Bilsteins for the 200 (1 Viewer)

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I did the testing for Brian, We tested three rear shocks and could not find an affordable solution. Nothing I tried matched the front and I had a lot of rear bounce.
Shoot - I'm also planning the Tundra front swap and this is a concern of mine. What does "affordable" mean in this context? What makes the 6112's so unique that a complimentary rear shock/spring set up is difficult to find?
 
To be fair... there weren't a whole lot of combinations tested by Arich/Jowett that I thought was a broad enough sampling to make this statement true: "We tested three rear shocks and could not find an affordable solution. Nothing I tried matched the front and I had a lot of rear bounce." For starters, Arich was trying to keep a relatively stock height and ride quality for on-road use only. My application is lifted, for off-road use (both slow and fast desert) while keeping on-road performance on par with stock. I think OEM springs (especially in the rear) were used in most tested applications? Also didn't use UCAs until down the road, and I don't believe he has the Tundra front conversion, and lastly the Bilsteins were of the 4600/5100 variety, IMO both options a large step down from the 6112s. Tundra conversion w/ 6112s on the front should be money.

For the rears I was just talking w/ an 80s guy in my local TLCA club, he's had a few different trucks and for the most part always ran basic Old Man Emu setups, he's currently running the Fox 2.0s at all 4 corners, w/ OME springs in the rear. Directly compared to the OME Nitrochargers his feeling was the Fox were not as rough and had a better ride quality to them, loved the Fox/OME rear combo.

So we'll see... but I can let you know soon @NLScooby as I should start installation as soon as the my 6112s arrive next week.

Also, if anyone is exploring the Tundra conversion route, and is taken back by retail $$ for the OEM parts consider finding a shop that does long travel kits, find some "new-ish" take-offs. I was able to score OEM parts that came off new Tundra's and were pulled before ever leaving the lot. Costs about half to do it this way vs retail. I have a great shop near me that seems to have parts often (not the CV axles, but you can find these at wrecking lots and just rebuild and replace dust shields as needed), if anyone needs help sourcing parts PM me and I can keep a watch out.
 
To be fair... there weren't a whole lot of combinations tested by Arich/Jowett that I thought was a broad enough sampling to make this statement true: "We tested three rear shocks and could not find an affordable solution. Nothing I tried matched the front and I had a lot of rear bounce." For starters, Arich was trying to keep a relatively stock height and ride quality for on-road use only. My application is lifted, for off-road use (both slow and fast desert) while keeping on-road performance on par with stock. I think OEM springs (especially in the rear) were used in most tested applications? Also didn't use UCAs until down the road, and I don't believe he has the Tundra front conversion, and lastly the Bilsteins were of the 4600/5100 variety, IMO both options a large step down from the 6112s. Tundra conversion w/ 6112s on the front should be money.

For the rears I was just talking w/ an 80s guy in my local TLCA club, he's had a few different trucks and for the most part always ran basic Old Man Emu setups, he's currently running the Fox 2.0s at all 4 corners, w/ OME springs in the rear. Directly compared to the OME Nitrochargers his feeling was the Fox were not as rough and had a better ride quality to them, loved the Fox/OME rear combo.

So we'll see... but I can let you know soon @NLScooby as I should start installation as soon as the my 6112s arrive next week.

Also, if anyone is exploring the Tundra conversion route, and is taken back by retail $$ for the OEM parts consider finding a shop that does long travel kits, find some "new-ish" take-offs. I was able to score OEM parts that came off new Tundra's and were pulled before ever leaving the lot. Costs about half to do it this way vs retail. I have a great shop near me that seems to have parts often (not the CV axles, but you can find these at wrecking lots and just rebuild and replace dust shields as needed), if anyone needs help sourcing parts PM me and I can keep a watch out.
Thanks @Mogwai . I am one of those taken back by the costs of new OEM parts. I will go try to find a shop or two that have done long travel kits on Tundras. I used to live in So. Cal where it seems this conversion is done more often than out here in N. Carolina. More high speed stuff out there in the desert!
I got an excellent set of LCA's from Brian Jowett and so now I'm looking for axles. I found new for $700 pair, or some crazy aftermarket ones (new) for under $100 each. Not sure if its worth the risk. I'd rather have factory parts! If you see some near new axles - let me know!
 
I decided to go used OEM vs new aftermarket on the CVs. Too many reports of people using non-OEM CVs (not necessarily in the 200 section) and them breaking too easily. There are a ton on eBay, i went through "counselmanauto" and found a set off a truck (that still ran) w/ 35k miles, it was most likely a flood insurance claim. Parts were in great shape, cost me $150 for both, and another $85 to replace the dust shields and clip rings.

And you're right, lots more shops down here doing long travel kits (the one I'm speaking of is actually a Toyota Dealer who sells the trucks and then does the work before the truck ever leaves the lot).
 
What have you done to your 200 Series this week?

I had Bilstein 6112s for a while and several different Rear Bilsteins including these 5165 with a remote res.
Brian supplied me with everything so I have no cross to burn. With the STOCK front suspension installation was a bear. They're longer than the OEM struts so you have to drop the front A-Arms and the jack them back into place. With the Tundra Front suspension these should be wonderful. They gave me a 3-4 inch lift in the front which was too high for my garage. PIC HERE
https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/image-jpeg.1231330/
I think if you went with a high quality rear shock that is built for a Land Cruiser then you should be fine. Brian was trying to find something off the Bilstein shelves to keep the kit cost low. They all were not 200 Land Cruiser Shocks. Some were meant for other, lighter toyota trucks so they bounced. The combinations that I tested just didn't work for me and felt unbalanced front to rear. I briefly had the 6122s and the BP51 rears. This was a really nice combo but had already committed to the BP51 setup and Brian wanted me to send the full 6122 setup off to Boston.

