Icon vs Radflo vs OME vs Bilstein and the service requirements

[Bluetribal]

Oh wow! Glad I asked. So how awesome is the ride? Worth all that coin?

 

[NMBruce]

I think the ride is just a little rougher than stock and I am very happy with it, I had stock set at sport. Also I did the HD, because I thought I would have a metal bumper on the back when they where installed. I haven't had a chance to take it off road and so I don't know how well it will perform there and this is where I was told they shine. Since I haven't been in a GX470 with OME or Blisteins, I can not compare it to them. Do I think it is worth the coin, yes. these shocks are huge and I hope by going to the 2.5 all the way around, it will give me a long life between rebuilds. I like OME (had them on my Rubicon with MetalCloak lift) and heard good stuff about Bilsteins, but I did these for the long travel, which the other 2 do not have. I did Radflo over Icon, because of Icon's rebuild requirements and that is if you follow their guide on the rebuild.

I also did the pan hard bar and upper & lower control arms to ensure a good alignment, why spend the money on springs and shocks and not complete the rear system. Not sure where, but I saw a picture of the icon rear shin guards and they where really pitted and if they werent there, then it would of been the shock tube and the reason for them.

 

[NMBruce]

One thing I wish these had was more up travel in the rear

 

[gary j sbraccia]

Basically my thought and build went like this. I wanted similar to stock spring rate but about 2 inch's taller then stock. I knew if I stayed around that number I would not need new Upper Control arms which are expensive for the cost benefit anasazis. I would rather have sliders and armor then the extra .75 inch they allow. The Stock Springs on a PRADO (thats not our Lexus GX470) is 605. I have never seen any report on what our Lexus Spring rate actually is. 4Runners are in the 580 range for the V6. OME is 590lb and Eibach is 620lb. I did not want softer. A heavy truck pitching around was not my goal. And I did not want stiffer valving trying to control a light spring but heavy truck. So 620 was the choice. Most coil springs makers use 25lbs increases on their off the shelf coil springs. 620 is close enough to 605 for me. Orion and I talked via PM. He said his really did ride pretty nice with the Eibach 112-620 fronts and Hyperflex rear (not the HD). I was going to get the OME Sport with the comfort valving. I talked to the sales guy at Wheelers to order. I told him my goal of comfort vs some artificial high lift. OME vs Bilstein. No Preload for better comfort. He suggested the cheaper Bilstein and no preload and then add a spacer lift above the strut if I wanted more lift. I used the Metal Tech DIY kit in the rear, Went to amazon for the Upper Spring Seat Isolators. That saved a couple bucks over Metal Techs full kit. I had Wheelers Install the springs using new top hats etc. Using the bottom perch. That was on "sale" when I did it. To me it was worth the money over doing it myself and ordering a ton of parts and doing it myself. You can rent a spring compressor from AutoZone if you want for free. I think that is it.

For people who want a smooth riding Lexus GX470 I would duplicate my setup in a heartbeat. To me its perfect. Valving is light years better then my 80K mile 04 shocks. Its smooth and controlled. It does not bounce. It does not bottom out (unlike the stock). It is not harsh at all. I used to build Long Travel lowering setups for Nissan DD/Track Cars in the late 90s and 2000's. I used Koni's exclusively and added travel while lowering the car. They rode great. I wanted a pure WIN/WIN like those setups I built. I feel like I hit the goal perfectly.

Thanks Orion for answering my questions via pm.

So to summarize
Bilstein 5100. Bottom perch setting.
Eibach/Toytec 112-620 Front Springs
Toytec Hyperflex Rear Spring (not HD)
Metal Tech DIY rear air delete kit.
48302-35040 Spring Seat Isolator

Amazon and find "Genuine Toyota 48302-35040 Spring Seat Sub-Assembly" Or just that part number
4Runner Lift Kit & Accessories - 2003 - 2009
Suspension
'05 GX470 "build"...

i was about to buy an OME setup for my 2005 gx but after reading this I might just do what you did. We want the same result
thanks for the info