does anyone have regrets on OME BP-51? Or heard of any issues? I’ve been leaning towards them for whenever I upgrade.

 

If i were to replace my suspension right now, I'd be going with Bilstein 8100/8112. These are bypass shocks that have the most adjustability of any shock on the market available for our trucks.

 

Budget mid travel
https://www.procompusa.com/product-skus/pro-x-twin-tube-shock-absorber-924750b/

 

This is one I've been considering to replace the 6112/5100 setup eventually. If nothing else, I'm happy with how the Bilsteins have held up to my abuse.

 

In my research I've only come across people saying good things about them. I probably would go with them, but they're out of budget. I want to keep this under 2k.

 

Yeah, that seems like a pretty sick setup. I just don't like this vehicle enough to spend that kind of money on it haha.

 

That's good to know. I'd already kind of discounted out the 5100 because I heard they were harsh, kind of surprising that the OME is worse. I read about how those are designed for the Australian Outback and blah blah blah, maybe you just need to carry a ton of weight to make those feel good.

 

On a budget I'd really look at Dobs and Eibach. I'm actually considering picking up a set of rears from one or the other just to compare to the Bilsteins. Dobinson seems to have a wide range of budget options and I just haven't heard anything bad about them.

 

I compared eibach to oem. Same length



I'm really interested in dobinson twin tubes to replace the eibach rears

 

Are they advertised as extended travel?

Edit: not sure what you're getting at.

 

I believe it was Tinkerer who covered this in one of his videos. Even though they're the same length, a monotube shock will have slightly longer travel than an OEM style twin tube shock by nature of their internal construction. The monotube shock has more space to allow for piston stroke than the twin tube shock.

I agree it's not a good look though. When I have my Jeep, I ran into this a lot, shocks were advertised from 0 to 3 in of lift. Made no sense to me. The last set of shocks for it i bought, I didn't go by application, I went by extended and compressed length. Spent quite a while pouring over different size charts to make my decision.

 

I'm guessing they give this as a range where the shock will ride near the middle of it's travel range. That's a lot easier to understand for most people, who don't know the extended and compressed length of their OEM shocks, or what length is needed to safely accommodate the amount of lift they want.

 

Dang that's harsh. I totally can understand selling it because of interior rattles but a uca is easily replaceable

 

I was strongly considering elkas but none of the big name shop in socal had any experience. I know they're affiliated by toytec (same manufacturer or something like that) and again the reputable shops in socal all said to avoid Toytec since they had bad experiences with their shocks

 

Plenty of positive things stated about Elka on Tacomaworld and 4Runner org forums.

 

https://suncruisermedia.com/suncruisermedia-blogs/off-road-essentials/lifted-to-perfection/
my Elka setup has stood up to harsh Canadian winter conditions, and continues to perform well. No issues. My 2018 OR has 63k Km on it and is perfect.

 

Nice to see you on here again!

 

Life has a way of interfering with your good intentions I guess. Thanks for the kind words, @2Toys

 

Yeah, those two seem like safe bets. I've gotten mixed reviews on the Eibach though. I really like the idea of the 2.0, if I do go for a winch, it's nice to be able to reset the height without removing the shock from the vehicle.

I talked to a guy with the Tacoma with the 2.0s, and he was disappointed in the stiff ride. However, I talked to somebody with the 4Runner with the same kit, and they really liked it. However, on this forum, I recently saw somebody that had the same kit that hated it and took it off. So I don't know, it's so subjective.

The Dons looks good, and I like that they have so many different options for the coil springs. I can just get in touch with Crikey Mike and I'm sure he'll set me up with exactly what I need.

The one other one that I'm intrigued by is the all dogs off-road setup. They have a 2-in Koni 82 series lift. Haven't heard too much about this, I've tried to find videos on it, and even the Australian channels don't seem to have a ton on it. You seem to be much more popular in the Nissan world, I've watched some of the Nissan stuff and everybody seems happy with the kit. I just saw that it's currently on sale, I may fight the bullet and give it a shot and report back.

https://www.alldogsoffroad.com/alld...w-koni-82-series-shocks-for-toyota-150-series

 

The only reason I'm disappointed in the eibachs, is because the rears are stock travel, but they work with 2" of lift? Which i guess is fine but kills all your downtravel. But they work great with no lift.

