Bilstein shock upgrade

Until I am able to upgrade my suspension, is it worth it to swap out the TRD sport Hitachi shocks with someone’s TRD OR bilstein take offs if price is right?

Will they swap out without any issues?

 

No point honestly. Take advantage of the firm suspension and on road handling for now.

If you want to simulate an o/r damper setup, just lower your tire pressures to 26psi haha.

Save up and get a good suspension of your choice

 

I wouldn’t waste my time with it personally. Not much difference between the two performance wise. I’d get some Bilstein 5100s for a good performance upgrade to stock

 

This will be hated on, but I think even 5100 were not that great of a upgrade. They are a oem replacement in my opinion.

I went thru stock/5100/and now I’m on 6112-5160 combo.

would save up and buy something nice right away. The 5100 are nice if someone has blown suspension and wants a replacement

 

5100's are a cheap way to level or lift the front, you are right though, the 6112's is a noticeable difference.

I run 4600's for the soft floaty drive

 

What outcomes are you looking for?
It's pretty easy to state some solutions, but it really hard for anyone to understand if it will help if you don't say what problems you are trying to solve.

"Upgrading my suspension" is a solution.
"Upgrading to TRD ORs" is a solution.

No one can tell you if these solutions will solve the problem you are having unless you explain the problem.

 

The "Quality" of the Sport vs OR shock is no different.

To over simplify it...
Sport shocks are Digressive, Firm to Soft through the travel.
OR are Progressive, Soft to Firm through the travel.

Sport shocks you won't have as much nose dive stopping, or body roll turning, but your teeth will be rattling if you go over small potholes or a washboard.

Sport is better on smooth roads and highways.
OR better on unassumed and fire roads. If you jeep it fairly slow.

The SR/SR5/Limited shocks are "in-between" the other two sets.

All shocks springs are direct bolt on's between models.

Is it worth the effort to change....
maybe if you hate the "harshness" of the Sports, and want the "sloppy Cadillac" feel of the OR's.
But try to get a ride in a SR/SR5/Limited, you may like the "feel" of those better.

Your talking 1/2 hour to change the backs at most and 2-4hrs to change the fronts. Is it worth it? Only you can answer that.

Personally I would not recommend spending any $$ on any of the stock suspensions, even the Pro fox shocks.

They all suck donkey balls real bad, especially if you consider what they cost.

Save the $$ to get a better aftermarket suspension on the truck.

Best advice I can give you on suspension choices, is;

There is no shortcuts on suspension,
spend much more than you want to the first time ,
so you are not spending it again, when you realize you are not satisfied.

i.e. "Buy once cry once"

 

Having no problems. Just looking for fairly easy and affordable upgrades. Found a set of bilsteins with 500 miles on them for $100.

My long term goal is to upgrade suspension with a couple inches lift and increase in load capacity to carry a camper like a FWC or something similar. But the camper goal is several years out.

As of now, I’ve only installed a set of Firestone Ride rite air bag helper springs on the rear.

 

Good advice daks, thanks.

 

Good advice from all of you, thanks to you all.

 

I wish I had the air bags on my access cab when I had it, because of the 6 ft box I got carried away and sat nose high a few times.

It's great for dump or hardware store runs! I had them on my F150.

 

Not sure why it will he hated on, it a very accurate statement. I think there are popular because they along with a few other parts are a cheap but decent quality lift option.

 

I agree with previous post about keep what you have for now and save up for something of a true upgrade.
Not positive on this but think there is a possibility of losing a little ride height going to the OR spring/shock.

 

Lol take close look at the OEM lift kit for the Tacoma that Toyota offers ...

Then you can remove the "in my opinion" in your above statement.

Sad part is they are an upgrade from the stock shocks except for the pro version, the Stock OR shocks are very close the the Bilistein 4600 shock.
The 5100 is a bigger body that does help a little bit for shock fade, and the are digressive like the Sport shocks so are a little better on the street vs the OR shocks.
But the 5100's should have been the minimum stock shock on these trucks.

 

Are the ome 2888s and the 6112 springs the same diameter radius? I ask bc I’m about to do the 6112 upgrade and I’m really close to hitting the sway bar with my ome 888 springs as it sits with 5100s. So if they’re any bigger I’m going to need the sway bar relocate piece

 

I agree but I could tell a big difference in upgrading to 5100 from sport oem and the 5100 have been extremely durable

 

Simply put, yes, a sway bar relocation bracket is more ideal for 6112s. Buddy at work just did this, ome to 6112 and added the bracket.

 

Ok I’ve ordered the bracket. I do have overland customs sway bar end links rather than oem so I guess I’ll have to readjust the heim links. Thanks

 

Springs are for height and weight. You want JUST enough spring load so the truck just "floats" at the desired ride height.
Shocks control the ride quality and feel.


Too low a spring rate and the bumpstop will do all the work and the shocks will not be very effective and the truck will sit too low and not have any up travel.
Too high a spring rate and the shocks can't do any work at the springs will not be moving. And it will be like driving a brick.

If the camper is going to be on your truck at all times then you will want to replace your rear leaf springs also.
As you will have experienced, air bags don't let your shocks do their job and are great for intermittent loads but not something you want on a day to day driving basis.

 

Yeah the extra body size really does make a difference.
Also gives more room for the valves so the shock can be move variable through it's stroke. Can't stuff too much in the ity bity stock shocks.

Stock Sport and OR shocks look like pencils compared to a real shock.