Fox, Bilstein, King??? What do you have?

Im brand new to 4Runners and have a 2016 that I'm currently researching my next suspension set up purchase for. Does anyone have a set up rig they'd take me on a ride along in? I've done fox on a Tundra before, but my 4Runner feels night and day from that. I'm in the Scottsdale area and will be more than happy to wear a mask and gloves if you'd prefer!

Cheers!

 

I'm very happy with my Bilsteins. But, I might go with King next time around.

Do you visit Wisconsin often?

 

Thanks for the feedback, I've never been but definitely on the list!

 

Cool! I can't give you a ride being so distant, but I can tell you that the Bilsteins are very much what I expected with a digressive shock. They're pretty rigid, but soak up bigger bumps well. The 4runner feels very sturdy on the road.

 

I have Eibachs that are ok, not the best I've ran. Next time i'm thinking Elka. reviews are similar to King only for us snow birds the Elka will hold up to the elements better

 

I have Kings, I’ve also had Bilsteins. If you have the money I’d do kings. There’s no comparison to ride quality IMO

 

A lot of it comes down to budget, what you do with your 4R, and what your ride preference is.

I typically run Fox, and I usually order from Accutune Offroad, as they offer free custom tuning for many of the shocks/coil overs they sell. I’m also a fan of ADS, as they’re made to very high standards.

There’s a fairly noticeable difference between an off the shelf tune and a tune setup for your preferences and rig. Especially when you add compression adjusters as well, for a bit more range and on the fly adjustability. For instance, I usually keep mine on the lowest/softest setting; but if I’m ever carrying more stuff/weight, or find myself feeling like a bobber on the water going over some small whoops, I can crank them up a bit to compensate.

 

I've got Kings but have heard good things about ADS and Fox too. Spring rate is a part of the decision as well. Bombing the AZ desert with minimal gear? 550 to 600 #s for the COs.
Winch bumper and extended trips with lots of gear? You may want to go a litter stiffer.
Rear springs come in heavy duty rates for this as well.
And then your tuning gurus will set you up for the type of weight you'll be carrying.
Good luck!

 

Bilstein 6112 & 5160's is the best compromise between performance and value imo

 

Ironman foam cell pro. Great value, and unmatched customer service and warranty.

 

I have ELKA. There’s a thread here on it entitled ELKA. I’m happy to answer any questions about it. It’s a great system, on par and in some ways better than King.

 

fixed it for you.

 

Sorry Antman thanks for the correction but that’s not what I said. I didn’t say they are better than king. I said in some ways they are better than king and in some ways they are it’s a fact not an opinion.

 

fixed it again!

 

Kings, they were my first choice but impatience won and I went with Fox. Great shocks, just not what I wanted when I started my project. Don’t settle is my best advice, build it they way you want it..

 

Thanks for your editorial assistance, Antman. If you take a minute to compare ELKA and King, rather than trying to rewrite what I am saying, you will easily notice several areas where ELKAS are better than King. Of course, overall, who knows, short of a bona fide test? They’re both good. Imho, of course.

 

I'm sure there are pros and cons to either one. But, you probably can't go wrong either way. It might come down to where you off-road and what type of off-roading you do.

Also, I think both might be total overkill for people who don't off-road much. But, that's just an opinion. There's nothing wrong with just wanting a top of the line setup.

I definitely think ELKA is worth looking at if you're going for a premium setup. Are they rebuildable?

 

Yes, definitely they are. Although according to an ELKA engineer I spoke with when I asked that question, they don’t need rebuilding with any regularity, and are designed to go a long time.
I think the issue of overkill is another way of saying cost. Everyone’s personal priorities are different, and some are willing to compromise performance to save money. Sometimes the only goal is to lift the vehicle. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a choice. But strictly in terms of performance, it’s always nice to improve something, significantly, in the case of replacing a mediocre OEM set up with a better one.

 

Not that it really matters for DDs, but are there any desert or ultra 4 teams using Elka? Like Fox shocks have been around forever in the MX world, but King changed the game in desert truck racing in the 90s. Then Fox and ADS followed. At least that is what my research showed me. That said, Fox's DSC system really sounds like a step above it all for DDs.

