I know these questions are asked a lot, but searching all over has not given me the specific answers I'm looking for. Don't know if this will either but this forum has the most folks who do the most similar driving to myself: lots of on-road, mild/moderate terrain/roads/trails, some more technical stuff.
So, I'll start with the vehicle:
1999 4Runner. ARB/m8k/synthetic line on the front, sliders and a custom rear bumper with tire carrier and tire. I run 285/75 16 BFG KO2's.
I currently have Bilstein 5100's, with Toytec 620lb coils in front, FZJ80 9 wrap coils in the rear, and OME shocks in the rear. I have Icon upper control arms in the front.
I have always gone the cheaper route with trucks, and am very familiar with OME, and while it's not bad at all, far better than my current set up, we have always struggled to get a good stance with OME on the various 4runners in my family.
Currently one of my front 5100's is leaking and this makes for occasional squirrelyness on road, which is not ideal, obviously. This gives me an opportunity to Change my suspension set up potentially, but also leads me to my dilemma, and the question I have been trying, and failing to answer, which I will explain in a second.
The first issue is that I HATE my current suspension but could not bring myself to scrap it because, cheap as it was, I would still be spending money twice. But, the blown shock gives me that little bit of mental justification that I guess I stubbornly needed. I can't stand the Bilsteins. They may make decent higher end shocks but I'm not willing to give them any more money. This is the third shock of theirs that has failed in under 3 years. The first two were rears, so I ditched them for OME, and now the front. Shocks meant for the truck too, so I wasn't over extending or compressing them
So, I started looking at the Toytec BOSS kit, ICON, FOX and King.
I used to be dead against the ICON set up, but I found out that the truck I rode in that had them had some extremely stiff coils on it for some reason, and the harsh ride was almost certainly due to that. So I'm reconsidering them.
This is the issue: my goal for the suspension is on-road comfort, to the extent that is possible with a lifted truck. The problem is, everyone's idea of a "great" suspension is totally different, so attempting to figure out which one is good for me is very difficult, so I thought I would try to ask specific questions of those who have these various set ups to try to get some idea of what they are like.
I'll also add that I called Fox, who steered me towards their Performance 2.0 shocks, saying they were the most supple for on road. However, I am not sure I want something that, to my understanding, cannot be adjusted without compressing the spring. I believe the factory series fox, as well as the other brands I listed, can be adjusted simply with the weight of the vehicle removed.
I also called Toytec, and spoke to them about the differences between their Boss set up, and the ICON's. Icons will dump heat more quickly than the BOSS, but Toytec says the Boss and ICONs are valved very similarly. He ALSO said those both were valved like the 5100s I have now, that I don't like. I have trouble buying that.
If that is true, then it seems that valving wise, it's Boss/Icon/Bilstein vs Fox/king.
My off-road driving is sssllllloooowww. I drive fast on smooth dirt/ washboards, but I don't drive whoops, or jump, or anything else that would require the ultimate in shock oil cooling.
All of that is to try to give some background since these threads usually result in lots of questions about what the truck is used for.
My questions for those who have these suspensions:
1) Why did you choose it, and how does it compare to what you had before and stock?
2) what truck do you have and how is your truck loaded? Bumpers? Winch?
3) Would you describe it as "firm" or "stiff"?
4) when you are driving on road, how would you describe the feel of the truck in the following situations:
- driving 30ish mph and hitting a somewhat sunken manhole cover
- driving 20-30 on grooved pavement that has been ripped up and hitting the transition between that and existing or new pavement
- driving at 60-75 on pavement that has had crack sealant for miles on end, so it's like a constant stream of minor bumps
- driving 60-75 and hitting an expansion joint
- railroad crossings
5) When in the dirt, how are washboard roads/ minor ruts, etc...
To illustrate my impressions of ride quality,I'm would describe my current set up as follows for 4, and 5
4)
- a harsh bump. Steering flutters and it causes me to tense a tad from the jolt.
- a slam. Everything in the glovebox flies up and back down, same with the center console. I can hear the contents hitting the top of the glove box. Passengers often comment on the jolt.
- not fun, but not slamming. Small jolts that can be felt through the steering, seats, etc. stock I would describe this as small taps.
- another harsh bump. No contents of the glovebox getting tossed, but far harsher than stock. Generally the most uncomfortable in the seat, lower back.
- slam. Glovebox contents are getting tossed again.
5) not horrible. Harsher than stock, and not as good as the OMEs.
At this point, I am looking at trying the Boss kit with 550 lb/in coils which I know is possible. I was told the ICONs have 650, and I don't know about the kings and foxes. I'm going to call Icon, fox and king to see if they will offer 500 or 550 lb/in coils to see if that might be an option. For reference, the OMEs are 500 lb/in, and I do like the ride of those fairly well.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I appreciate any feedback on these suspensions that I can get.
