Upgrade Shocks Suggestion

I'm looking into upgrading my stock shocks. I got a TRD Sport 2WD. I don't off road. The most I ever get my self into is driving on the beach sand, climbing over curbs, and occasionally going down bumpy dirt roads. There is a lot of pot holes in the city streets in Houston, TX that I'm usually hitting. I'm not rock climbing at all. I'm looking for something that will absorb the "bouncing around" a lot more better then the stock TRD Sport shocks. What do yall suggest?

 

Bilstein 4600.

 

Do you have them on your truck? If so, do you get the "bouncing around" a lot?

 

FOX 2.0 if you want it really plush and don’t mind spending a bit more money.

 

Is Fox 2.0 overkill for me or not? Also, is the TRD PRO shocks Fox 2.0?

 

You’ll enjoy a plush comfy ride for many years. Overkill would be Kings or FOX 2.5 with adjusters and reservoirs. Not sure what the new PRO come with. Bilstein 4600 are basically what the stock off road come with maybe you could buy new take offs from someone who upgraded their off road off the lot. That would be a cheap option but the improvement wouldn’t be as drastic as some nice FOX 2.0.

 

I had foxes, didn't think they were that plush. I wouldn't spend the money on big name suspension again unless I moved to the desert, personally.

 

Man, this is a tough decision.

 

I wanted a better ride on my offroad. I dont go offroading, but do go in snow (like your sand, but slicker) I went with trd pro suspension and its miles better than the stock. The truck feels so much more controlled with something better than the marshmallow sticks it comes with stock.

 

My vote is for OR or PRO Take-offs

 

Tires play a big role too. Even the really good suspension doesn’t feel great with heavy, stiff ass E-Loads. Ask me how I know haha

 

Agreed. Was just disappointented with as much hype as there is/money was spent. My big takeaway is stay within your lane/intentions for truck use. Also wouldn't recommend ARB leaf springs lol.

Edit: foxes I'm referencing are not the factory take offs. (Saw someone mention those) Solid performance option if you can find them for around 1200.

 

Can you describe what you mean by "bouncing around?" Wallowing through all the travel and not settling quickly could be considered bouncing around to some and might indicate worn out shocks. Riding rough over potholes and not soaking up the bumps, skittering around on rough terrain could be considered bouncing around to others. Both have different solutions.

I don't have experience with a Sport, but from what I read here on TW, they are a bit stiffer than the Off Road. The 2nd gen Off Roads had softer front springs that were progressive, giving it a better ride under off road conditions but ramping up so as to not bottom out. Not sure if that carried forward to 3rd gens. If so, you might want to find some Off Road take-offs and snag the springs.

There are 3 main things that affect your suspension: weight (both sprung and unsprung), spring rate, and damping. Your weight only varies with the load you are carrying. Spring rate is also more of a constant, but springs can be progressive (rate goes up slightly as the spring is compressed). Damping (what the shocks do) provides resistance that affects how quickly your suspension can move through the travel, both compression and rebound. Shocks can have different damping rates for both, have bypass zones where this damping changes based on shaft position, and/or valving that increases/decreases damping based on shaft speed. No damper performs well under all conditions. That's why you see high-end shocks with adjustable high-speed and low-speed compression damping, as well as adjustable rebound damping. Example: If you carry more weight, you need a higher spring rate to hold the vehicle up, so you may need to increase the rebound damping (the spring is pushing the wheel back down with greater force, so you might want to dampen it more).

Not sure why I am telling you all this other than it can be complicated, and there are compromises. If your springs are too stiff for how you want it to ride, changing the shocks alone may do nothing for you. Adding some weight in the bed may improve the ride of the rear with no change to anything else. I like how my truck handles best with some weight in the back. Understanding what it is doing that you don't like and what needs to change to improve it is the first thing, but it isn't easy to find that perfect sweet spot unless you are an expert suspension tuner.

 

Thank you for explaining all that to me. It makes more sense now. The Sport is more stiffer then the Off Road to my knowledge. I brought the truck used and I am the second owner of the truck. When I brought the truck it had 9k miles on it with original shocks setup. I am now sitting at 26k on my truck. The main goal for me is to have less of the stiffness which causes the truck to have a hard bounce when hitting speed bumps, pot holes, curbs, etc. My tires on the truck is Nitro Grappler which I brought brand new and now have about 15k miles on them. But the stiffness have always been there on the truck since I brought it. I don't have any armor on my truck that put on a lot of weights. I do typically errands with my truck like haul bags of mulches for the house, grocery shopping, etc. I am not an off roader

 

TRD Pro runs Fox 2.5 Coil overs font and Fox 2.5 remote reservoir rears , custom tuned for Toyota TRD
And, yes they are probably way over kill for a 2wd...

 

You can't go wrong with Dobinsons, just not sure if they have a 2wd version... Maybe reach out to: https://www.tacomaworld.com/members/crikeymike.199985/ and ask him?

 

KYB 'plus' series. Mono tube, stock upgrade. Good bang for the buck. I like 'em.

 

I have fox 2.0 and no complaints about the quality. I payed around $1700 for parts and labor and I think it was a well worth it (~$1300 parts, ~$400 labor)

 

Where did you buy the Fox 2.0 shocks from?

 

RimzOne in Mooresville, North Carolina. They ordered them for me so I have no idea. I got lucky and they were able to find a set that was still in stock because everything else was backordered back in march 2021.