Worn out suspension, best drop in no lift oem replacement

The OEM Bilstien suspension is starting to feel worn out. I’d like to upgrade to something a bit nicer but I don’t want to lift the truck or have to change out control arms etc. Old shocks out, new shocks in. Thinking of getting the Fox Performance series front and rear. I do 80% highway/city and 20% light off-road, no rock crawling mostly gravel roads and dirt. Would like something on the softer side also. The roads where I live are on the bad side so something a bit more plush would be welcome.

 

I would look for someone's take-offs .. try here or try here and look for your specific region. The region boards typically have a section for their local buy/sell/trade. Unless you want to buy new.

-J

 

@JustAddMud Id prefer to buy new. I’d be willing to get something on the nicer side also.

 

You'd be happy with anything you chose. Whether its OME, Bilstein, Kings, Fox, or Icon. They all provide a stock ride height replacement, typically it's their lower end tier. When you start adding in adjustability, remote reservoir's, etc you add on price. If you're somewhat stock with no additional weight up front, you should be good with 650lb springs. I have the OME NitroCharger with 650lb springs. When I installed them, I had a 2.5in lift over stock but now I think I'm closer to 2 in over stock as the springs settle with age. I have since bought some Kings 2.5 with remote reservoirs that is waiting to be installed. Bottom line, you'll be happy with whatever you decide to buy.

-J

 

@JustAddMud Awesome, Yea the truck is completely stock, no overland gear or anything. So stock weight. I'll probably go with the Fox brand, no need for remote reservoirs as I don't ever off-road that aggressively. Just want a bit better ride and some new suspension under the truck. My confusion was with the shocks being listed as 0-2/3in lift. I'm guessing the shocks are adjustable within that range so I'll just run them at 0 maybe lift the front a tad to level the truck but that's it.

 

In my personal experience for light offroad/gravel, mostly street the 6112/5160 combo.

It rides a lot softer than the Fox shocks, which I prefer.

https://www.headstrongoffroad.com/store/p186/Performance_Bilstein_6112/5160_Kit_-_HS05BK-2.html

You can set it to 0 lift and boogie down gravel roads all day.

You'd just need a new leaf spring to go with it.

 

With the amount of potholes in the roads around here, especially the new ones after a decent rain storm, I opted to upgrade to RR's. Another selling point is the rebuildibility (?) of the shock brand you go for to extend the life of your purchase. I know that Kings are serviceable but that might not be a big deal to you.

-J

 

Bilstein 4600's.

Same size as the 5100's (larger diameter than the stock OEM Toyota Bilsteins by quite a bit, i believe stock is 36mm piston, 4600/5100 is 46mm), front 4600's wont provide any lift or lift adjustability and are about 10% softer as far as valving vs the 5100's. The rear 5100's vs the 4600's are identical as far as valving and extended/collapsed lenghts, only difference is the finish and boot. (I just confirmed all of this with Bilstein with our trucks offerings as I was interested in the specific differences).

No they are not rebuildable, but keep in mind those "rebuildable" options often have a rebuild schedule of like 10-20k miles.

 

interested in this thread, as the OP is pretty much where I'm at. Tiring suspension on a stock Tacoma. Not bargain hunting but not looking to piss money away either. First though, I want to replace the stock leaf pack, then go with quality shocks all around. Also, I don't mind a modest lift. 1-2". I was looking at Elka. I don't want to add a leaf to an OEM pack with 130k on it, and I don't want a pack that on it's own is trying to give me 3". What's a decent stock leaf pack replacement?

 

Do what I am literally in the process of. Grab 2023 super lightly used take offs while you can - its the last year of pretty much all identical parts interchangeability (outside of the LCA).

I found stock UCA's, TRD OR shocks, coils, top hats/isolators/top hat bushing locally for 200 off a 2023 with under 2k miles - turned around and sold just the shocks for 150 as I really just wanted the 3rd gen TRD OR coil (for 1in of stock lift) and new OEM UCAs to pair with 3rd gen 5100's up front (so the valving matches the 3rd gen coils spring rate).

Found another person selling stock leaf pack off a 2023 TRD PRO with under 2k miles as well for 200$.

So im in 250$ for OEM parts for a full suspension refresh (+ the cost of the 5100's in all 4 corners but that was going to happen regardless). Going to pair the rear leaf pack with air bags for load handling.


This is coming from having a 2in lift having to run aftermarket UCA's, a full Old man emu dakar medium pack out back. The aftermarket UCA's (spcs) have had to be replaced multiple times and I had had it, the OME leaf pack looks like a W shape and realistically a stock 3rd gen height truck will do EVERYTHING I need and will ride and drive better than lifted. So back to stock height with essentially new takes offs I go.

 

This is an interesting question, as I've found the 2nd gen suspension to be a little on the stiff side myself when stock. Then again this pattern continued when I refreshed my suspension with take-off Bilstein's from a 2022 off-road. I'm no suspension expert, but I'm thinking you may be limited on how soft/compliant you can go without some serious suspension modification (i.e. longer travel).

 

Old Man Emu makes nice stuff at reasonable prices. Not as fancy as the Fox stuff butfrom what you describe mora than adequate.

 

Old Man Emu from Headstrong Off-road is what I currently run with. I had them install longer studs on the strut because I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to block the fronts (I never did, didn't need to). Went with 886 coils and the Heavy duty Dakar leaf springs. They included a diff drop spacer (I didnt need to install it as I didnt have any driveline vibes) and a gen 1 SPC UCA. No issues with that for over 10 years. She's starting to squeak and thunk more now so things are going to have to be addressed but it was more than enough to get me off the road on camping trips.

Edit: But since you're stock, you can get away with 887 coils and the medium weight Dakars or the 885s if you dont want any lift.

-J

 

I had the same issue with a 2nd Gen TRD Off Road with over 100K miles on it. I was looking a just replacing the all the shocks with some 5100's. But instead, I did a complete suspension swap (front coils/shocks, rear shocks, rear leafs) from a 2022 Tacoma TRD Off Road that had less than 500 miles on it. Picked everything up on Facebook marketplace for under $500.

 

This^^^ anything else will deviate from what you want.