Okay I know the topic sentence might make some heads turn right off the bat but I hear you guys talking about getting the Bils. b/c you want to get rid of the "floaty" feeling of the stock shocks. Well my stock shocks are by no means floaty, propboly due to they are still the original shocks and they have 125K miles on them. I bought it at 113K so don't think I let this happen by any means. My Runner rides like a truck through and through, there is no way you mistake it for being floaty. The question is do you think that I will find the Bils. to be softer than what I have now. Sorry I know no one here has any idea of how my Runner rides now to compare to but how much stiffer than stock are the Bils. I would actually like a somewhat softer ride than I have now, my girlfriend is all of 105lbs and I hate to see her flying in and out of her seat on a rough back road. Let me know soon if you can, I'm ready to place my order on these Blis. as soon as I can. Thanks in advance.

-Scott

 

sorry i dont really have any advice for you, but it sounds funny that you are getting some shocks to please your girlfriend. hehehehe. well im interested to see how this turns out cause i am looking at getting some bils also. i like the truck feel more, though. who cares about women when you have trucks?????

 

I don't know about you but I need a good blend of both, trucks and chicks, what else could be bette. She has nothing to do w/ my choice to buy, I want the Bils. really bad. She actaully has never even said a thing about the ride quality(she would never say anything about my Runner, she knows that it actually comes before her is most cases ). I just don't like seeing her come clean out of her seat on every pothole. So it's a mutal thing. ANYONE out there please chime in and let me know about the diff. here.

 

I'd say go for the Bilsteins. They are worth the money. I installed them on my rig a few months after I bought my runner. Definitely a lot better than the stockers. Ride is just like night and day. The Bils absorbs the bumps a lot better than the stock shocks. You can get them from the following online stores:
Performance products
eshocks
shox.com
I got mine from performance products when they had there 15% discount. They have it now again (15% discount).
Good luck. Hope this helps.


George

 

The Bilsteins are more firm than the stock shocks. But in a good way ... they will minimize body roll (not as much as thicker sway bars but still significantly) and nose dive when hard braking. Rebound after hitting a bump is positive but dispersed much better and quicker.

If you want softer valving, you may want to try Doetsch-Techs or Edlebrock.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: As George mentioned, Performance Products is currently having a 15% off sale and now would be a good time to get a quote from them ... but still call Rocky Mountain Suspension 1-800-521-4908, I have seen them listed on their website for $59.95 each.

 

Thanks again guys. I'm definatley going w/ the Bils. just when it came down to actually calling them in I got cold feet and needed reassurance on things. I don't want to loose the stif ride, just some of the bone jaring ones, the ones that make my CDs skip. Thanks again.

 

Don't forget to tell them that your rig is a 2WD. The Bilsteins for the rear is the same for both 2WD and 4WD but the fronts are not. If you decide to install them yourself, make sure you soak the rear shock nut with PB blaster or WD40 a day/night prior to removing the old ones. This will save you a lot of time and frustration. Took me about an hour and a half when I installed mine after soaking the rear nut. Good luck.

George

 

Hey Stump,

I know exactly the "cold feet" feeling you are talking about (re purchase) as well as trying to satisfy all parties, including the significant other.

However, Rowan is right. Make the purchase decision for yourself. I bought a 99 auto 2WD b/c the First Lady said it was the "happy medium". Guess what? She drove it a total of 2 times in 3 years. Fortunately, a turn of circumstances made available a 98 5speed 4x4 to me recently and I'm a much happier person. And she hasn't complained either.

How about you do what I did: I bought the Bils, installed it (thanks again Dave), and then drove around with it for about a week without telling her. She didn't even notice except for one comment about it being "smoother". I think she was talking about how the big bumps seemed to be smoothed out, as there is a large pot hole or two on our street.

My OEM shocks had about 53k miles on it. The stock shocks IMHO, are good except for controlling the rebound. Thats where the Bils are much better. The ride has definitely grown on me, as I notice that I seem to have more confidence in turns.

So the bottom line is, if you want them, get them. Who knows, maybe you and the lady won't be together next year (hopefully not!), but you'll always have those Bils.

Bob

 

Oh yes, that is what I want to hear. Good confident ppl. riding on Bils.. Thanks Bob. Like I said the girl isn't so much a factor in this, she has never said a word about it, it's just me not wanting to see her go flying every five seconds going down I40 w/ all the construction around here(Good ol' gov. road work). Now I can't wait for my Bils. to come in(why did I have to live on the east coast, 6 day shipping my left foot, I want um tomarrow) and then all I need is a free Sun.. You guys are a great help.

 

Hey Stump1883,

Where did you finally end up buying them from? What was the best price you got?

 

I got um from Performance Products. They were on one of those 15% sales they got going now. I called shox.com and they gave me good prices, but they weren't in stock and after the 15% discount at PP, it was the better way to go. Thanks J.A. for pointing out that PP had they're sale going on. Now I can't wait to slap on that lift and bigger tires, ym friend has me looking at some 32" MTs now. I'll have questions on that later, watch out.

 

i was joking about not caring about women at all. they are good in some cases.:rolleyes: haha well its good your getting the bils. how much did they cost you?

 

If he used the link on my site $246.32 for a set of 4.

 

Yup you hit that one on the head. I got the Bils. and I'm replacing all my wipers w/ PIAA blades, and a "super neato" PP decal for the rear window, haha. All for a grand total of $331.10(Price Including shipping and oversize shipping for the shocks). A pretty penny and a hard one to swallow at that. I'm just waiting for that nice pretty check from Home Depot this coming Thurs. to help me swallow that penny.

EDIT: Hey J.A. do you get some kind of benifits or a cut of things when we use your link to order? Just curious?

 

Hey STump! Please let us/me know about the differences experienced first hand. I too am looking to make a change and don't want to improve on my harsh ride as well. I have a 98 2wd runner and would Love something better in the shock department. Yourinput would greatly help me making that final decision.

Thanks

 

RC51 I will make sure I post here as soon as I get them on and get a chance to ride on them once, I know it'll only take once to feel a diff.. It'll be awhile down the road though, my rear shocks can ship now, but the fronts are on backorder, they can't even be shipped to me until Oct. 7 . Ah well as long as I get them sometime, I really do wish it could be sooner though.

 

I am an affiliate of PP as well as Eastwood, JC Whitney and a few other companies. Yeah, I get compensated just like 4Runner owners who sell Amsoil, Off-Road products, wood kits etc... It helps to offset the costs associated with running my website(s). If the the info on my website(s) helps you and you are purchasing from PP anyway, please buy online using my link. Hope the 15% discount helps you guys!