Just got my ride and I have been spending all weekend detailing and tuning her.
1996 with 111000 miles. Shocks are orginal. Any reason why I should not replace them? I am not doing a lift, just stock height. Should I also do the steering shock at the same time?
I was thinking the same thing. I just got mine, it too is 10 years old, time to replace shocks. But if it was never wheeled, I'm not sure the ride would be any better with a new set of bilsteins.
Ignore all the suggestions to get aftermarket shocks. I don't know why I'm going to pos this for the umpteenth time, but here goes.
I am a former Product Planner for GM and Lexus/Toyota. Shock absorbers are carefully tuned to a vehicle's particular suspension geometry, spring rate, roll center, mass, center of gravity, etc. Buying aftermarket shocks, means you're getting generic settings that are absolutely, definitely NOT specifically tuned for your vehicle. No shock maker has even 1/100th the budget to do that.
People see the cool ads for Bilsteins, etc and replace their tired shocks and think the Bilsteins are the 'best ever'. I'm here to tell you we have done consumer testing and we could have put new shocks from Outer Mongolia on a person's worn out car and they'd rave. It's a 'change' so it's good. But they have no idea how good the vehicle COULD have handled again if they'd put new factory shock on them because they're victims of the Bilstein marketing campaign.
Take some good and sound advice. Call Cdan and order 4 factory LandCruiser shock absorbers. They're perfectly matched to your vehicle's every aspect. They're very high end shocks which you'll find when you take the old ones off and they still cycle smoothly. I think Tokico makes them - great stuff. Heck, the rear shocks even have a welded on integrated gravel guard. You'll spend about $100 for all four and they'll fit perfectly.
Not to disagree at all but. I replaced my worn shocks with OEMs. The ride was better than the worn shocks, but I was not satisfied. So after 5-7k miles I replaced with them with Billys. Oh by the way I can sell you my OEM after 5-7k miles if you want them. The ride was improved alot over the OEMS. Cornering on sharp turns typically the truck leans quite a bit, that is now gone. Last week I spent two days in the mountains on curvy roads, the ride was greatly improved. The truck moves over the bumps alot smoother now.. It actually feels like it sets up a little higher as a bonus. Hey everybody likes something differant, I want a smoother ride and got it. Steering is improved also. I had a feeling it would be after putting them on my Runner. My Runner has 325K and rides incredibly well now. I've read alot about OMUs too and decided there was a shock out there that would probably make the ride smoother than both OEM, and OMUs. I personally think it is Bilsteins. Just my very humble opinion.
Yes, there has been many posts on this topic. Doug, didn't know you were in the auto business...
JDITOM, your call. When you do change shocks, post it with your findings!!!
Just go with the OEM shocks if you arent going to hook up the suspension heavily. By doing that, you will save some good $$$. Well for my 92, OEM shocks costed $30 each. I think they are made by tokico. My originale ones lasted for 143k miles before they started to leak and the ride was starting to get bad.
Question:
After 10 years, how are the springs doing?
I ask this because when I first lifted my 80 (it was 8 years old), I went from stock to a 2.5 medium lift. The ride improved a lot.
It drove a lot nicer than the wavy, soft, unresponsive suspension that it had. I wonder in your case, if the springs should be changed as well.
I would go for the .5" lift from Old Man Emu and their shocks.
Question:
After 10 years, how are the springs doing?
I ask this because when I first lifted my 80 (it was 8 years old), I went from stock to a 2.5 medium lift. The ride improved a lot.
It drove a lot nicer than the wavy, soft, unresponsive suspension that it had. I wonder in your case, if the springs should be changed as well.
I would go for the .5" lift from OME and their shocks.
I have a set of new Toyota OEM shocks and haven't put them on yet.. debating whether I want to use them or get some Bilsteins in conjuction with a small lift...
Question:
After 10 years, how are the springs doing?
I ask this because when I first lifted my 80 (it was 8 years old), I went from stock to a 2.5 medium lift. The ride improved a lot.
It drove a lot nicer than the wavy, soft, unresponsive suspension that it had. I wonder in your case, if the springs should be changed as well.
I would go for the .5" lift from Old Man Emu and their shocks.
Take some good and sound advice. Call Cdan and order 4 factory LandCruiser shock absorbers. They're perfectly matched to your vehicle's every aspect. They're very high end shocks which you'll find when you take the old ones off and they still cycle smoothly. I think Tokico makes them - great stuff. Heck, the rear shocks even have a welded on integrated gravel guard. You'll spend about $100 for all four and they'll fit perfectly.
I respect your experience, and I think you are dead on if you want to return your vehicle to its stock characteristics (although at 10 years I think you need to replace all wear components to accomplish this). The idea of "perfectly matched" implies that the stock characteristics are the most desirable possible for every type of usage, which is impossible. In the North American market, SUV's are almost univerally tuned to be too soft, because "ride" is paramount for those four wheel drive commutes with lattes in tow.
What shocks does Toyota use for other markets that aren't so "soft"? What do you do if you don't want such a soft ride? OME has a stock suspension replacement kit to create a firmer ride, and those shocks should be tuned to the spring rate since it is an OME kit. Is this undesirable? Why?
People like Bilstein because their truck shocks are compression valve biased, rather than attempting to control rebound as so many shocks do. For years, Jeep used to offer Bilstein and/or Bilstein knockoff shocks as part of their "Up Country" package. The gas shocks and stiffer springs offered an enormous performance advantage over the too-soft stock suspensions - it was a sport package much more than an offroad package. So which one was the perfect match? Neither, of course
I will make a generic statement of my own. Solid axle vehicles with a large amount of unsprung weight tend to work very well with gas charged shocks with high compression valving. This type of shock lessens lean and a reliance on the swaybars to control that lean, and helps keep suspension snap on uneven surfaces under control by limiting a need to control rebound. Whether this is relevant to you depends entirely on you usage and whether you care to take over the primary engineering role on your 10 year old rig.
IMHO - after 10 years the coils are tired too! I replaced the shocks only first, Rancho 9000's. Ride improved alot! About a year later I replaced the coils with OME 861/862. WOW! What a drastic improvement.
Do both the shocks and coils while you are under there and you are good for another 10 years. In retrospect, wish I'd just done both at the same time.