I think with the eibach rides firm. But every aftermarket shock firms up the ride. Instead of running eibach springs I went with dobs. They have a lighter spring(590lbs instead of 620lb eibach front springs) and oem rear spring. My 4runner has no added weight.

The eibach 2.0 coilovers have 600lb springs

 

Best bang for your buck IMO is Bilstein 6112/5160. I thought about 5100's, but my research led me to what I have now. Eventually, I'll go for Kings (When I have the money lol).

 

Thats the thing I greased them regularly and still made noise. Even with new bushings it started making noise again in a week or so.

Yes but we had sold the wifes Highlander to buy my Tundra. She thought she wanted to drive around in a lifted 4R as her daily but she realized it was a PITA for her. So the noise was it and I wasn't going to pay for stock suspension and find new rims/tires to fit stock.

 

I had the Eibach Sport Truck shocks for about 15K miles and just recently swapped into a Dobinsons IMS setup...I think the Eibach's are really hard to beat in terms of value. I had the following setups:

1) Eibach Sport Truck Shocks F/R with front set to 1.6" using the adjuster clips, on stock springs.
- Rode fairly stiff, but not miserably stiff like a Bilstein 5100 lol. I was on E-Load tires at the time too, so I may have judged it too quickly...

2) Eibach Sport Truck Shocks F/R with front set to 0" combined with a C59-300 Dobinsons spring (F) & Cornfed spacers (R).
- These rode perfectly for my needs as a daily driver, and I did several trips both on & off-road with this setup. The ride quality isn't harsh and it helped correct many of the gripes I had about the stock suspension. The ride height was also perfect IMO. I personally didn't think the Eibachs did well with the higher speed off road driving, so I always took it slow on trails, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The rear setup did better than I expected on a couple trips with 150-180lbs worth of gear in the back!
-I personally think this setup is the "goldilocks" spec for a daily driver that wants to clear 285/70's, have a comfortable ride and not break the bank.

3) Dobinsons IMS (current)
- I haven't put too many miles on this setup yet, but all around it's a much better quality suspension...but these cost significantly more than the Eibachs. IMO, they ride a bit stiffer than the Eibachs in most low speed situations, so much so that the wife has made a few comments. Luckily, the 4R is no longer my daily driver so I don't mind the stiffer setup, in fact I prefer it due to the confidence it inspires at higher driving speeds on road. High speed the IMS is fantastic in comparison to the Eibachs. I've yet to put them through their paces off road, but we're planning a trip in December so I can report back. Overall I'm happy with the upgrade.

 

Didn't like Wheeler's T13 rear coils. They rode nice with no load but after a year they had lost 3/4 inch height and would sag way too easily with any cargo weight added. The OME2895 coils have been much better. Note that i have 3rd row seat which adds about 100lb itself over the back wheels.

Undecided on Dirt King UCA. Need to grease bushings and torque main bolt every 6 months or so to keep it tight. Gets play and make annoying knocking sound over bumps otherwise.

Really like Bilstein 6112 and 5160 combo.

 

How did the Ironman FCP's compare to the TRD Pro Fox shocks? Deciding between the Ironman and OME BP-51s.

 

Ironman FCP handle on road bumps and cracks better than TRD Pro Fox. Same story for gravel roads / easy trails. I did a very basic fles test and looks to me Ironman FCP had more flex too. But it was just 1 rock on a spot, not at a proper trails.

I don't think Ironman FCP can match OME BP51. If it didn't have a big price gap I would have got OME BP51. The only problem I saw on OME BP51 is not easy to adjust in front and rear shock turns when adjusting.

I trust you must have included suspension like ELKA 2.5DC, Fox 2.5 DSC, King 2.5A, Dobinson MRR 3ways in your search.

Edit-
Just minor points, on my Ironman FCP i have reduced the front preload from factory height 2.5 to 2.25ish and instead or original 2in rear springs I used 1.5in springs. My Limited is 5060lbs. So extra weight might have contributed a better ride vs my TRD Pro is 5000lbs with full skids and sliders.

 

I looked at the ELKA, Fox, Kings and Dobinsons but ultimately settled on either Ironman or the BP51s as I can get them from a local shop which is what I would prefer to do. I like the idea of being able to rebuild the ironman in my garage vs sending the BP51s out to be rebuilt. The 4runner will be my daily driver (I drive 400 miles a week on pavement for work) and will be used for over landing and general exploring on the weekends.

 

Now with the 6112/5160. Did you guys go with the trd spec shocks?