Shock upgrades 1st gen tundra

I'm currently in a conflict of some shock upgrades. I'm looking at King, Fox, Bilstin, and icon front and rears. I wanted some opinions or suggestions. Purpose is towing a small trailer and Off Roading prerunning and service trails comfortably.

 

Bilstein would be a popular inexpensive choice

 

Big price differences there. Longevity bilsteins will edge out the icons or fox’s. Off road comfort? The foxes or icons will be better. foxes and icons are rebuildable. I’ve got billies for my tundra. Icons on my Tacoma.

 

Eibach makes some affordable shocks and you can get preassembled coilovers with their springs as well. That's what I have up front and will do the rears soon.

 

Another popular option is Old Man Emu

 

Something else to look into re: Icon vs the other two is ‘digressive vs. progressive’. I don’t have a good enough grasp on it to explain it simply, but Icon’s respond to terrain differently than most others— maybe understanding that will immediately move you toward Icon- or allow you to drop it from consideration as ‘one of these is not like the others’. You can search those terms on here and, once you’ve got the gist of it, @KevinK is a big Icon guy (well. He’s a guy with a big brain that runs big Icons.) He’s pretty good at dumbing it down to explain it for the rest of us. I can’t recall, but he may have included an explanation if his build thread:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/komodo-my-wifes-daily-driver-and-high-speed-overland-rig.16989/

 

The three options are very different.

Bilstein and Icon are both digressive valves. This means theyll be a bit firm on small bumps but will be softer on big bumps. They will feel great on turns and general handling on street. Bilstein are a relatively worry free, no maintenance option. Icon will need rebuilding every other year, if you don't rebuild them yourself you'll spend the same amount of money as if you were replacing Bilsteins (which should last you 3 years minimum).

Fox feel rough on washboards and they wallow around on turns, I can hold a lean around turns which feels unstable until you're used to it. I don't recommend Fox on first gens for several reasons, for your application I especially don't recommend them.

Go with Bilstein. Cheapest, least maintenance required, and for your needs the best fit. Look into 5100 series, 5150 series (rear) or 6100 series.

I have had the same set of 5100s on the rear of my truck since 2010. I've not been nice to them at all and they're fine.

 

Say what? Should be every 40K, less if you offroad constantly.

edit-I guess some guys do 20K/year. I only average about 10K.

 

Define Off Roading.

I'm on my 3rd first gen and have had several varitions of Bilstein's. From my 1st 2001 TRD Offroad with the Toyota Bilstein's to the TRD orange, to 4600 HD to 5100s and now 6112 frt & 5160 rear, with Wheeler's Offroad add-a-leafs. These are by far the best on & offroad shocks I've had. I do mild offloading.

 

I'd listen to Paul on this one. Lots of first gen experience with what sounds like similar use case.

 

Yeah, depends a lot on miles driven but also what kind of miles driven. I used to put 18k per year on my truck before I bought a GTI.

 

So what's the difference in 5100 and 6100?

 

2.0 inch diameter shocks vs 2.5 I believe so more surface area and gas for better cooling which makes for better shock absorbing.

 

Up front:
5100s are 46mm and use your stock progressive springs, ballpark cost is $300
6112 are 60mm and come with their own linear springs, cost is about $700

Out back:
5100 rears are 46mm and have 8" of travel, cost is $175
5160 rears are 46mm and have 10" of travel and external reservoirs, cost is $380

 

5100 vs 6112, 6112 vs cheap aftermarket from previous owner, 5100 vs 5160

 

But you can also get coils for 5100s

 

True, but 5100s don't come with coils. They're made to run with progressive coils vs 6112 which are made to run with the included linear coils. Very different ride characteristics between those coil types.

 

i kinda wish i went 6112 and 5160..
but price and i dont really NEED it. i just wanted it.

 

Do you know if any of the after market coils are progressive? Eibach or OME I guess are the obvious choices but I feel like there may be others. Iirc I think the OME are linear

 

I really wanted to go with the 6112s but Bilstein didn't recommend using em for more than 1 inch of lift on the AC. So I said fuck em and got the toytec coil overs.
I did go with the 5160s thought and I'm very happy with em.

 

Eibach are usually linear but they do make a mildly progressive coil for their shocks but not nearly like factory coils. Emu used to have a coil that was progressive but I can't recall which one. Most off road applications avoid progressive because if you add a bumper and sliders you'll lose the soft rate to sag. With linear coils you just get the right rating and live with it.

 

Anyone here run Radflo shocks that can comment on characteristics and suitability for 1st Gen trucks?

 

I wish Performance Products was still around. I had a set of their 2” lift front progressive springs on my 2001 and I really liked them.

 

Yeah, I didn’t “need” them either.

 

I’ve had a couple different set ups from what’s been mentioned. I’ve had my 1st gen since 2001 so have had some time using them. Back in the day Fabtech was one of the few choices for coilovers. So zI got them along with a spacer lift in the back. It was stiff both on and off road, but did allow me to run 285/75/16 tires. After I tired of that setup, along with a known issue of the bottom mount bushing egging out and sagging, I switched to the newer and better setup. I went with the Donahue co’s (now Icon)with digressive valving. It was offered as a package that came with Deaver 10 leaf leaf springs and Bilstein 5100 for the rear. It also had Total Chaos uca’s. At the time it was pretty much top shelf. Well, after about 10+ years Im still running the same setup. I don’t drive the truck that much but still everything has lasted quite well. The ball joints are still ok, I just keep them clean and use Triflow. The Donahue have also lasted but have definately gotten more stiff and give a jolly ride but when going fast over whoops do ok. They corner pretty well too. I’ve used them for mostly street but still got them out to the mountains and desserts play. People say you need to rebuild every 40 k but they must be in the dirt every week. Having said that, I’m getting my Donahoe’s rebuilt and changing to a 14 in 650 lb Eibach spring as they came with a 13 in 600 lb. I’m also changing ball joints and getting the Deavers either recurved or going back to stock with an add a leaf. The Deavers flattened out noticeably. The Bilstein are still chugging along too but could use some replacing. I got some Fox 2:5 rear with remote reservoirs for a 4runner and was looking to swap bushings and put them in the rear but there is no easy way to put them in with the rr and the way the shock bucket is. So I’m either going with the Bikstein 5160 or Fox 2:0 with rr as you can mount the rr to the body of the shock itself. Sorry for the novel of a reply but thought it might help with your decision. I also found out that Icon is digressive on the rebound only. In any case, they rode well on and off road. Better than the Fabtech anyhow.

 

You mean like this

 

What is the benefit of this, and how much of a difference does it make? I went with ICON 2.0's in the rear and I have wondered if the more expensive units with the res would make the truck ride nicer. I was under the impression the leaf packs had more influence on ride back there. Yay or nay?

 

No no no, like this

And this

Disclaimer: zip tie was only to temporarily hold the brake line

 

Same as the wider bodies on the 2.5 hold more gas and have more surface area for heat to disipate from. Which allows the shock to stay cooler and a cooler shock performs better. Whereas a 2.0 with no resi may start to experience a fade in shock absorbing power under heavy load and/or hard consistent use off road.

I would think the leaf packs probably have the bigger influence on daily driving.

 

Thank you guys so much on all your opinions and knowledge I very much appreciate it. Now if I wanted to spend the mo ey are King shocks worth it? And I'd mainly be prerunning with a few Forest trails. I drive about 35k a year