Toyota OEM bilstein failure

Just recently put on some bilsteins from a 2023 Tacoma on my friends 2016 off road. They came stock with his truck. This was 5-6 months ago and he accumulated around 7k miles. The front drivers side blew the other day. Sprayed fluid all over the front end eventually and then back to the rear axle. Luckily we saved the old parts and put on his drivers side strut with ~70k miles with light off roading on them. The steering wheel is still straight and it drives better than the new shock on the drivers side.
Symptom was a loud clink over bumps. And thumping on both sides of the floor board (probably the sway bar hitting). It started after we drove over a large speed bump (around 7-8mph) and then followed by 6-7 more speed bumps. I think the bumps over heated the shock and caused the seal to fail. Pic of the 7k mile strut.

 

What coils are those? You might be hyperextending your shock if that's a longer heavy duty coil.

 

They’re the struts that Toyota installs from factory. Wanted to keep the ride the same as new. They were take offs from a 23’ off road.

 

That sucks to have done the work to switch out the struts and then have them fail, but anything can happen. It probably isn't anything you've done. I'm not changing mine out to try to prevent dealing with a failure.

 

This is why buying used suspension is always a gamble.

 

Bilstein has a lifetime warranty.

 

Not on OEM equipment.

Their warranty on aftermarket is BS. If it's after 2 years, they make you(on your dime) send them the defective shock. You then have to wait weeks for them to determine why it failed and if they will actually cover it.

Who has time to wait over a month plus to replace a blown shock.

 

curious because your photo cuts off the top side of the suspension pictured..
was there a spacer of sorts installed that we can not see here?

 

Sounds like experience speaking.

 

The shocks may have seen some light off-roading on the 2023 or on your friend's 2016. The OEM shocks are undersized for the application if you use the truck like Toyota shows in the marketing material.

 

Don't the high-end coilover companies (Fox, King, Icon, etc.) operate the same way? Your shock breaks, you send it back to be repaired.

 

Comparing apples to oranges.

 

Agreed

 

Nope all stock from a 23’. I did not disassemble them to install. Bought from a person who used them for 1500 miles off marketplace. They seemed pretty shiny and new when I got them. Definitely newish. They Probably went hard on them off road TBH before selling them.

The strut we put back in probably has around 500 miles of off road. The passenger side is the same, brand new bought strut assembly that was taken off a 23’ model and put on the 2016. Once again it took about 5-6 months before it blew a seal. This was with zero off roading.

 

I would prefer just throwing the shock somewhere else since id rather just buy new or good quality used.
Cry twice and cry thrice.

 

Hi OP, I blew out two stock Bilsteins on my 2019. Toyota replaced the first one under warranty. After the second one started leaking, I swapped out all the shocks and lifted the truck.

In both cases, the dampers melted.

Curiously, on my wife's T4R, an SR5, we didn't have that problem while driving under the same conditions.

 

If you want to avoid Bilstein for the time being, these are an alternative. Can be ordered pre-assembled with Eibach, Wheelers, or OME springs:

 

Any lift spacers where installed? Cheers!

 

hint: If it shows any signs of overheating, they flag it as abuse. If it breaks anywhere aside from a factory weld, they flag it as abuse.

I sent a dozen shocks out to Bilstein for customers and they only warrantied a few of them. Unless they've improved in the last 10 years, treat them as a one-time buy.

 

Several years back, I installed rear 5100's. At my annual inspection (less than 10K miles on the shocks), I failed due to both rear shocks leaking. They were covered in fluid. Of course I had to spend the $$ to install 2 new cheap ones (expecting replacements) while I had to box the 5100's up and send them back. A few days later, I get a call from Bilstein and the tech said that leakage is "normal". I called BS and sent pics and indicated that I failed inspection. Conversation turned into a circle jerk. I installed OME Sport Nitrochargers. They never leaked one bit.