2004 SR5 V6 Strut and shock replacement

Hello, I just bought a beautiful 2004 SR5 V6 $runner, 4spd. 140K. OMG, I love this vehicle, runs like new. Because of mileage I would like to replace the front struts and rear shocks. I do very little offroading, and when I do it is on National Forest type roads. I have been reading about Bilstein 5100 adjustable struts as well as KYB struts, GR2? So for a nice street and reasonable dirt road ride what are your tips. I am in Seattle area. I was quoted by a local outfit Big O tires that has done nice brake work, alignments and tires on other cars. They quoted a special for $650 including front struts, rear shocks and 4 wheel alignment. I will call back and get brand. Your thoughts and results? Thanks, Ian

 

i also have an 04 v6 sr5 with 140k on it! I replaced my stock suspension with 5100s about 20k ago and i absolutely love the way it rides, and it was not very expensive to purchase the shocks and i did the install myself. was under $300 to buy the shocks, and i replaced my springs at the same time so i could lift the vehicle. i can imagine if you supplied the shop with the shocks it could be done for around the same $650-$750 price point

 

5100's and OME coils to lift a bit. We've got them on the wife's 05 and it has worked well for a budget lift

 

Hey Thanks Eric. I am probably gonna do the KYB struts and shocks at stock height. So do you offroad? I only do light off offroading, for camping and believe it or not we go Sasquatching here in the Olympic Mts. Basically camping and hiking with some added fun. So what was your reason for added heiht, wheeling or looks? and thanks brother. Have you done any tranny servicing? it looks like this one was done 3 years and 10K miles ago. This car is a beauty and want to keep it that way. Cheers from Seattle. Ian.

 

If you aren't going to really wheel it, then you should be fine with just 5100s all the way around with stock springs. You can do the first notch on the front 5100 to get a more leveled look. If you decide you're going to wheel it though and decide to put a lift on it you're going to want something with a longer length than the 5100 can provide. Under 1.5" I think you'll be fine, but if you hit the 2" in the rear then you'll run into issues.

 

Thanks, I don't understand about a more leveled look. I have only had the car a few days. Is the 4runner not level at stock? Thanks

 

the only wheeling i do is pretty mild, i live in new england so any wheeling is rocky and slow, and the 5100s have been just fine with FJ springs and icon rear springs, i find it to be pretty good offroad even though i still have a front sway bar. I lifted mine partially for looks, but mostly for going offroad and increased ground clearance. I haven't done anything with the tranny aside from adding a trans cooler and a scan gauge II so i can monitor temps because i tow pretty often, other than that nothing aside from adding a little fluid. A little maintenance on these will go a long way!

 

It's leveled, but if you look at it from the side there's a rake so it looks like the rear is higher than the front. You can level the front to make them look more even.

 

Thanks for the replies! It looks like I will go with KYB Excel-g at this point. $240 total online.