So far I have tried
Stock
Bilstein 4600 Stock Springs
RadFlo, stock rear springs
Koni 90 Raids, Stock Springs
Bilstein 6112, 5165 rears with OME 2721 Springs
Bilstein 6112, BP51 Rears, 2721 Springs
BP51 with 5mm of preset and 2721 rear springs (Installed SPC UPPERS at this point)
BP51 with 0mm of preset and the 2720. This was my favorite setup.
and now
Koni 90 Raids with King Springs of Australia KTFL130 Front and KTFL131 rears. It's very LOW. New Springs are on their way from Australia. I do love the Koni 90s
BP51s are back at ARB for an update (shims I think)
I think that's all............

IMG_5875 (1).JPG


FullSizeRender (1).jpg
 
What have you done to your 200 Series this week?

I had Bilstein 6112s for a while and several different Rear Bilsteins including these 5165 with a remote res.
Brian supplied me with everything so I have no cross to burn. With the STOCK front suspension installation was a bear. They're longer than the OEM struts so you have to drop the front A-Arms and the jack them back into place. With the Tundra Front suspension these should be wonderful. They gave me a 3-4 inch lift in the front which was too high for my garage. PIC HERE
https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/image-jpeg.1231330/
I think if you went with a high quality rear shock that is built for a Land Cruiser then you should be fine. Brian was trying to find something off the Bilstein shelves to keep the kit cost low. They all were not 200 Land Cruiser Shocks. Some were meant for other, lighter toyota trucks so they bounced. The combinations that I tested just didn't work for me and felt unbalanced front to rear. I briefly had the 6122s and the BP51 rears. This was a really nice combo but had already committed to the BP51 setup and Brian wanted me to send the full 6122 setup off to Boston.

So far I have tried
Stock
Bilstein 4600 Stock Springs
RadFlo, stock rear springs
Koni 90 Raids, Stock Springs
Bilstein 6112, 5165 rears with OME 2721 Springs
Bilstein 6112, BP51 Rears, 2721 Springs
BP51 with 5mm of preset and 2721 rear springs (Installed SPC UPPERS at this point)
BP51 with 0mm of preset and the 2720. This was my favorite setup.
and now
Koni 90 Raids with King Springs of Australia KTFL130 Front and KTFL131 rears. It's very LOW. New Springs are on their way from Australia. I do love the Koni 90s
BP51s are back at ARB for an update (shims I think)
I think that's all............

View attachment 1427236

View attachment 1427237
Haha that's all you've tried?!? Awesome. Yeah I couldn't find a clean list like that previously, maybe I missed it that its very helpful to see what you've tried.

Set the level on the 6112s to be a notch below max, and I think w/ the longer arms I shouldn't see such a drastic lift as you did. 3" would be nice, 4" will be too much.
 
@Mogwai and @NLScooby, when doing the Tundra swap, adding the passenger side linkage from the lower control arm to the sway bar from a Tundra will make reassembly much easier. I ran the LC linkage at first and it sits at an awkward angle. The Tundra link has a bend in it that seems to fit better.
Scoob, find OEM cv axles. Ebay and junkyards are clutch in doing this swap on the cheap.
If using the higher spring clip position on the bilstiens gives a harsh ride, try lowering the spring clip to take some of the preload out of the spring, and add the Toyota spacer on top of the coilover. this will give you the same height, but without all the spring preload. probably more important for Mog, doing high speed desert stuff out in Cali.
Post up pics when you get them done.
 
Damn arich, it didn't really sink in viewing your earlier pic, that 200 is a "low rider".
 
@Mogwai and @NLScooby, when doing the Tundra swap, adding the passenger side linkage from the lower control arm to the sway bar from a Tundra will make reassembly much easier. I ran the LC linkage at first and it sits at an awkward angle. The Tundra link has a bend in it that seems to fit better.
Scoob, find OEM cv axles. Ebay and junkyards are clutch in doing this swap on the cheap.
If using the higher spring clip position on the bilstiens gives a harsh ride, try lowering the spring clip to take some of the preload out of the spring, and add the Toyota spacer on top of the coilover. this will give you the same height, but without all the spring preload. probably more important for Mog, doing high speed desert stuff out in Cali.
Post up pics when you get them done.
Thank you for the tips, sir! I'm just collecting parts and info now. It'll be a bit before I actually get into tearing it apart. A friend of mine has the 6112's on his Tundra and he replaced the spring with a taller one to be able to reduce the preload and still get the height....
Lots if options! I just wish I could score all the parts you found on CL! There is nothing out here!
 
Damn arich, it didn't really sink in viewing your earlier pic, that 200 is a "low rider".

Ordered King Springs from Australia, Figured their heights estimates for exaggerated like OEM. NOPE, they were spot on. Truck handles well now too.
Going to use these for a while then order another set of Kings when I figure things out. I'm in the middle of a boat rewire so I'm a bit tied up.
 
posted elsewhere, but I just had Bilstein 4600's installed on my '14 LC w 99K miles. replaced the OEM shocks. Kept stock springs. 100% improvement in ride and handling. can't recommend enough, especially if you're not planning a suspension lift.
 
Nice. Big improvement over stock right?
 
Nice. Big improvement over stock right?
absolutely yes. the LC eats bumps and feels much more sure footed. greatly reduced lean and nose dive under turning and braking. Add in the OEM front strut spacers at the same time since the struts will get rebuilt anyway...
 
absolutely yes. the LC eats bumps and feels much more sure footed. greatly reduced lean and nose dive under turning and braking. Add in the OEM front strut spacers at the same time since the struts will get rebuilt anyway...
Do you have any pictures of your LC? What position did you leave the collar in?
 

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