Aftermarket Suspension Long-Term Quality (Fox, Bilstein, etc.)

Hey all,

I'm starting to get cold feet on my Bilstein 6112/5160 combo. I ordered the shocks in, and I gotta admit, I'm just not that impressed with the quality for ~1k in suspension parts. After researching more, and probably reading too much, it seems like a lot of people are having issues with these leaking, or warranty issues and dealing with Bilstein.

This has got me thinking.... Am I better off to just pony up the funds for a Fox/Icon set up in the 2500 - 3k range? I realize this is apples to oranges, however, I have always used Fox on my mountain bikes and sleds, and have always felt the product was top quality, well supported, and met my expectations.

I also like the fact of rebuildable vs. throwing away. The problem is I would need to farm this work out, and thus is a potential down time of the truck.

So the question is: How do you all feel about the long-term reliability and quality of the different suspension lifts out there? Are Fox/King/Icon worth the cost of entry, not just in performance, but in terms of build quality?

 

I say mount them up and use them. If you find that you have a blown them out too quickly, upgrad. You’ve already got them and I haven’t heard of people having problems with them leaking. Many people are very happy with them. And when the time comes and you need to replace them, hopefully you’ve gotten your moneys worth out of those or just rebuild them. By that point the rest of your truck will have the tires wheels or whatever you’re looking to do, done. Buy a set of bypass shocks if you need to and they will be straight swap if you stick with the same height.

Just my thoughts on it. Just go get it done! In for pics!

 

I think you are reading way too much into this. Ive heard very little negative about Bilstein. Quality for price is yhere and ive heard very little to none about leaking. Honestly, if i thought there was a reliability issue with them, i dont think Toyota would be using them as an OEM option.

 

haha well I can return this set up for free, so no money sunk... but I would have to pay for labor twice. But that isn't the big deal to me, it's more than I don't want to pay for a marginal upgrade over stock. I'd rather do it right the first time.

 

True. Although the new Pro does have Fox now

 

Thats just the Pro, though. They have to justify the price difference somewhere. I dont think a hood scoop and rigid fogs cuts it.

 

I was extremely pleased with my 6112/5160 setup when i put it on. It wasnt til i added all my weight on the front end and put 35s on that i started to even question it. It has held up well and performed just as well. My only concern is i might need a beefier spring, maybe down the line when i can getmore funds available ill upgrade but satisfied for now.

 

If you plan to drive the truck hard off road a lot and need state of the art suspension then go for the best you can afford.

 

It sounds like you want us to tell you to spend your money LOL. I don’t think you will be happy unless you get some bypass shocks. So just do it.

 

5160s are bypass

 

I’m talking front. Some 2.5s.

 

Just curious, how many miles/time do you have on your setup? I understand the short warranty on the 5160, and that isn't it, but I lurk on a lot of other 'yota forums and seems like people in the 4runner/taco world are experiencing some issues sub 1 year, even just on road only.

Not saying I expect a perfect system, far from it, but I just don't want to have one go and then replace vs. rebuild.

Thinking out loud here....

 

March will be 1 year and i have about 13k on the setup. With a good mix of city, highway, some mud and offroad (not as much as id like, but?)

 

I put 100k on my Icons on my 1st Gen. Leaked once and rebuilt them. It's nice they are serviceable, and you can revalve and respring.

I did all the work myself, but it sounds like it might not be as cost effective for you since you hire someone to have the work done.

 

A thing to keep in mind is that unfortunately people will always post complaints when things go badly, but are less likely to post when things work well. I'm guilty myself of this, I have warned many about the trouble I have had with $1500 Fox on my first gen but I never once said that my rear $150 5100s were trouble free. Over 150k miles on my rear 5100s and not a single problem, they're not blingy but they've worked.

There now I've said it.

 

More that I just don't have a garage. But I think I would enjoy doing it myself. I could potentially swap stock back on when a rebuild is underway.

 

so if you were back at day 1, would you spring for a fancier set up or just live with the Bilsteins? IE, did you feel the money jump to Fox came back to you with the product?

 

Yeah I understand. You can almost do all of it at your kitchen table. But a vise is absolutely necessary.

 

And who knows, maybe by the time it was needed I am in a new place with a garage (dreaming...).

Keeping a complete stock set up could allow me to pop it all off and work on a workbench I use in the shed for gun stuff.

 

@ColoradoTJ posted a very nice DIY for rebuilding suspension.

It does look intimidating. @cantle I have had similar thoughts. I am still on stock suspension but when it is time to replace I'm not sure what I will do. I plan on going with 6112/5160's but I also thought it would be nice to do a rebuild instead of replacing. But of course I haven't done it before so it scares me a bit.

 

Initially I had Toytec coilovers up front and 5100s on the back. I liked the ride, the Toyotecs I had were really Bilsteins with linear springs and they worked well.

I replaced them for Fox for the much greater oil capacity and softer ride, but that came with problems I wont go into here (dangerously poor engineering). In all honesty the Fox are only better off road, on road I preferred the Toytec. I drive on the road much more often than not. Knowing what I know now, I would rather have kept the 1500 I spent on the Fox and spend that elsewhere.

By the way I gave those Toytecs to my buddy and he had them on his Sequoia for a trouble free year, that truck was totalled sadly.

 

I don't think Toyota would use Billstein if the were not good quality.....they use them on TRD trucks and TRD Pro for many years now

 

Nope. I have always sent them out. I should learn though.

 

Radflo 2.5 front coils from toytec with boss test with resevoir?

 

Dare I say... I’ve heard of more cam tower leak issues on the tundra itself then the Bilsteins leaking.

I was in the same boat. Spend the exuberant amount of money on equipment I really would never get the full potential out of, or “chance” it and buy Bilstein 6112/5160 for a third of the price and run them to the ground. I’ve jumped the truck since installing and my only complaint is the choice of tires. Go figure...

 

This a good point man, and I appreciate the insight. It's easy to over-buy when you don't want to get caught with your pants down. I'm actually super happy with my current tire choice, hah!

 

Agree, but it really boils down to what your current use is, expected use is (realistic use), and long term plan is. I thought for a minute that if I put Kings on my truck I would take it out every other week. Completely unrealistic as I have a 17 month old. Lol.

What tires are you running? Brand and size