Hi all - I thought I might find all kinds of opinions for my basic question but after searching a ton and going through lift threads, etc I still have a question for those experienced here:

Will be freshening the (stock) suspension on wife's daily driver (01 4R 4x4) at 90k service (coming up soon). It needs shocks and I need ideas as to whether I should:

1) go OEM (Tokico?) for the smooth on-road ride (off-road is rare and mainly snow or dirt/mud fireroads, so I don't want or need a lift, new springs, or more clearance)

2) go Bilstein (which I understand are firmer, bringing about better handling control but decreased comfort and more body motion). I don't know if Bilstein HD are recommended or if those are firmer still.

3) other popular alternatives that match well with the OEM springs. Tokico HD? KYB? Monroe?

The truck now wallows (as expected w/ 85k miles on the OEM shocks) but it rode pretty nice for the first 20k miles before it felt like any rebound damping/control completely went away on the OEM shocks. The result was decent impact/compression control but the shock would return to uncompressed in a very uncontrolled manner which caused a lot of 'bucking' (and hobby-horseing over expansion strips etc). Like a bad old Moto-X fork setup from the 1970s...

So, if there's a shock solution which integrates well with OEM springs that you folks advise for guys like me who don't want to rebuild suspension completely, add lift (etc) please advise - I'd appreciate it!

 

I like my Bilsteins and they are stiffer than stock but that maybe more b/c of the spacers in the springs. Either way, it's not that stiff for me and the handling is much better than stock b/c there is not as much "float" when you hit a bump.

 

another vote for bils. i had them w/o the PP springs and they rode fine, but firm. but not overly firm like the bils that came stock on the tacoma off-road version.

i added the PP springs later...it just lifted it a little and firmed up the ride.

bob

 

Check out and search 'Old Man Emu' shocks, also know as OME. Most everyone seems to be happy with them.

 

Thanks for the opinions guy. I've looked into OME's but haven't found a single person who has used them with stock springs. I hear they're great, but my understanding is that really gain the benefit of their shock calibration you need to get their springs and be willing to go with the resulting 1" lift. Again, I'm looking for shocks, not suspension rework.

Question about the Bils: is there an option b/t "regular" and "heavy duty (HD)" for 4Runner? Or does Bil just specify one model for the truck?

 

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Thank you all for replies. Looks like I'm going to go with Tokico Trek Masters given the feedback by users here.