I have a "normal/sport" button for, I assume, the shocks on my cruiser. There is a electrical conection on the top of my shocks as well, which, I assume, is for this system. The button doesnt seem to work (light doesnt come on). I havent checked for a fuse yet. Does this stiffen the shocks, and will this effect my choices when replacing the shocks?
That button does stiffen up the suspension, and if you change the shocks and there not the factory electric ones you'll just have to use normal ones, but if you like the adjustability, go with the rancho 9000xs. There nine way adjustable and for a few extra bucks you can make them adjustable from in the cab .
I never saw the light come on in my LJ78 either. I only played with the button a few times before I added a lift and RS9000s. Before I added the lift my shock control button always stayed in "normal" mode. Not a whole lot of sport mode to be done in a LJ78.
However, after adding the lift (4.5") the RS900s did well to help make the LJ78 stable and drive like caddy. At first I had the shocks set at a soft ride setting. In the front this was ok, in the rear it caused quite a bit of body roll. After a few tries at adjusting the shocks I ended up with adjusting the rear shocks to about 80% stiffness and left the front soft. Drove like a dream and was a much better ride than the OEM suspension that came out.
I'm quite sure you will have little to no trouble finding a good set of replacement shocks for your cruiser that are not Prado OEM adjustable. If I remember correctly the OEM adjustable shocks were very very expensive to replace from Toyota. Best bet is take one of your adjustable shocks off from the front and one from the rear and take those to the parts store for a reference guide. IIRC the front and rear where not the same mounting system. Should be no problem matching them up to a comparable after market set of shocks.
