Rear Shocks

[fantic]

Drove my wife's GX last night for the first time in a month and noticed the rear shocks are toast. The air bags are good. Looking to just replace the shocks unless the best option is to do a spring conversion. It's hers not mine. She wants the stock ride. Can I just do shocks and unplug the sensors?

 

[GXO]

You can, but it will error. You can also do stock height springs with upgraded shocks for the same impact.

 

[ChiTown]

Check eBay, I've seen a set of OEM shocks for about 50% off

 

[Scat Adams]

Depending on how many miles you have and how long you plan on keeping the truck, my opinion would be to replace the airbags, bc they will fail eventually. I'd do the spring conversion kit along with a stock or similar height rear springs with whatever shocks fit your bill. Good luck!

 

[fantic]

So if I do a spring conversion and use regular shocks how do I keep it from throwing codes?

 

[SouthernSS]

pull the relay and fuse in the egnine compartment

 

[fantic]

Recommendations for a stock lift and ride?

 

[langsen]

I replaced my OEM shocks with 4Runner shocks (48530-80372) over a year ago. The rear shock actuators have been unplugged since then and I have not seen any error lights on the dash. If I scan for codes in the suspension control ECU I can see that the rear actuators are disconnected, but like I said no visible error lights.

That said, the ride is still terrible. Slightly better than the dead OEM shocks but still bad. Other stuff I tried: I replaced the rear airbags and saw no improvement, turns out the old ones were still ok at 150k miles. Adjusting the rear ride height sensors for a very slight lift (+1/2" or so) made the ride a bit better but I would rather have the stock height. Greasing the slipjoint in the rear driveshaft actually seemed to have improve the ride slightly. Also, I think a shorter bump stop would help, since the stock one only allows 1" of travel, but then if an airbag blows out suddenly there is nothing to hold the rear end up, not a great option; I haven't tried it but I hear they do it in Australia.

So I am in the same situation as you, would like stock lift and stock ride but not sure how to go about it at reasonable cost. I was actually considering replacing the oil in all four OEM shocks but that idea has not been met with much enthusiasm.

 

[little_joe]

FWIW I did the rear coil spring conversion using 2010 FJC coils and it's right around stock height, no more than 1/4" difference above stock. I don't think it rides all that great (I did Radflo up front + rear Radflo shocks), but it is a cost-effective option........

 

[ChiTown]

I'm using 08' 4runner coils and fox shocks, rides great, replaced bump stops with 08' 4runner also.

 

[The Great Him]

unplugging the shocks or swapping shocks to another none OE shock does not throw a code. i did this with my bilsteins and icon shocks and never had any codes! the shocks and the AHC/air suspension are totally different.

 

[fantic]

Would you happen to have the part number of the Bilsteins, Fox or Icons?

 

[ChiTown]

There are quite a few options, check out:
Remember 4Runner is 120 chassis also

Toyota Prado 120 2009-2003 Rear Shock - 2.0 Performance Series Reservoir - CD Adjuster Smooth Body Shock | FOX

ICON Toyota 4Runner 2.5 Series Shocks - ICON Vehicle Dynamics

Bilstein, Innovation and High Quality Since 1873

 

[wingysataday]

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Metal Tech 4x4 Toyota Off Road Specialists