OT: 4WD Shocks?

[medici]

Yes, way off topic, but this is a very diverse group.

I have an '86 Toyota 4WD which I drive to Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and other wonderful corners of the Southwest. My shocks (I believe they're stock) are shot and I'm investigating replacements. I drive to get from point A to point B on sometimes very rough dirt roads. I don't boulder crawl or go where the driving is an end in itself. The rest of the truck is almost all stock and has served me well.

I want to get a set that will give me a significant difference in stability, ride, comfort, whatever else I can get, over the stock shocks. Can you recommend some brands and models that you've liked?

Thanks, Pete

[mgm777]

I replaced the stock shocks on my previous SUV with Bilsteins. The Bilsteins definitely improved the ride of my vehicle. The vehicle felt more stable, steady, and secure feeling. Also, in corners, the Bilsteins lessened the body roll and sway I had previously experienced.

[IXXI]

Depending on your mileage and/or use, you might want to look at new coils or springs too (not sure what rig it is you have.) I've had 2 Landcruisers in the past-- '86, and '94-- and ran stock on them, in fact replaced shocks with OEMs. The one time I carefully researched some sus upgrades I went with Old Man Emu... but for the 80% tame day to day driving I did (20% off road, but no crawling or extreme stuff), I felt like stock Mr. Yota was really the way to go. Those trucks are well engineered and take into acct a careful balance of right height, spring and shock ratios, etc etc etc. Its fun to tweak with those elements, but once you do, you invariably affect something else you didnt intend to.

[regularguy412]

Best value for the money, IMHO. I put these on my old '92 4Runner and they worked great. I wasn't off road too much, but they have variable valving such that they can take a harder bounce when necessary. They are also quite stable and comfortable on pavement. -- Reasonably priced, too.

Mike in AR

http://www.monroe.com/products/mp_detail.asp?cat=Sensa-Trac&detail=Truck%20Shock%20Absorbers

[William]

I would recomend that if you own any Toyota truck, you should go to www.ih8mud.com for any tech questions. These folks are fanatical about their Toys and there are a lot of very knowledgable folks there....the Serrotta forum of the Toyota world if you will. It's were I go for advice for my FJ60 Landcruiser...heck, it's were I found and bought my FJ60.

Check it out. :)



William

[cw05]

Second the Old Man Emu's, I have them on my Jeep CJ-7 and like them. Expensive but you get what you pay for.

[musgravecycles]

Pirate4x4 has a good Toyota Truck forum, ih8mud is pretty much exclusive to Land Cruisers.

Best thing going is the Old Man Emu already mentioned. Be sure to pick up greaseable shackles while your at it...

[maunahaole]

If you know what you want - check out www.shox.com

good prices, good service

[dookie]

The Aussie Montero / Pajero fanatics seem to prefer OME and Bilstein as well.

I've been running OMEs springs/dampers on my Monty for ~60k now and have zero complaints and zero issues. The ride is firmer for sure, but hardly abusive. The factory stuff was very soft. No more wallowing when carrying loads, much improved cornering. At ~$500 delivered for a set of 4 springs & 4 dampers, it strikes me as a great value.

Vehicle is mostly on-road, but does see regular trips to the fire roads of the Smoky Mtns and the deep sand of the Outer Banks.

OME is actually built by Monroe, but to very different specs obviously.

$0.02

[hoss]

I have to recommend Bilstein HD's. I drive a stock Tundra and replaced my stock units when they were toast with these. I really like them. They provide a firm ride but not too harsh and perform well on the little off-roading I do.

Tundrasolutions.com is another good resource for all things Toyota. Good luck.

[William]

Pirate4x4 has a good Toyota Truck forum, ih8mud is pretty much exclusive to Land Cruisers.

Best thing going is the Old Man Emu already mentioned. Be sure to pick up greaseable shackles while your at it...

That be what I'm runnin'! :cool:



William

[IXXI]

That's where mine came from/went too.

For parts, look to 'CruiserDan' on that forum.


I would recomend that if you own any Toyota truck, you should go to www.ih8mud.com for any tech questions. These folks are fanatical about their Toys and there are a lot of very knowledgable folks there....the Serrotta forum of the Toyota world if you will. It's were I go for advice for my FJ60 Landcruiser...heck, it's were I found and bought my FJ60.

Check it out. :)



William

[musgravecycles]

Sweet, looks like we got our own little cruiser club in serotta-land. Strange thing, at the school where I work at there are 5.5 cruisers amongst the staff members (40, 62, 3-80's, and a Fj-Cruiser [the 1/2])

William have you lifted your 60 at all? What size tires are you running? I'm too lazy to search for pics but I seem to remember something like 33's. My 62 is still or original suspension, but I'm soon to pull the trigger on an OME setup...

[William]

That's where mine came from/went too.

For parts, look to 'CruiserDan' on that forum.

