Considering Bilstein 5160s?

Researching shocks I was led to believe Bilstein 5160s were a good choice and that issues with leaks had been addressed by the manufacturer. Not true. The warranty claim process with Shock Surplus has been a days long nightmare. Can anyone recommend a quality shock from a reputable supplier?

 

How many miles on them?

 

A lotta folks go with the Bilsteins
A lotta folks love the Bilsteins
I personally have had quite a few leak over the years. I have since switched to Eibach and while they may not have the same comfort and street manners of an OEM shock, they seem to hold up well.

 

About 3,000. Put them on in February.

 

wow that looks awful for 3000 miles
those puppies have been leaking since day 1

 

If you're at 2 in or less lift you can stay with the stockers.

 

Ugh... that's not good. Think I have about 20,000 on mine. So far so good, but I'll keep an eye on them.

 

Why didn't you install the anti-rotation washer/pins?

 

Huh?

 

There is supposed to be a pin and washer to prevent the shock from rotating. This is what it looks like looking up from the bottom.

 

Thanks for the pic. I was totally unaware. I had these put on by a local guy who works on 4runners and Tacomas. Good guy and seemed quite competent. He's an Ironman distributor so I don't know how many Bilsteins he installs. I'll take a look tomorrow. Not going to submit a warranty claim if it's leaking from improper installation. May have to buy a new one, the other looks fine. May have to see if I can get hardware for the other side.

I appreciate the heads up.

 

i have 5100s in the rear of my 2011 (70k on shocks) & 2022 (50k on shocks) with no leaks. Im always suspect of those remote reservoir shocks regardless of brand.

 

probably the reason why they leaked from pulling and twisting on that line.

 

Your comments on a previous post were some of the reasons I chose the Bilsteins. I considered the 5100s for simplicitiy's sake. But posts from many others said the 5160s had a slightly better ride and I gained 1" of suspension travel. I also got the 1" lift Bilstein springs. I'm trying to keep my 4runner pretty much stock with only minor improvements, but man that stock suspension had to go! At present I'm leaning towards just buying new 5160s. Strange part is, despite the improper installation, that shock never moved. I gazed at my shiny new shocks frequently and would have noticed a stretched or moved hose. However they were not installed correctly and I don't want submit a potentially erroneous (or fraudulent) warranty claim. Guess I'll take the lo$$ and drive on.

Can anyone recommend a reputable online seller with good customer service? I don't want to use Shock Surplus again.

 

So weird it failed so quickly. Id still submit a claim, you have nothing to lose

what about Yota Mafia?

 

I got my junk through SuspensionLifts at a good price and without issue. I did not have strut assembly done which is where these places sometimes go awry from what I understand.
I would suggest 5100s if you do replace. There's just not any real gain vs the increased complexity/potential problems of a resi shock.