Gen 3 coilover options

i've been scowering this site for about a week now, looking at what people are doing for front/rear shock upgrades for longer travel setups.

it seems that about 98% of owners are just using a pre packaged kit for their trucks. my goal is to eventually run a long arm up front, and 14" or 12" shocks in the rear with a flip kit and shock relocation kit.

I'm a huge bilstein fan, so thats the brand i'm planning on sticking with. for the rear, its pretty easy. Either 7100s or 5165. i don't need the 2.5. both of those have a 12" option, i could even go up to 14" options.

the front, i'm having more trouble.

i've landed on these so far. 33-225494 thats an 8" travel, with a 16" retracted and 24" extended, the biggest question is, springs. i don't even know where to start. i know some of the long travel guys are running coil overs using the rod to eye adapters without issues, so what springs are you using. i think OEM is 600 lb?

any advice or direction woudl be great. thanks

 

Try here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/long-travel-suspension.113/

 

98% of LT owners go with pre packaged kits because all the work was already done and there is no additional research needed to buy & install. Most LT kit brands will have specific shock lengths and hose routing required to have for their kits and off the shelf shocks wont be the best fit. It can be costly and time consuming to configure your own package sourcing your own shocks. Also keep in mind that LT shocks are very different than mid travel shocks, so upgrading in the future would require a lot of new parts.

If you are after a long travel kit, and are open to Fox or King, we can certainly help point you in the right direction.

 

ironically, i've been using ya'lls website as a resource, prior to even posting this. i'm currious as to why ya'll don't offer any bilstein products. i supposed i'm just partial to them and the cost that they offer everything at. i've personally never had a positive impressions from fox, but i had their entry level stuff.

 

Very common question actually. In general, we would need a lot more space and resources to add a 3rd shock brand. We have a large warehouse stacked to the ceiling with inventory and shelfs packed with parts for servicing shocks. In addition to space, tuning Bilstein shocks would be another project on its own. They come with digressive pistons which is something our engineers don't feel works best for customers wanting a smooth ride on/off-road. Not right or wrong, just our experience based on 15+ years of experience with off-road shocks. Maybe some day we will add Bilstein, but wont be anytime soon. As for impressions on Fox, is this directed at Fox specifically (customer service) or product line? Their entry level stuff is not ideal for an off-road enthusiast, we usually recommend 2.0 or 2.5 with remote reservoirs.

 

to start, i'm just going to call you guys friday and talk about some shock options for the LT. i have a local running your custom tuned fox shocks on a standard lift currently and they're pretty nice. expensive, but nice. i'm not apposed to spending money, but you're going to have to talk me into knowing its worth it.

but, for others to see my epxerience with fox, and what my budget is like:

the fox shocks i ran were on various jeeps. i started with a cherokee, and at first just used the good ole fashion skyjackers on it. i upgraded to the basic 6" lift fox 2.0 shocks i saw posted all over the internet. they were ok, i thought the skyjackers actually rode better. i stuck with fox on the next jeep. same thing, entry level 6" shocks, but on a TJ(pretty much the same). both sets blew out in about 6-7 months of use. no high speed off roading. only slow crawls and then just driving to and from.

when the first set started leaking i swapped to bilstein, and it was a huge diffrence way better ride. and they were cheaper. swapped over to bilstiens on the TJ as well about a week later. have run bilstiens on everything since, even on my cars that they offer parts for. their 8" shocks are also rebuildable and revalable and only cost $500 each. with springs from your site its less than $600 per corner up front to have rebuildable 60mm(2.4") coilovers with resiviors. and the rear is even cheaper. so i can spend less than $1800 on some good quality, servicable parts. vs $3500+ for the king or fox stuff. for a guy like me who dailys his truck and only does heavy offroading every other month, that price point is appetizing. plus, on the rear i can run a 2" shock which makes the shock relo kit half the price.

 

Our sales team would be happy to help answer any questions you have. 619-722-8555

Unlike most, you have quite a bit experience using a few different brand shocks, and sounds like Bilstein has worked out well for you. At the end of the day, thats all that matters. Everyone has their own preference with ride quality and price, so something like Fox/King that we offer may just not be in the cards for you. All good. My only word of advice would be to source shocks that you know will work for the LT you plan to run.

Just to be clear, the shocks we sell are at retail, the tuning if free. If you were to send us new shocks, we charge $120/each to revalve. So although they are priced higher at retail, you are getting a great value for the dollar. Additional benefits include: spring swapping, 25% off labor on rebuilds, free revalve.

 

For what it's worth, I have the full 2.5 Fox Racing extended travel with reservoirs and couldn't be happier. Very planted while cruising yet will walk all over stuff at low speed. Reached out to AccuTune during the process and they were great to consult with.