4runner payload paradox

[smritte]

I have read that fox were stiff on road. hmmmm pretty cool to hear other wise. I may go that route then.

Here's a little background on shock manufactures.
Unless you buy something that can be tuned to order, off the shelf shocks are a crap-shoot regardless of manufacture.
It kind of works like this.
You have four similar vehicles. The factory will install a shock that's well balanced for a stock configuration. Four different shocks.
Now we go aftermarket. The shock manufacture will use one shock and weld on different ends to fit all four.
Vehicle 2-3 the shock works well. Vehicle 1 says their too soft and vehicle 4 says too stiff.

Lets say you want something out of the box that's tuned. You call King Shock. You weigh all four corners then you weigh tire/rim, suspension...everything that's on the corner but not body (unsprung weight). Give them this info.
That's the proper way buy shocks. The better manufactures, that specialize in your vehicle, will have something close. But, there's no way anyone knows what your unsprung weight is. So you hope for the best.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Yes, I am well aware of how the shock business works, I am a mechanic, and I have built and tuned race cars. I was just making a point that most of what I have heard about fox for off road rigs when you buy them is they are stiffer, on most rigs. Not just my Jeep. I would love to get a set of built shocks however, the budget is not in that area yet. I have to go off the shelf. That being said, I ran monroe reflex monotubes on 3 of my last rigs with awesome results so I may just go them again.

 

[leeloo]

Here's a little background on shock manufactures.
Unless you buy something that can be tuned to order, off the shelf shocks are a crap-shoot regardless of manufacture.
It kind of works like this.
You have four similar vehicles. The factory will install a shock that's well balanced for a stock configuration. Four different shocks.
Now we go aftermarket. The shock manufacture will use one shock and weld on different ends to fit all four.
Vehicle 2-3 the shock works well. Vehicle 1 says their too soft and vehicle 4 says too stiff.

Lets say you want something out of the box that's tuned. You call King Shock. You weigh all four corners then you weigh tire/rim, suspension...everything that's on the corner but not body (unsprung weight). Give them this info.
That's the proper way buy shocks. The better manufactures, that specialize in your vehicle, will have something close. But, there's no way anyone knows what your unsprung weight is. So you hope for the best.

True. There are some combination on vehicles that by experience work very well. For example for a Landcruiser Prado 120 ( the Lexus GS470 in US ) some Koni heavy duty work really well. But same shocks on a Tacoma might be crap.
Truth to be told, unless you go over GVM and not a huge lift ( maybe just to compensate for the weight of what ever you carry ) you will be fine with a stock one. It is not like you go for hundreds of miles/day over corrugated roads like in Australia or Africa where shocks tend to overheat and a some with reservoir can help.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

That is exactly what we have here except it's all pot holes. The reflex worked awesome on my last jku, myn03 f150 and my 05 suburban. Ride was smoother than stock, off road was controlled ans no skittering on the potholes, and it was smoother as well. Monroe did a great job. I think for 2 inches of lift they are a great choice.

 

[LostWoods]

True. There are some combination on vehicles that by experience work very well. For example for a Landcruiser Prado 120 ( the Lexus GS470 in US ) some Koni heavy duty work really well. But same shocks on a Tacoma might be crap.
Truth to be told, unless you go over GVM and not a huge lift ( maybe just to compensate for the weight of what ever you carry ) you will be fine with a stock one. It is not like you go for hundreds of miles/day over corrugated roads like in Australia or Africa where shocks tend to overheat and a some with reservoir can help.

First point is spot on, but I'm going to have to strong disagree on point #2 for American vehicles. Even in a Tacoma with ~500 lbs (225kg) in the back, I started to notice the rear shock fade pretty heavily after about 45 minutes down corrugations. American suspensions are tuned toward the significant majority who don't wheel or haul or tow which makes them pretty soft and spongy. They tend to overheat quickly unless you get something more off-road targeted like a TRD Pro package.

Also, just an FYI, the reservoirs aren't for extra fluid capacity and cooling (though they do offer a slight benefit there - more so in high performance applications), they're actually there to separate the oil from the nitrogen charge. Regular "emulsion" shocks have the nitrogen pressure mixed in with the oil and this causes accelerated fade issues since the nitrogen behaves differently as it heats and nitrogen offers no resistance through the valving. By using a reservoir, you can fill the entire shock body and a couple inches of the reservoir with oil, then include a divider piston, and pressurize the end to keep the two separate.

 

[leeloo]

Don't know a lot about shocks on US vehicles. On european SUV's and pickups vehicles the stock ones are pretty good, did not notice big issues with fading so far. But the vehicles also tend to be much more expensive than US and at least the pick ups are completely different, the GVM is much higher in Europe for the mid size tucks ( Full size don't even exist here )

 

[LostWoods]

Don't know a lot about shocks on US vehicles. On european SUV's and pickups vehicles the stock ones are pretty good, did not notice big issues with fading so far. But the vehicles also tend to be much more expensive than US and at least the pick ups are completely different, the GVM is much higher in Europe for the mid size tucks ( Full size don't even exist here )

Yeah it seems proper SUVs in Europe are generally purchased for their intended use due to fuel and other costs so they are probably better outfitted for their intended use. Totally this American's perspective without having ever actually been there but it seems like SUVs for pleasure like we do here isn't a common thing.