Cruiser Dan is the MAN!! :cool:



Sweet, looks like we got our own little cruiser club in serotta-land. Strange thing, at the school where I work at there are 5.5 cruisers amongst the staff members (40, 62, 3-80's, and a Fj-Cruiser [the 1/2])

William have you lifted your 60 at all? What size tires are you running? I'm too lazy to search for pics but I seem to remember something like 33's. My 62 is still or original suspension, but I'm soon to pull the trigger on an OME setup...

Cool! :cool: Let's get Pete to start an LC forum for us. ;) :D

Yup, my 86 has an OME medium (Dakar) lift, OME shocks & steering stabilizer with BFG 33x10.5x15's ALT's. Also has some Hella 500's, a block heater, and a Tuffy lock box for the Alpine. I've been eyeing some bullbars for the front end (wouldn't happen to have one needing some love would you?). I'll link some picts in a moment. :D

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showpost.php?p=450858&postcount=74

More photos:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/185856-mts-new-60-home.html


William

[medici]

Thanks to all for the excellent replies! Seems like there's always someone on the Forum who knows something about whatever you need to know.

Sadly, I can't spearhead an LC forum since I have a poor little straight 4X4 Toyota pickup with the feeble but tireless 4 cylinder (22SRE?). Can't remember the exact callout. But it has a 7 ft. bed which is great for someone who lives out of the truck when way out there in the boonies. Wish they hadn't done away with those. That extra foot is precious.

I envy you all with the older Land Cruisers and FJs, and especially the new FJs, but the model I have suits me best, it seems.

On the shocks:

I'd heard about the Bilsteins and the Monroes, but not the OME. Yes, the stock shocks would probably do me fine, but I have the urge to splurge.

Thanks for the 4X4 forum recommendations. I hadn't been able to find a good group.

And thanks for the spring/coil replacement recommendation. That makes sense.

Looks like I have some research to do.

Pete

[IXXI]

heya pete! personally, and i recognize i'm falling into the 'old school' here, i don't envy the new fj's much. i realize they are VERY capable performancewise even as stockers, but i ride in my friend's all the time and inside, i just don't get it. the finish is uber plasticky, the space is just very...odd.

but what do i know; i had to sell my last (great) fj80 due to fuel consumption, so i am prone to acting way too rational. :crap:

i really miss my '60.

[musgravecycles]

Snipped:
Sadly, I can't spearhead an LC forum since I have a poor little straight 4X4 Toyota pickup with the feeble but tireless 4 cylinder (22SRE?).

If you've got a 'Yota truck these are the places to hang bro:

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=77

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=12

btw, that 22R (and variants) is probably the most reliable gas engine of all time... ;)

[William]

:cool:

[William]

:banana:

[medici]

I have to recommend Bilstein HD's. I drive a stock Tundra and replaced my stock units when they were toast with these. I really like them. They provide a firm ride but not too harsh and perform well on the little off-roading I do.
.

Both you and mgm777 replaced stock shocks with Bilstein. I spoke with the guy at the local 4WD shop who claimed that the Bilsteins were 'as good as you can get' (don't want to start an argument here), but that they were very stiff.

Asks I: "Will this result in a harsher ride on the highway?"
Sez he: "Oh, yes. You'll definitely feel the bumps a lot more."

That said, he drives to Tahoe regularly (mostly I-80 with pretty lousy pavement) and is putting Bilsteins on his F-150 (currently has Edelbroc).

Your comments don't indicate uncomfortably harsh ride on the road. I drive a lot of highway to get to the dirt. Would I be sorry if I went with the Bilsteins? Would I be even sorrier on washboard?

Thanks, Pete

[mosca]

I'll echo the other comments about Bilsteins. I put a set on the front of a 92 4-Runner I once had - it felt much more solid and stable over bumps with no increase in harshness on the road that I can recall. Definitely worth the $$ imho.

[IXXI]

Bilsteins are so 105. Stock Yota is so Ultegra 10. Old Man Emu is so DA 10.

:fight:

[musgravecycles]

My 62 currently has a set of Bilsteins. To the OP, if you're going to replace the 'shocks' alone I'd go with Bilsteins.

Several of us who recommended OME were prolly thinking more along the lines of the entire supsension system (shocks, springs, bushings, shackles, etc etc). Many of these older Yota's have 'tired' springs, I know mine does so at this point I'm about to pull the trigger on a new OME setup. You can have older springs re-arched, but the will only last 1/2 as long. Check the Toyota 4x4 boards, there are plenty of good options out there, but hard to beat OME...

Nice pics William, I've got some sweet pics, but I'm too lazy to resize them tonight...

[medici]

Some followup on the shocks:

Armed with Serotta forum recommendations, I went shopping for shocks and came up with a good deal on the Bilsteins. Since my springs are still good (per the shop), I didn't replace them.

I took my truck ('86 Toyota 4WD) down to Anza-Borrego State Park (east of San Diego -- the largest state park in the US) and drove the dirt/sand back roads for a week. Some were smooth; some were washboard; some were nasty rocky. Had a great time and the shocks performed beautifully! They were also fine on the freeway, which had concerned me. I'd heard reports that they were harsh on paved road.

So thanks to all who replied for the recommendations!

Pete