ElwayLite

Just wondering what the service life of the toyota shocks are. Ive heard some say forever but I dont quite believe this(friend has 198k miles on his shocks). I'm at 52K miles now, just looking for some input from you higher mileage guys.

jacksonpt

Depends on the type of use they see. If you tow, they are going to wear a lot faster - especially the springs. If you live in the northeast and deal with salt in the winters, that will affect them some. If you live in AZ and do all highway miles, they'll probably last a lot longer.

FWIW... I got about 45k miles out of mine - towing a lot and living in the northeast.

ElwayLite

Thanks,


I live in the southeast and dont tow or off road really any so they should be fine for awhile.

Maddog

my two rears have just been replaced,because of one leaking,my runner only has 140,000 km's,(so what that roughly 70 to 80,000 miles)

superjoe83

the only way a shock can go bad is: leaking (very common) or internal failure (doesent happen too much)

ElwayLite

So really I should just keep any eye out for leaking. I know how to test struts pretty easy but am not too familiar with a quick way that lets you know the shocks are bad.

Morr

My '96 has 190,000Kms, and 1 rear shock has just begun to weep slightly.

GV27

This is actually one of my "pet-peaves". People routinely leave old shocks on vehicles WAY too long. Just because the shock doesn't physically "blow out" or fall off the truck does not mean it isn't shot from a performance perspective, resulting in a vehicle that rides like crap, handles like crap and is less safe than it should be. I'd disagree with superjoe83. Yeah, they don't usually fail completely, but the internals just plain wear out. The thing is, they degrade slowly so people just don't notice. They figure that as long as the truck is still driving down the road, no funny noises or anything, that all is well. Yours should still be fine at 50k of highway driving, but people who have two and three times that mileage or do much off-road driving will notice a "night and day" difference just installing cheapo Monroe shocks - let alone a good set of off-road shocks.

I bought my 4Runner w/ 150k on the clock and stock shocks. When I pulled them off three had virtually no damping force left at all (you could pump them pretty rapidly by hand) while the fourth was practically frozen up (don't know how that happened!). None were showing any visible leaks or any other signs they'd gone "bad". New Ranchos were a world of difference.

C

ElwayLite

Well, Im a Preventative Maintenance nut and I like to plan to replace before things fail. So I guess I need to research a little more for a changeout mileage. All my driving is city and hwy, no offroad so I might just change em at 75k or 100k. The other thing about worn shocks being on the vehicle is it increase brake wear.

Morr

Have to agree with you, but... Here in Ireland vehicles are tested every year/two years (depending on vehicle type) which includes testing of the shocks, I presume you have something similar in the US which would reveal any serious degredation of the shock?

I know mine have passed all tests just recently, altough I will certainly be changing both rears very soon now that one has developed a weep.

X-AWDriver

Oold shocks are sorta my pet peeve too,I see soooo many 2nd gens with droopy rears (more than normal sag) and I don't understand why people let them go that long when it's that obvious.

mastacox

I definitely noticed a HUGE difference, as I just installed new Rancho RSX's. My old shocks, with about 120k on them, *kind* of worked but I could stand on my reese hitch and bounce my back end, and going off a curb or something it would take my car about 3-4 bounces to stop.

These new shocks are awesome, and they really help in off-camber situations off roading because the car leans less, dives less in braking, and is overall more sure-footed.

That, and all it takes is one compression stroke to soak up 2 feet of air (no bounce ) There's something to be said for that.

mastacox

Droopy rear = springs not shocks...

4RUNR

Air down. Your shocks will thank you in the long run.

X-AWDriver

Springs/shocks,either way too many Toy owners don't fix it and they look like crap.

ElwayLite

Well, on another note, what are a good brand of shocks for the front and rear that you guys have used and liked on toyota's. I mainly need a comfort shock more than anything, no towing or offroading in my trucks future.

X-AWDriver

I think Tokico makes the OEM shocks on 3rd gen Runners and they have a nice ride for a street truck,maybe check them out. KYB GR2s are another non off road choice and they should be able to be had for only about $30 a shock.

mastacox

True, but your tires won't

New set of shocks: $200
New set of tires: $700 at least...

Posting worthless price fact that can't really be compared: Priceless

mastacox

A truer fact has never been posted

4RUNR

mastacox, the figures given by the manufacturer are high. And some of the advice on setting the pressure here is outright obscene.

Do this simple test: figure out how much weight sits on each corner, then look at your tires' max load and max pressure. Now adjust the max PSI to the load on each corner. The relationship is linear more or less. Air is free, try it, and if you don't like it you must be some sort of masochist

By the way, I’ve read a study which showed only ~7% reduction in tire life when under-inflated by 25% . What I’m suggesting, is optimum pressure.