Cheers!
So, I'll start with the vehicle:
1999 4Runner. ARB/m8k/synthetic line on the front, sliders and a custom rear bumper with tire carrier and tire. I run 285/75 16 BFG KO2's.
I currently have Bilstein 5100's, with Toytec 620lb coils in front, FZJ80 9 wrap coils in the rear, and OME shocks in the rear. I have Icon upper control arms in the front.
I have always gone the cheaper route with trucks, and am very familiar with OME, and while it's not bad at all, far better than my current set up, we have always struggled to get a good stance with OME on the various 4runners in my family.
Currently one of my front 5100's is leaking and this makes for occasional squirrelyness on road, which is not ideal, obviously. This gives me an opportunity to Change my suspension set up potentially, but also leads me to my dilemma, and the question I have been trying, and failing to answer, which I will explain in a second.
The first issue is that I HATE my current suspension but could not bring myself to scrap it because, cheap as it was, I would still be spending money twice. But, the blown shock gives me that little bit of mental justification that I guess I stubbornly needed. I can't stand the Bilsteins. They may make decent higher end shocks but I'm not willing to give them any more money. This is the third shock of theirs that has failed in under 3 years. The first two were rears, so I ditched them for OME, and now the front. Shocks meant for the truck too, so I wasn't over extending or compressing them
So, I started looking at the Toytec BOSS kit, ICON, FOX and King.
I used to be dead against the ICON set up, but I found out that the truck I rode in that had them had some extremely stiff coils on it for some reason, and the harsh ride was almost certainly due to that. So I'm reconsidering them.
This is the issue: my goal for the suspension is on-road comfort, to the extent that is possible with a lifted truck. The problem is, everyone's idea of a "great" suspension is totally different, so attempting to figure out which one is good for me is very difficult, so I thought I would try to ask specific questions of those who have these various set ups to try to get some idea of what they are like.
I'll also add that I called Fox, who steered me towards their Performance 2.0 shocks, saying they were the most supple for on road. However, I am not sure I want something that, to my understanding, cannot be adjusted without compressing the spring. I believe the factory series fox, as well as the other brands I listed, can be adjusted simply with the weight of the vehicle removed.
I also called Toytec, and spoke to them about the differences between their Boss set up, and the ICON's. Icons will dump heat more quickly than the BOSS, but Toytec says the Boss and ICONs are valved very similarly. He ALSO said those both were valved like the 5100s I have now, that I don't like. I have trouble buying that.
If that is true, then it seems that valving wise, it's Boss/Icon/Bilstein vs Fox/king.
My off-road driving is sssllllloooowww. I drive fast on smooth dirt/ washboards, but I don't drive whoops, or jump, or anything else that would require the ultimate in shock oil cooling.
All of that is to try to give some background since these threads usually result in lots of questions about what the truck is used for.
My questions for those who have these suspensions:
1) Why did you choose it, and how does it compare to what you had before and stock?
2) what truck do you have and how is your truck loaded? Bumpers? Winch?
3) Would you describe it as "firm" or "stiff"?
4) when you are driving on road, how would you describe the feel of the truck in the following situations:
- driving 30ish mph and hitting a somewhat sunken manhole cover
- driving 20-30 on grooved pavement that has been ripped up and hitting the transition between that and existing or new pavement
- driving at 60-75 on pavement that has had crack sealant for miles on end, so it's like a constant stream of minor bumps
- driving 60-75 and hitting an expansion joint
- railroad crossings
5) When in the dirt, how are washboard roads/ minor ruts, etc...
To illustrate my impressions of ride quality,I'm would describe my current set up as follows for 4, and 5
4)
- a harsh bump. Steering flutters and it causes me to tense a tad from the jolt.
- a slam. Everything in the glovebox flies up and back down, same with the center console. I can hear the contents hitting the top of the glove box. Passengers often comment on the jolt.
- not fun, but not slamming. Small jolts that can be felt through the steering, seats, etc. stock I would describe this as small taps.
- another harsh bump. No contents of the glovebox getting tossed, but far harsher than stock. Generally the most uncomfortable in the seat, lower back.
- slam. Glovebox contents are getting tossed again.
5) not horrible. Harsher than stock, and not as good as the OMEs.
At this point, I am looking at trying the Boss kit with 550 lb/in coils which I know is possible. I was told the ICONs have 650, and I don't know about the kings and foxes. I'm going to call Icon, fox and king to see if they will offer 500 or 550 lb/in coils to see if that might be an option. For reference, the OMEs are 500 lb/in, and I do like the ride of those fairly well.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I appreciate any feedback on these suspensions that I can get.
Cheers!
