Suspension Question

Im looking for new front shocks and coilovers for my 2001 Tacoma V6 4WD. Whats the difference between paying lots for OEM bilsteins and coilovers and going a cheaper route like this package from Rockauto http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=3443685&cc=1375343&jsn=399

Will I really notice that big of difference for a begginer offroader? Will the cheaper ones just not last as long? Thanks

 

I recently got new shocks from Rockauto, but instead of that package deal, I got
KYB 564001 MonoMax & 500# OEM springs. Love em just fine. Don’t need my truck jacked any higher, so I went with these.

 

Over my 55 years of driving I had to replace many, many shock absorbers on my cars and trucks. It's been my experience that at about 40k miles (some earlier, some later) a shock absorber begins to fade to the point where it is noticeable. I've had various types of Gabriel and Monroe on various vehicles, and they all worked nicely for the first 10k-20k miles. For example, I had to replace the original set of front and rear shocks on my TRD at 60k miles, and my rear shocks again at 70k miles. And now at 92k miles I had to replace the front shocks again. I suspect the rears are not far behind.

Over the last 20 years I've driven a lot of miles on some really bad, knarly, washboard roads (paths?) in the Nevada and Utah forests and deserts, in many places I averaging 2-3 mph for 15 to 20 mile stretches. When you figure the many 1000's of times a shock retracts and rebounds an inch or so each mile, and the millions of times it retracts and extends over a couple of days of washboard dirt roads, it's a wonder they last at all...

 

Spend a little more money and get some quality Bilstein 5100s

 

The kyb monomax mentioned above ride every bit as good as bilstein 5100s for a bit cheaper. Only difference is height is not adjustable.

Yes, spending a bit more on quality shocks does improve ride quality, and that is coming from someone who is all about cheaping out on anything possible.

 

I've been running KYB shocks for about 40 yrs now, and like them perfectly fine, and they're not cheap, but they are inexpensive compared to Bilstiens.