much improvement w/ just some fox coilovers?

Ok i have a pretty much stock tacoma 4x4.i have been considering installing some nice fox or king coilovers And nothing else. How ride improvement will i get with just some nice shocks? I have goodyear ultra terrains and toyota anthracite wheels.

 

What model truck?

Year?

Miles?

Primary use?

 

1995.5 dlx, 199k miles, use everyday daily driver for me only. Its my recreational veh truck, daily. Not afraid to get it dirty, I occasionally slap my sons car seat in and take him out on offroad trips.

i have yellow blue bilsteins on it, i just
Want something better performing.

 

I would try to use specific words to describe "performing" and what you would like to accomplish. Softer ride, not feel those little bumps, decrease body roll .. better performing could be anything from a new set of the same bilsteins with no miles on them to race truck suspension. Each setup is going to have pro's and con's

 

That's a lot of miles. How many of those are on the current shocks?

Have springs and/or any bushings ever been refreshed?

Have the lower ball joints ever been replaced?

If you live in snow/salt/brine country, are the frame and front suspension components in good shape related to rust?

And as @a2lowvw asks, define 'perform' to you.

Budget boundries would be good to offer up as well.

 

The king and fox shocks are designed to maintain good handling while driving at high speed over rough terrain for long periods of time without overheating. They don’t do squat for daily driving except look cool and lighten your wallet.

 

One caveat is that when you install king. fox, and the like shocks, you typically also install new coil springs which are usually longer and softer. This can improve your on-road ride quality a bit because softer springs tend to give a softer ride. However, The difference not worth the $$$ IMHO.

 

Spoken like someone who has never ridden in a truck on kings, or someone who has and is mad they can't afford them.... lol

 

I have kings.

 

Well I don't know what to tell you. Every truck I've ridden in or driven with kings is night and day better on and off road. Softer over cracks and bumps than any stock tacoma, more planted through turns, etc

 

Yes my bilsteins are about 2 yrs old, i have new upper lower ball joints, all Og springs.

i want better offroad performance, i want shocks to handle the rough stuff better without “washing out”
And just start bottoming out, etc.

 

Almost like driving a brand new truck is what I like to say.

 

I can’t argue with you about your personal experiences, but I can say that shock absorbers have little to no effect on small cracks and being “planted through turns”. Are you sure there weren’t other things different about those experiences besides the shocks?

Shock absorbers create a resistance force that is proportional to the velocity that the suspension is moving. Small cracks cause low amplitude, high velocity vibrations and I’m guessing that the shock can be considered completely rigid with respect to them. Vibrations like that are soaked up by tires, bushings, and body mounts.

I’m not sure what you mean by “planted though turns”. Are you referring to sway? If so, shock absorbers have little effect on that unless you are turning hard right and left repeatedly. Controlling sway is the job of the sway bar and springs. Some race cars also use the bump stops to control it.

Another way to think about shock absorbers is in terms of energy conservation. Shock absorbers convert the kinetic energy (movement energy) to heat. Without shock absorbers, the truck would bounce up and down like a pogo stick because the kinetic energy would not dissipate. (Caveat: the springs on your truck are not perfect springs and do lose energy, but much slower than a shock).

 

I did front kings and then about a month later did the rears. I replaced 5100's and 5160's and the small bump compliance is way better with the kings. I have a couple roots growing under the road that create a washboard effect leaving our neighborhood. The truck would literally skip over the roots with the bilsteins and with the kings you feel the roots but the tire is now staying in contact with the ground.

 

Shiit so save money get higher end bilsteins? What do you suggest on improved bump stops than oem?

 

What’s wrong with your OEM bump stops? If you are hitting them frequently, I suggest upgrading/adjusting your shocks, valving, and springs before adding a bandaid. I also suggest not buying upgrades until you know you need them. What are you planning to do with this truck? Forest roads? Mild trails? Beach cruising? Rock crawling? Desert racing? Jumping dunes? Mud bogging? Overlanding?

 

Dirt roads, FS, BLM land mobbing.

 

just grab some fox 2.0 coil overs and matching rear shocks, it will be very much improved over the cheap bilsteins on the truck now.

 

Wow best straight forward response. I aint no baja racer.

 

I used Fox 2.0 stuff on a few rigs and was always happy, sure a 2.5 with resi or nice kings are ‘better’ but is it necessary….the fronts i put in my 4runner came set from fox for a 2 inch lift, no need for control arms etc at that height