Throwing the TRD Off Road a Bone

The the past 7 months I have rode my stock SR 4x4 Taco pretty hard to the tune of 28K on the ODO. Mostly with trips to NC from Florida and a lot of Weekend Warrior wheeling in the Ocala National Forest (About a hours drive S of Me). Oil gets changed every 5K so I am setting her up for a long life and high miles.

All the off roading I have done hasn't been extreme, just corrugated forest roads with some sand pits with whoops and bumps. I have put a lot of stuff on the truck, a locker new wheels and rims. But the one thing I neglected was the suspension. What a big mistake that was!

It should have been the fist thing I did. I have spent the last 7 months with inferior shocks. The SR, SR5 and Limited that come with the Hitachi shocks SUCK!!! SR5 owners get rid of them! You know there bad when a set of 4600's are a HUGE upgrade.


A buddy of mine on Friday had a set of TRD Off Road OEM Toyota Bilstein's and the TRD Coils that came off his 2021 TRD Off Road with less than 1000 miles on them. When the tech brought my truck around I thought he had put a lift on it. I had lost nearly 1.5 inches in my wheel well due to the suspension sagging. 28K and my stock suspension was shot. IDK that seems a bit premature to me. But what ever. Point is the stock Hitachi's are junk.

I may get a set of the 5100's in the future, but this weekend I went wheeling and I was in a completely different truck. I was in a Stock TRD Off Road.

What a huge difference.

 

My 2019 trd sport came with Hitachis. Earlier this year, I moved the truck and saw a big spot under the rear suspension on the driver's side. Dealer replaced both rear shocks saying they were faulty. Not even a month later, the rear starts squeaking over every bump (truck has hardly been off road) - mostly daily driver.
Replaced with 5100s, and boy was it night and day.
I agree with you. Not sure what these Hitachis are all about, but they do not belong on our trucks.

 

Stock TRD offroads arent 4600's but a Toyota specific Bilstein, slightly skinnier.

The Offroad suspension is by far the best choice of the models. I bought my offroad after one finally arrived.

 

Well what ever they are there better than what I had lol.

 

I had the same thing!!!

A huge scoring on the shaft drivers side. Front passenger was toast as well.

I want a set of the 5100's and as soon as the back order clears I will get a set. But man what a difference they make.

 

Agreed 100%

I rode my 2018 SR for 43 k miles. Didn’t know what I was missing

going from that horse buggy to my 2021 DCLB 4x4 OR has been life changing to say the least.

like going from 3rd world to 1st world


Glad you are enjoying your truck @Harmon

 

Interesting. Stock suspension on my 07 ranger was still like new at 165k miles. Shocks were still excellent and I’ve spent quite a bit of time off-road in summers.

My sport has hitachis, so far been good. They are a bit stiff when flying down the FSRs or washboards but I just air down and slow down a bit. I don’t see why my hitachis won’t last for at least another 100k miles.

Time will tell

 

It's the suspension, the Hitachi's are just awful.

I was able to play and have so much fun yesterday in the NF. Bumps were manageable it truly felt like a new truck lol.

I was stunned, truly.

 

Here I am at 42k thinking they're fine

 

Well like you, I didn’t know know how garbage and awful the SR is till I moved to OR

guess you do get what you pay for

 

This was my rear drivers side strut. I honestly don't go "full send" when I go wheeling.
I am not hard on my truck.

 

Wtf.

My shocks still look brand new, I’ll snap a pic later.

 

The SR is not a awful truck. It's the same truck as the OR. It's just not the same suspension.

They need to not put that junky Hitachi suspension on it and it would be fine. The TRD Sports come with the Hitachi's as do the Limited.

The Toyota OEM TRD Bilstein's are a upgrade over the Hitachi's hands down.

 

How were you stunned? Are you a youngster who has zero experience or have never bought or researched shocks? Even when buying shocks for a old pickup they make all kinds of choices.

 

The OR feels like dog shit compared to the more expensive upgrades as well. There is always a better suspension setup, but it comes at a price.

 

I am stunned by how quickly they wore out. I am also stunned at how bad they are compared to what I just had installed.

Maybe stunned is not the right word. Maybe disappointed is a better description.

A 4x4 should not come with such inferior shocks as standard.

 

Yeah my SR5 shocks blow donkey dick. And the springs are sagging over an inch. 28k miles as well. I toss the truck around on Forest Roads and am just saving up for better monotube shocks. Cant wait to upgrade.

How did your hitachi shows perform? My feel too soft and have a ton of body roll which I have to try pretty hard to control. The truck bounces really easily on bumpy Forest Roads

 

If you can find a set on FB Marketplace I got a set of 4 Toyota OEM TRD OR Bilstein's for $225 with the Coil that came off the TRD OR. I don't know what kind of coil comes standard with the TRD OR. My SR Factory Coil seemed to be ok. It faired better than the shock tubes did.

To your question:

I had a lot of body roll and off road was comparatively miserable. On the highway they were ok. My truck sits taller and I have gained at least a inch if not more in my wheel wells.

 

Awful piece of garbage. Only a "Pool boy " would buy one. LOL!!

 

Who let this pool boy in here
Nice truck