Enigmaaron's Build

No.

 

Anyone have opinions on rear shocks? I currently have Bilstein 5125s that I'm sick of, there's a clear difference between hitting a bump in the front with the Icons vs the rear with the 5125s.

From my research it sounds like the 5150s are no different than the 5125s, they will just run cooler.

So I'm looking at the Icon rear shocks and now they have mono-tube and remote-resi options. I can't find much on these, it's taking forever filtering out the millions of front shock threads. Anyone have experience with the Icons and/or know the differences between the mono-tube and remote-resi shocks?

 

Just looking for a replacement. My thinking is that the mono-tube and remote-resi are probably valved the same and would ride about the same under normal conditions. The resi would just help for high speed off-road to keep them cool and performing well.

 

I'm surprised you don't like them. How old are they? Any chance they are shot?

I love my cheap ass 5100's except for the lack of travel

 

They probably are shot, I've done the bounce test and it settles in 1.5 though. They are probably 5-6 years old at this point. It's not they they are bad, there's just a clear difference front to back that I attribute to the Icons up front being better. But I did also have the Icons rebuilt a little over a year ago.

 

IFS coil spring > strait axle leaf spring

Regardless of what you do the rear will always ride crappier on the bumps then the front. When I slam the front off a whoop that's what lets me know I need to hit the brakes before the rear bounces 3' in the air

 

Ha, yeah I'm sure that's part of it too. Figure it's time for replacements and why not get something better if I can. Just not sure if they ride better or I would be wasting my money.

 

Gotta find guys who have ran both set ups in similar situations to yourself and ask them. I think PA has it's fare share of 1st gen TTORA members in the regional section


To me when I threw on the TSB with AAL and 5100's it was a very rough ride offroad or on road for that matter.

Then when I added on the bumper/tire gate they ran much smother.

 

Found a couple threads on TTORA on them but not much info. I think the weight is just it, the Bilsteins are a little stiffer but ride nice with some weight in the back. The Icons ride nicer with less weight. At least that's what I read once or twice in my searching.

 

Besides from you

 

It appears I have a coolant leak somewhere. Temp hit red on the gauge this weekend while wheeling, chalked it up to conditions (hot day, AC on, long uphill stretches going slow). But on the drive home the temp kept rising on uphill stretches on the highway. So when I stopped to get gas I checked the overfill reservoir and it was empty (didn't check the radiator since it was hot). Filled it up with what I had left of coolant in the truck and it was better, but still rising a little the rest of the way home.

Next morning I check again and the reservoir is empty again. Look in the radiator and it's about 1/4 inch lower that it should be. I'm assuming what I added got sucked into the radiator.

Last time I checked would have been two months ago before Rausch. I'm pretty sure at that time I had to top off the reservoir. I'm positive the radiator was full but the reservoir might have been empty or close to it.

I checked around the hoses and below where the water pump is but don't see signs of leaking. Definitely nothing dripping on the ground. So my guess is a slow leak in the water pump seal. Is that a good assumption? Any way to verify that?

I'll need to search around but I'm thinking if it's not that bad of a leak I'll be fine if I just keep an eye on the coolant level and keep it topped off, at least for now.

 

Didn't see any smoke. I pulled the dipstick this morning and the oil looked fine, would I notice difference there or do I need to drain some?

And yeah, forgot to mention that when I did the timing belt change 12k miles ago I also changed the water pump.

 

If water was in your oil it would leave condensation on the top of the dipstick as well as the oil filler tube (like a typical POS 2nd gen)

(before warming it up)

 

Maybe I didn't use Toyota's magic juice.

 

This morning when I checked the oil dipstick and fill cap I didn't notice any signs of condensation or anything that looked unusual.

Just took a good look all around the engine bay (particularly where the water pump is) and I can't see signs of a leak anywhere which would be readily noticeable in my engine bay that has a nice coating of dirt on everything. Also checked for signs of leakage in the passenger foot well where apparently a heater core leak would show up

So I topped off the reservoir and the radiator is full. I'll keep an eye on it and see how quick the level drops.

 

Checked the coolant level yesterday morning and it went down very little if at all from last week when I topped it off. So I marked a line in the dirt on the reservoir and I'll check again before Rausch next weekend.

Is it possible I'm just burning some off when the engine heats up a little during wheeling?

 

What's that supposed to do/tell me?

 

Oh yeah, I would see bubbles in the radiator if I did right?