sschaefer3

So here I go again.....

So if you put a shock that has zones on a lifted truck it is going to ride in the wrong zone as the shock thinks it is about to get to the end of its travel.

Compound this with any type of spacer and for get it. That 79-85 on front leaf springs just surpassed you in the soft ride challenge.

Just so there is accurate info, the ARB/ Old Man Emu shock all ride in the same zone, they do not get stiffer in one area versus another, they have technology to get stiffer when compressed quickly but not in predetermined zones.

The Bilstein 5125 works basically the same way. No zones self-adjusts on what it is feeling.


While I am at it, TJM no longer sells bumpers in the United States, they left the North American market compltely, there are no more bumpers in stock and I do not have any parts.

Really dissapointing news. Slee bought the re-maining stock which was a few bumpers for the 89-95 trucks and 4Runners and 79-85 SA pickups. There were no 3rd Gen 4Runner bumpers left nor any Tacoma bumpers in the final days.

Roadtripr

Steve, thanks for clearing this up.

Can't believe TJM is no longer available in the US

Eagle426

Steve,
You called the Green Trekmaster a “zoned shock” being stiffer towards the ends of the spectrum of travel. I just got trekmasters and after crawling under my 2000 4runner I think my coils are shot too. I can put medium weight on the rear bumper and feel the bump stop cones in the coils bottom out on the stops. Visually the cones are close to the frame too. I would assume that if the coils were worked over then the shock would operate more towards the end of the travel spectrum and make for a harsher ride. Is this correct??
So this all leads me to ask if you sell ’99 rear coils by themselves? I still haven’t installed the Trekmasters yet, but I think that I might need coils regardless.
I think that the system 7.2 would have been awesome, however I am on a budget.

sschaefer3

Send me an e-mail.

nieuwendyk-25

I am having a shock dilemma myself. I had the stock shocks and springs on my 2000 4WD SR-5 and loved the ride. Nice and smooth, no problems off road, great handling. I put BFG AT's on and after about 20K miles on them I started to see my shocks deteriorate...probably due to age and mileage. I had the yellow/blue Bilsteins installed and they SUCK! Yes I have checked the application and it is correct. My 4Runner is all over the road, and mild towing is treacherous! I feel I have lost a lot of control, it dips and dives and does not handle like my 4Runner used to. It started with the new shocks. I am thinking about going with the trekmasters, but I am confused by what I am reading. Many love the Bilsteins and I cannot see how...they have ruined my vehicle. Could it be the springs? I just doubt this because it all happened immediately after the shock change.

What really sucks is that these are a pain in the --- to change. Not like my Jeep that just bolts on.

I need my control back.

sschaefer3

Yellow-Blue Bilsteins are high pressure gas and have no place on a truck. Tokico shocks have nothing what so ever in common with the yellow Bilstein shocks, you have a completely different issue.

And not to confuse anyone, the SILVER 5125 & 5150 Bilstein shocks have nothing in common with either the yellow bilstein shocks or any of the Tokico shocks.


This thread is taking a turn for the worse with all sorts of random non-Tokico info being thrown in.

nieuwendyk-25

This thread is taking a turn for the worse? My intention was tokico related though my question may not have been clear...my bad. My post was about Tokicos Trekmasters so I hope that comment was not pointed at me. My intention was trying to find out what kind of control and ride the Tokicos will give. There are many people on yotatech that have the yellow Bilsteins and LOVE them...talking about how they have improved the ride quality of their vehicle. I am thinking about purchasing the Tokico trekmasters, but I do not want to buy another set of shocks and have the same problem. Harshness or stiffness of ride is not a problem for me, I want control. I have a Jeep CJ...harshness does not bother me. HOwever many have said the yellow Bilsteins were stiff...they are not. As to whether they belong on a "truck" or not is your opinion. It is one I agree with in this case, but that is not a common thought on yotatech. I am looking for shocks that will give the control back and have a decent ride. I would rather it be a little stiff than for it to porpoise along like it does now. I have more experience here than you may think. I replaced the struts on a Nissan SE-R I had one time with a major brand strut. It did the same thing. I pulled them off and put Tokicos on it (which were what nissan uses to start with) and it was like a new car.

Could my loss of control be spring related? I am thinking not. I am not looking for a lift...my vehicle is a 2000 and has always had a slight height issue in the rear. To correct this would be fine with me but I do not want to make things worse by using a spring that may make it handle oddly. This vehicle does not get as much offroad time as it did before my family size exceeded its capacity. I am hoping the tokico's would solve my handling issues on their own without changing out the coils

SO are you saying the Tokicos trekmasters are not high pressure gas? And isn't it true that the silver bilsteins are not available for stock height vehicles?

Roadtripr

An update (an perhaps further thread drift, but at least Trekmaster related):

I put the Trekmasters R/T on front over the weekend after mulling over it for a long time. It was well worth the effort and I wish I did it sooner. The Bilsteins excelled when loaded for a long trip and gave a lot better control than stock but the ride suffered.

Handling didn't change that much but it got substantially nicer ride now. It also brought the 4runner closer to level as the spring gets a bit more compressed on the Trek strut vs. the Bilstein BE5-2450 HO strut. My rear coils actually seems fine (ie not sagging), but I will probably loose the rear Bilsteins too in near future.

Even after 3-4 years and 40k miles the front Bilstein struts were still substantially harder to compress than the Trekmasters. As Steve says, for a non-lifted 4runner with no ARB or TJM upfront the Treks seems indeed to be the better choice.

"has always had a slight height issue in the rear"
Neiwendyk I think you rear coils might be toast, you might be hitting the conical bumpstop especially when towing. You might also like Tokicos better.

noahrexion

Roadtripr: I agree 100% with your assesment. After about 2 years they still ride superb. You can check out my old post (with pics) when I put on my trekmasters. They are a great shock for a stock height runner.

Roadtripr

Noah,
Good to hear I was wondering what was going to happen after a year or two.


Steve,
back to the original topic how come the strut behaved poorly a year after a spacers lift and not right away? You think it eventually failed? But then wouldn't he be having the reverse effect (bouncing not stopping)