Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

I'm going to have to check these out. I've been considering a rear shock upgrade, as the 5100's just don't seem sufficient for the weight and heavy springs. I definitely can't afford to do both front and rear this year, though

 

That's encouraging to hear. I just have the 5100's, but I get the impression they're similar to the 5160 but with less heat resistance. My rear springs are also rated for 400# constant load, and I probably have about that much on them, usually.

I've considered the 8112, or custom valved Radflo, King, or Fox. Dobs are on my radar, too.

 

I've never considered Ironman, but I hear mostly good things.

I like Bilstein for the fact that mine still look good after 66K miles and 3 winters. I'll definitely be considering which brands hold up in this environment, and that actually eliminates King, among others probably.

The 8100's look awesome, but holy fuck are they expensive!

 

Join the teal coil cult any time...we have cookies!

 

When the 8100s first got released you couldn’t buy rebuild parts. Bilstein was holding buyers hostage to go through them for rebuilds. Not sure if it’s still the same but do your research on it or be prepared to take it with no Vaseline come rebuild time.

Any brand steel body 2.5 shocks are fine in our salty roads…if you Cerakote them. Icons QC and customer service ain’t there. Radflo has had QC problems, Dobinsons is better than both in that regard. Dobinsons is best bang for buck IMHO unless you absolutely need King or Fox for some silly reason. And I say that owning Fox shocks. I ain’t mad though.

If you aren’t pushing hard off road, 6112/5160 still hard to beat for overall best value. I’ll be selling my used ones soon but I wouldn’t hesitate to run them again.

 

Mine are fine but were re-valved. Mine also took a long time to “break in”. I’d say for about 4-5 months I was regretting it. Now I couldn’t be happier. Or I’m just being a fanboy and showing confirmation bias lol.

 

I'll definitely look into that rebuild situation before pulling the trigger on expensive ass Bilsteins.

I'd never buy Icons, between leaks and being founded by assholes.

I'm definitely not interested in having to paint or coat my shocks, so I'm probably stuck with something with aluminum bodies or a good factory coating.

I think the 6112's are nice. I just wish Bilstein made a worthy rear shock to pair them with. As best I can tell, the 5160 is just a 5100 with a reservoir that tends to leak.

Didn't Fox come out with some Aluminum bodied shocks awhile back?

 

Yes, Fox Performace Elite Series (PES). That’s what I have.

And agree about the Bilstein rear shock selection lacking. If I were buying Bilsteins again knowing what I know now, I’d get Dobinsons. They have filled a nice spot in the market. But I can’t hate on the 6112/5160s since they worked well for me at stock ride height. Should’ve come with those from the factory.

 

I haven't had a chance to watch the videos but were all test shocks on stock valving? It's known Fox valving isn't very good out of the box, needs to be tuned.

 

Did have any...

 

I am unable to confirm or deny that at this time.

 

Very much so. Although it think it was a bit of a miss on their part to just leave the shocks at the stock settings. I would have liked to see them spend some time dialing in for best possible performance. I also have questions on the springs used and if they were matched to a stock weight truck

 

You won't go wrong with @Crikeymike and Dobinsons. Triple seals and valves outperform Kings*

*Similar application dependent

Agreed. My rear Fox 2.5s are badass though. No corrosion either.

My icons don't leak. And they've legally separated themselves from the assholes a good number of years ago. $0 headed to that fuckwads account anymore

 

Not yet, at least. And, I am referring to the assholes who took over after they kicked out the original asshole.


Dobinsons are a consideration, but I would prefer to go with something custom valved if I'm switching from Bilstein.