Stock Level Suspension Upgrade Options

Just purchased an 02' 4x4 with 250k miles, and boy does it ride rough! I'm unsure if it's normal or not, but I've driven Jeeps 4Runners and other trucks and none have been so floaty on the freeway bumps. Like pretty bad control loss after hitting them. I've checked all ball joints, and all seem to be like new! No tears.

That said, I've done some basic inspection and all appear fine but there's definitely some extra bouncing during a shake test. I'm looking to do a full, all inclusive (struts, control arms, shocks, springs, etc) kit that rides best and retains stock height. What would be the best brand/kit to purchase for this? I'll be doing 80% pavement driving in the truck.

Really on a pinch here and would love some Bilsteins, but the stock OE replacement kit from rock auto is so much cheaper. Is the ride that much worse?

Any advice would be great!

 

OE replacement from RA as in Monroe? Monroe is garbage and I wouldn’t put it in any of my vehicles. If you want cheaper replacement, go with KYB but I would recommend Bilstein 4600 over the KYB.

 

Welcome to TW.

If you want stock coilovers (these don't have "struts,") . . . you won't find OEM, discontinued. Go with these, the lowest priced assembled coilover kit I found, as close to stock as you can get. The price has dropped by over $100 too! Bilstein 4600's all 4 corners, Moog coils.

Everything else I'd go (and did) OEM. If you do LCA bushings you'll save tons of time by replacing the whole arms, they're only a couple hundred per side. When you say checked ball joints, did you do the actual crowbar test? Mine were tight as a pin but when I got them apart I could see wear, same with the LCA bushings. From your description I'll guess it's your steering rack and/or tie rod ends, there are various tests you can do to narrow it down a little.

Attached is my price comparison for OEM parts from 2023 when I did my front end. Prices haven't changed that much but will give you an idea. Happy wrenching.

 

It's not always about just shocks to make a non bumpy non drifting ride. I was in the same boat at 260k. I put new 4600's all the way around and it did help a little but I didn't see real results until I started replacing front end suspension and steering components. Just my 2 cents. My parts looked good but night and day difference driving after replacing pretty much all front end stuff except the rack. Drives daily like it just came off the lot in 2001. Throw in the steering wheel tack weld mod makes it good n tite.

 

What are all the parts your speaking about when you say steering components? I'm going to do tie rod ends soon, not sure what else I should do to tie in my handling and steering a bit. I did already do lbjs. also, would a set of 5100s level out my rake I have going on? and should I do coils too or let the shock do the leveling

 

For an enjoyable driving experience for me I needed new tires, new shocks, upper & lower BJ, sway bar endlinks and bushings, out of necessity I did bearings, calipers, rotors and pads. It's spot on now. I have a set of moog both inner and outer tie rod ends in boxes that I walk by everyday beckoning me to install, coming soon. Those kinda suck doing on the ground in my gravel driveway or they would be done. Read up on the steering Tack weld mod that took at least a half inch of play outta my drifting steering wheel. Seems hard-core but was actually easy peasy with a borrowed HF welder. My truck has 273,000 the JDM engine has as of now ?? 80k ?? miles Lotta life left. my inner and outer tie rods have it seems no play but they are getting changed for the last part of its life as with the other stuff. All that over a year or so made it enjoyable to drive. Justifiable no car payment. Couple more parts and I can reap the benefits for awhile. I can drive a thousand miles in it tommorrow if I had to. It's way cool to drive a vehicle with no tech gadget BS.

 

My 2001 has that floaty feel ever since I got it in 2016 and 100k ago. Last year I changed to the billsteins linked above all around. Didn't really change the feel much. I've recently done LBJs. I have not done any bushing changes. But it's fine -- feels like my dad's caddy back in the day., haha.

I will pile on on the steering shaft slop weld. I did it to both my trucks. They couldn't be properly alligned with the slop (steering wheel not straight). Sounds intimidating but it's literally 25 minutes to get the shaft out. Weld and re-install. Took away all the noisy clunking when off road.

I put Monroes on my single cab. Wasn't looking for anything fancy there -- just had to replace a leaky front and broken rear so for $300 for all four was worth a try. Tight and springy feel -- like my '80s era wrangler was. At first I didn't like it, now I do. They've been on 3 years and are fine. Everyone knocks them, but I'm happy for the price and ride feel.

That's a good price from suspension lifts. Jump on it -- only two left (so they say...)

GL~