Suggestions for rear shocks - Bilstien?

Hello - I just picked up a 2004 Taco - 2WD base model.
The rear shocks have bad rust damage. I wanted to replace them and I was thinking Bilstien's - B6 4600's. They are about $75 each.

I am tinkering with the idea to lift the truck a little at some point and have no plans to dump a lot of money into this truck. I am not intending to build an off-road vehicle or anything.

Based on the desire to get a little more height should I be looking at different shocks right now?

So, what shocks do you recommend?

I am also researching all the options to lift the truck a bit. For a newbie with a 2wd grandpa model can you suggest anything simple and affordable for a lift option?

Thanks!

 

Welcome to TW, fellow 5-lug owner!

Is you Taco a 2003 or a 2004 though?

 

Thanks!!! Also, thanks for catching the mismatch - it's a 2004.

 

IMO the 4600s are way too stiff. Stick to the 5100s or 5125s (for the custom length you might want). ideally you buy shocks at the length you plan to be lifted, I'm not well versed enough to be able to recommend a shock that will work at both oem hight then lifted but some of the vendors here are, hit them up.

 

5100s are firmer than 4600s due to their intended purpose = off road performance

Also, leaf packs (rear) and coils (front) provide the lift on vehicles, shocks do not.

 

@Deeman

When you say base model, you're referring to a 5 lug right?

If so, I'll get someone here that can help

@Das it mang

 

Another thought. If your shocks have rust issues, a thorough frame inspection is in order.

It's important to know the frame won't collapse under you before spending a dime on other stuff.

If you have a 5 lug as I suspect, 235x75x15 tires will give you a full 1" of additional ground clearance. I know they work with no issue on second gens, and some poking around in the 5 lug forum should determine if they also clear on 1st gens like yours

 

Kybs are cheap on Amazon and do great if you're on a budget from addressing ur rust issues

 

Go gas adjust or the monos they are like 20 30 a piece

 

What a great forum!! Thanks very much for the input guys. I do have a five lug, I am quickly trying to get up to speed on the terminology but it does appear I have the five lug model. I will definitely check out the KYB shocks.

 

Are you speaking from experience? Because I've had both, 4600's valving sucks ass.

Also, I did not say shocks lift, but for the rear of the truck, be it lifting with aal, blocks, shackles, fairy dust, whatever, you need to match rear shock length. OP mentioned the rear shocks, and then mentioned lifting, then asked about shock advice in regards to this. My 5125s in the rear were a specific part number for OEM height, it's different part numbers for an 1"+ lift but I went with Icons by then.

OP, down south motorsports hooked me up with the 5100 fronts and 5125s rear and know what part numbers for the rear depending on what hight you choose regardless of how you go about achieving that ride height.

 

Directly from Bilstein themselves.

Stiffer valving means your wheels are planted to the ground more often in the event that you're driving through rocks/bumps/etc. In an off road environment, it's all about traction.

Why do you think suspension that works well off road feels "stiff/firm" on road?

And no, my statement about lift was not directed to you.

 

Cool, Bilstein wrote some stuff and it's gospel. I guess 4600s are better than smooth Kings for off road.

OP, you will feel running over an ant if you get 4600s. Id go with anything else short of monroe.

 

Ok now you're just ignoring logic as to why a firmer shock is better for off road (generally speaking, between 2 shocks of the same brand).

King, and other shocks are on another caliber compared to Bilsteins entry level shocks.

Hell I have both King 2.5 and Fox 2.5 for good reason.

 

I'm not ignoring logic, OP asked questions and mentioned 4600s, they are horrible. Do they last? Yes. But did Bilstein miss the mark with them? Yes. Their other shocks are much better. My 5100s were more compliant on slow speed damping and stiff/better on fire roads at speed. That Bilstein marketing you quoted is fluff talk from them, the 4600s ride like ass for all occasions.

Non-blown 4600 = way stiffer than off road advertised 5100 with no real justification.

Have you had both 4600 and 5100?

 

Ok, now you're agreeing with me without realizing it.

You said the 5100's are more compliant at slow speed damping, and better on fire roads, etc.

That's exactly what they're aimed at providing when compared to something like their 4600's or other shocks within that price range.

The 4600's will not absorb bad roads, or any off road situation as well as 5100's do.

4600's are valved slightly softer because they're aimed for a vehicle that's more often found on road.

And yes I have had 4600's but I went straight to Fox 2.5 up front; I've run 4600's, 5100's, and Fox 2.0 in the rear

The 4600's had less than 5k miles on them when I got my truck per the receipt from the previous owner; those were replaced when the rear end was rebuilt. Knowing that was all said and done, I did general maintenance and took the truck off road right away only to lift it within months.

 

You have been making strawman arguments. Try not to use only "stiffer" or "softer" to have this discussion, explain the low speed, high speed, digressive with a non-linear progressive past slow-speed stack descriptors etc.

4600s are not valved softer, yet alone "slightly softer", they are all around harsh. The 5100s had a non-linear digressive feel- softer at slow speed than 4600, but didn't just strait tap out at high speed either- but still digressive, they can't hold up to the 2.5 big names when it comes to higher speed. Can they be "compared" to them? Of course they can, I just did- you compare them when you go out on the road with buddies with different setups- I think you mean they shouldn't be put in the same class as King, Fox etc, but can all shocks be used to compare characteristics with other shocks? Of course yes.

4600s felt like Toyota went to Billy with X cost restriction, which required Y type of internals, but with Z high speed requirements that forced Billy to make them stupid stiff all the time/all ranges to compensate for the overall digressive internals.

The 4600s were made to some kind of corporate Toyota spec of performance but low-cost, probably at the dismay of Billy engineers and will go down in history as one of the most horribly valved shocks on a Yota, ever, hence I'm telling the OP to steer clear of them regardless of use case- be it off road, crawling, street driving etc.

I'm sure you will not resist the strawman, and must have the last word, so have at it- I think I said enough to save the OP from making the 4600 mistake which is what matters here.

 

@BlackSportD @Kwikvette you may be arguing over something that is a mute point to the OP.

If he has a 5 lug are 51xx's even an option?

 

I recommend blown 4600s

Have had worn out shocks on my truck since the day I bought it and hitting bumps in the road feels like an amusement park ride

10 out 10 best combination with clapped out springs

 

OP,

Just curious as why you want to lift the truck if you
A. Don't want to spend money
B. Don't plan on going off road much

Lifting the truck (small amounts) doesn't get you much ability to run bigger tires and in general costs money both in the parts and the decreased MPG.

If my truck wasn't already lifted from the previous owner I would have gone with the KYB shocks. They seem to be cheap and handle well for most daily applications.

I did end up going with 5100 that replaced the 5100 that were already on there. It was a difference of about $120 total (this is just rear shocks) from the KYB Gas-a-just. So not too bad, but a lift is going to cost a lot more unless you are just throwing some hockey pucks under the frame.