Remote reservoir shocks for the front

This might be a stupid question, but is there any option available for reservior front shocks that isn't a coilover? Right now I'm set up for crawling and road driving, but might want to tweak the setup to also be able to handle overlanding and I'm happy with the springs I'm runnning on currently and I don't feel like I really need an adjustable coilover set-up if I can just get shocks that'll hold up better to more cycliing and heating (currently on 5100s at the 0" setting and OME 2888s)

This is for my "trail rig" 4th gen T4R, but the suspension geometry is so similar to the 2nd gen tacoma (ICON UCAs are cross-compatible for both verhicles) that I'd assume that the options for dampers are pretty similar for both vehicles.

 

Unpopular opinion but you don't need reservoirs for overlanding. * Unless you are going fast. If you are overdriving your current suspension and the shocks are getting hot to the touch then look at something with a larger volume shock body and reservoir.

 

Well, technically, all of our front suspensions are coilovers, as the coil is over the shock body. It As far as I know, no, you can’t add a reservoir to a sealed shock body. Sealed Shocks are all designed/valved/etc according for a desired outcome. With 5100s you can add a variety of springs, but you can’t change the valving properties of the shock. This is where ‘coilovers’ come in. They allow adjustability of nearly everything: compression/rebound/spring rate/ride height/etc.

Regular trips off road and on road likely don’t need reservoirs. Reservoirs allow for more oil management to aid in keeping the shock cooler under harsh (mostly high speed) applications. Not MPH but how fast the shock cycles. Think washboard whoops and desert racing or more extreme actually rock crawling/buggy (not ‘overlanding’).

you can pair the 5100s with an appropriate springs, which work fine for most people, otherwise the next step would be a 2.0 or 2.5” coilovers. I can’t remember if toytec or some of the entry level kits have an option for reservoirs. I want to say there was a kit that had a variation of the 5100 shock that had a reservoir, but you’d have to buy it with the reservoir, you can’t add it to a sealed shock.

 

I know that technically "coilover" refers to the mechanical assembly, but the marketing vernacular seems to use the term for the full "kits" which almost always have a ride height adjustment and include both components and capabilities that I don't think I need to be paying for. I'm hoping to avoid spending a chunk of unnecessary money to replace components that I'd prefer to keep and just replace the components that I actually would need to upgrade.

I know that Billstein has the 5160 as a heavier front option, but I'm hoping to find something like the 6112 made for the front.

I generally just do fairly low-speed trail driving and get to/from the trails on pavement. I'm thinking that I might at some point want to be better able to endure moderate speed driving on unpaved/washboard/desert type terrain without having to worry as much about overheating the front shocks.

 

Your question is a little confusing. I think you are asking if you can buy standalone shock absorbers without a coil spring. The answer is a definite yes. Just be sure the shock is compatible with your coil spring and suspension geometry. People tend to buy a full coil over because a) installation does not require a spring compressor, b) they want a different length and/or spring rate, and/or c) their chosen shock is not compatible with their coil spring.

 

Reservoirs are not for overlanding or additional weight. That's the coil that handles the weight. Resis are to help shock fade during fast long runs like Baja or dune running.

 

https://www.superiorengineering.com.au/remote-reservoir-shock-absorbers-explained
https://offroadpowerproducts.com/blog/why-upgrade-to-remote-reservoir-shocks/

 

I get that part (I've made my living as a mechanical engineer for the last 25 years), and the coils I have are doing fine with the weight I'm running in the front.

All I'm trying to find out is if there's an option out there for a damper that'll take more heat than the ones I'm currently using in case I decide someday that I want to cover more distance on unpaved ground in addition to doing very rough trails at 10mph or less. Not looking to run baja or anything like that, but there's a lot of options between that and trail-crawling.

 

I'm well aware that I can buy shocks without a coil. I've never seen one with a remote reservoir (for the front of a Tacoma/4Runner) that appeared to be designed as a stand-alone shock or sold individually without having to buy a full coil-over set. There's plenty of options for the rear of a T4R (since the shocks install separately from the springs anyway), just not one I've seen for the front.

 

I’ve never shopped for one. The lack of supply could be primarily because RR shocks are usually larger diameter than stock and there isn’t enough clearance in the stock coil. Also I think the RR shocks are generally designed for longer springs. I’m guessing @AccuTune Offroad or @HeadStrong Off-Road could give you a better answer.

 

I'm not aware of any replacement shocks with reservoir for your setup. I guess I am unclear on what your current issue and what you are trying to accomplish. If you are looking for better performance there are several coilover options available that have proven to work well (Fox King etc..). Cheap shocks do not equal good performance.

 

Semi-related, when I was shopping, there were no extended length shocks on the market that weren't the super expensive variety (e.g. King, Fox, etc.).

 

The highlighted statements are not accurate, just driving at a moderate speed down a washboard road for even just 30 mins - 1hr can overheat the heck out of a non resi shock. You don't need to be " baja running " or " going fast " to need / see the benefits of a remote reservoir to help cool the oil. Things like washboard roads where your shock is cycling thousands of times per mile create an enormous amount of friction = heat. OE shocks and 5100's etc are widely know to " pop" under those conditions. Heck MT's first test drive of the 3rd gen documented & proved this issue perfectly, stock shocks overheated and popped in something like 30 minutes.
Driving for long distance over rough terrain even at moderate speeds will cause more harm to shock than shorter duration big impact driving.

