Remote reservoir shocks for the front

My guess as to why bilstein suggests the lowest preload setting with aftermarket springs is that most aftermarket springs are longer thus the actual preload will be higher at the same setting. For example, your 888 springs are about 16” and the stock springs are about 14” (I think).

BTW, why did you pair bilstein 5100 shocks with ome 888 springs?

 

In hindsight I probably should have gone with 5160s instead, but I know 5100s from my Tacoma and figured they'd get the job done for what I needed initially.

The 888s are because my build is a 4th gen V8 4Runner with a full front bumper, winch, and very soon a full set of RCI skid plates, and I was shooting for a full 3" lift with that much weight (plus a full plate rear bumper and swing-out tire carrier, but that drove the rear spring selection more than the front).

Since the plan was really only for low-speed technical terrain and not a lot of moderate speed on just rough trails, I didn't want to invest in the more expensive sets designed for that kind of driving; my budget target was initially to try to keep it under $25k for the full build, and hopefully to get at least a rear locking diff plus armor and OBA within that price (I hadn't picked the vehicle yet when I set that target, so I didn't start out knowing exactly what I would or wouldn't need to buy).

 

Are you aware that the 888’s are 590 lb/in and the stock springs are 700 lb/in? If lift and weight capacity were your goals, why not go with the stock springs and adjust the preload on the 5100s?

 

I know what you are after... the same thing I am after. No one offers it. I've built a couple different prototype sets over the years.

 

Is that 700#/in for a Tacoma (which gen?) or for a 4th Gen V8 T4R? According to the 120 Platform forums, the OEM springs on my 4Runner were 580#/in (and I'm pretty sure they were worn some and sagging when I bought the rig with 200k miles on it).

The reason I didn't just use the 5100s to get the lift is towofold; I didn't want to lose that much travel in my front suspension (although switching to timbren bumpstops might have mooted some of that), and I didn't trust the 12 year old stock springs to hold up well under all the additional weight.

 

My bad. I forgot you are talking about a 4Runner on a Tacoma forum

 

I've had to resort to it because most of the 4Runner forums are either dead or completely useless (unless you're looking to tell someone where to get "raptor" lights installed or whether their $5k quote is a good deal for getting "a little lift" on their grocery-getter). Also, in this instance the parts I'm wondering about are close to being cross-compatible with the 2nd Gen Tacoma; the UCAs I put on my 4Runner are actually the same ones that I'd use if I needed a pair on my 2010 Tacoma, but since that one's only running a 2" lift with 32s (and only gets taken out on easier trails) I can get by fine with the stock UCAs so far.

The FB TW group isn't a whole lot better, but there's still enough "tech" guys around here who seem to know more about the 4Runner than most of the T4R guys know.