 

For sure, ELKA is a small company that has made a name for itself in racing motorcycles and atvs in Canada but not desert truck racing yet, as far as I am aware. I’m sure they’d love to do that, but I don’t work for them, and I don’t know the ins and outs of big time racing. I suspect it takes deep pockets as much as engineering acumen, and they’re a small company in Quebec. I really like King, and ELKA, besides being well engineered and high quality products, they are made here in North America which means a lot to me.

 

One thing that turns me off from Elka is the 700lb spring rate on their 4Runner coilovers.

I don't have any extra weight, so having that kind of spring rate sounds way overkill for my application.

Compare that to the 550lb spring rate from King for the stock 4Runner.........and all the positive reviews of how nice they ride.

That's a big difference for a stock application.

 

That’s interesting that you say that, Nimby. I really didn’t like the soft spring rate of the OEM front coils, although for high speed off roading, they’re probably great. I don’t do anything off road at a high speed, and there aren’t many deserts in Canada, haha. I’m the slowest guy on the trail. What’s amazing is that you would think 700 springs would be rough, but they’re far from it. It depends how they’re set up with the shock. In my case it’s a 2.5 IFP, pretty massive compared to stock. I can guarantee you that if you drove my 4 Runner on a rough road and didn’t know the front spring rate you wouldn’t be able to guess it. It’s a nice comfortable ride and a firm predictable cornering and braking experience. I do have 102lbs extra on the front, though, it made no difference to the stock set up, so I don’t notice on the ELKA set up either. It’s a Warn winch and a Victory Blitz aluminum bumper.

 

It's not so much a compromise, as realizing that you don't need a $4K suspension for how you use your vehicle.

The suspension can be improved for much less, leaving money for things like tires, armor, and recovery gear that you'll surely need if you're going to put those shocks to work.


Of course, a set of 2.5" shocks with remote reservoirs will outperform a more basic setup, but some folks will never drive them hard enough to notice the difference. For those that do, the premium setup makes sense.

After saying all of this, I still might upgrade in a few years. But, this will be for a set custom tuned to my 4runner. It's probably not worth it for an off-the-shelf shock tuned to a stock 4runner when I consistently carry a few hundred LBS of armor and recovery gear.

 

I was just light hard idly teasing you. I’ve read up between kings and Elskas. If I lived in a harsh weather environment I’d consider Elka. However I’m not personally sold on the aluminum body Elka uses, the 3/4” shorter travel, lack of long travel and relocate options. The 3/4” shock shafts compared to the 7/8th shock shaft king uses. I will say from researching ELKA makes a good product and supersedes in the category of corrosion to the others with the coating and boot to prevent pitting. However at the end of the day I’d still pick king.

edit:after reading more into it, if I ran Elkas I’d more than likely run the reservoirs with my scs 10’s and 5’s with my backspacing. So that’s honestly a deal breaker imo.

 

Good comparison
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/everything-elka-and-how-they-compare.592209/

 

The one piece coil preload adjustment ring on the Elka vs the two piece on the King, is another design difference.

 

I went Icon Stage 2 but used SPC UCA instead of the Icon UCA. Pretty happy, but customer service is not the best. In all honesty I love the color of the Kings and they are obviously popular. On my next build I will either use Kings or Ironman. Ironman is big in Australia and they have their US shop here in Wilsonville, OR. They are starting to get a good following and the couple of people I have talked to have been very happy with the product and the company as a whole.

 

I'm running Bilstein's now, but will probably upgrade to Icon in the future. that being said, very happy how the Bilsteins run!

 

Nail on the head. I think a lot if people think the need 4-8k in suspension and tires to hit gravel roads... you dont. Its their money, I dont really care.

I've done a ton of research. Ironman sells what appears to be quality parts for a fraction of the price of the big name guys. Extremely reasonable 2.5 lift, pre assembled fronts with UCAs and multiple soring rate options is the way to go.

As you said, ill upgrade soon as personal preference. Ive put my stock ORP is some shitty situations and she did just fine. I don't need a lift im just looking for more heavy duty parts and you dont have to spend $5k to do that. Mostly I just have mechanical sympathy for the stock setup sometimes but its never failed me, ever.

 

I went with 6112/5160 Bilstein setup. Quite pleased with the results, and I never plan to be needing anything more substantial than that. Granted I'm more into "exploring" than I am crawling, or bombing down fire roads at high speed. Blue level trails are my comfort zone.