 

I don't really have a current issue as I'm using the vehicle for the kinds of driving that I built it for. I'm really looking into possible options for the future in case I do decide to try getting into kinds of driving that I'm not currently built for, and hoping to find a more efficient option that any of the full coil-over kits (which provide some kinds of adjustability that I'm not sure I'd have any need for).

Not looking for a "cheap shocks" option, just don't want to commit to an "overkill" option if there's a "good enough" option for my needs, if I decide to expand those needs from where they're currently at. Maybe my front coils will wear out at around the same time as my shocks, and replacing with a full assembly wouldn't seem as wasteful as it would when I've got a perfectly good set of springs on the truck already.

I might be a bit over-sensitized to this at the moment though. There's been a wave of guys on a FB T4R group I'm in who keep asking if they're getting a "good deal" on an Icon stage-5 (plus install) because they want a "little bit more height" on their 2021 TRD Pro pavement princess; while I'm in the middle of building out a 12 year old rig (which spent 6 winters in the northeast) because I see no need to put $80k in to a rig that's intentionally going to be having close encounters with boulders and trees when $25k will get the job done.

 

By "adjustability" do you mean the preload adjustment that most higher end shock absorbers come with, e.g. several Bilstein's including 5100, King, Fox? If so, I'm not sure why it is a concern of yours. I don't think that is the expensive part of the shock. King, Fox and some others do come with a more precise preload adjustment than Bilstein 5100, but I don't think thats the primary reason why people buy them nor why they are so more expensive.

 

Yes shock speed is more of a factor than vehicle speed but don't you think those shocks would have lasted longer if they slowed down? I'd feel bad telling anyone they couldn't/shouldn't overland their truck until they buy dampers with res's. The saying "Speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?" comes to mind.

I would go use the vehicle as it is and see how it does. If you are doing roads with long sections of washboard bumps I would stop every 5-10 minutes and check the shock body temperature if tey feel fine continue at your current speed, if they feel like they are near ambient know that you can probably speed up, if they are warm to the touch then you are probably okay, if they are too hot to handle then you should probably chill out for a bit and slow down.

 

The 5100 "adjustment" isn't an option for me since I'm not using stock springs. I am running 5100s though. I'm certain that the threaded-body fully adjustable options that the coilover sets come with for ride height adjustment are far more expensive to manufacture than the four fixed-location grooves that are used in the 5100 (and that cost gets passed along).

One thing I've never understood from an engineering viewpoint is how those adjustments constitute any kind of "preload" though; the final compression in the spring when it's not drooping should be a function of only the rate of the spring and the share of vehicle weight that's carried on the wheel. I really don't see how increasing the distance between the point where the strut engages the spring and where it's attached to the vehicle frame has any effect on the load of the spring while it's in use.

 

One way to understand preload is to think about the coilover in its fully extended position (full droop). Preload is the force pushing the wheel down in that position. If you, for example, have 100 lbs of preload, it will take 100 pounds of weight before the coilover starts compressing. This is more intuitive when dealing with softer springs like the ones on a dirt bike, because you can compress the coilover a significant amount with your body weight alone.

I didn't know that the adjustability of a Bilstein 5100 was dependent on a stock coil spring. Can you explain why that is?

 

Bilstien's specs say to only use them at the "zero" height increase setting with after-market springs.

It might just be a matter of them not having the capability to test their shocks with all of the possible springs for each vehicle. Their HQ is in California, where they can get hit with serious product liability suits based on customer negligence (look into why there's no more rectangular 1 gallon vented steel gas cans on the market anymore...)

It's also possible that the grooves for the snap ring reduce the strength of the strut housings; If that's the case, then having them all above the point where the housing becomes "load bearing" between the frame and the LCA would prevent them from possibly weakening the suspension on a vehicle that's significantly heavier than the stock configuration that's also likely to be running with higher than stock unsprung weight in the tires (a common reason why people would use a longer/stiffer spring on these kind of vehicles). If this is the case, then it's more likely to be an issue of fatigue/cracking in the grooves than an issue of insufficient static strength; I personally probably wouldn't run them on a trail truck in at any "lifted" setting for this reason but they're fine for raising up "mall crawlers" that aren't going to cycle their shocks on much more than speedbumps and the occasional curb.

 

The front shocks are on a 3:5 motion ratio so they move a lot less fluid. The IFS also means unsprung weight in the front is just a fraction of that in the rear. That's probably why the TRD Pro shocks have resis in the rear but not in the front. You can be sure Toyota did the fluid temp measurements and found the resis to be more bang for the buck in the rear.

Food for thought. Both the Tacoma and Titan destroyed their rear shocks, while the Ridgeline survived better because of independent rear suspension:



Packaging is also a consideration. The non-height adjustable front shocks all have the shock body on the bottom to avoid needing an expensive machined top hat. That however complicates resi hose routing thru the tie rod, CV axle, sway bar, etc.