Typically the bare shock reuses the spring and top mount, unless new ones are provided. Suspension companies are pretty good about including proprietary thing into their packages. So, if special coils are needed, it usually comes with it.

 

Yes you can run the factory spring on both shocks. The Eibachs are great! Both do require you to reuse the lower spring perch and the stock upper mount. Let me know if Peak can help with a set of either!

 

I switched to Bilsteins on my 2016 4wd. They are a good improvement over stock. I am sure Eibachs are also. I think the big difference is if you do the ride height adjustable shock / spring combination. Most seem very happy with the mid range setting on those.

 

I have had BOTH Eibach and Bilstein shocks and much preferred the eibach over the bilsteins. Granted they were both on a tacoma, and then again on a 4runner i ran a 3" eibach pro kit.

The bilsteins were OK, slightly better than stock... But the EIbachs were night and day better, a smoother ride that absorbed more bumps and stuff offroad. And completely eliminated body roll and nose diving on hard braking incidences.

I live 2 miles down a very poorly maintained dirt and limerock road with tons of potholes, washboard sections, and when it rains it floods... The eibachs made a HUGE difference... Not as much as some kits with extended reservoirs, or King long travel... But way cheaper and a great improvement over stock.

You would likely be happy with either of these over stock, but if given the choice and the price was similar i would recommend eibach for sure.

 

This is pretty much what everyone have been saying. The eibach is firmer which in turn give it a more controlled ride.

 

I much prefer Eibach. I have them on my race car. If you can, use an Eibach spring. They are the best on the market, IMO. And a good spring will make a big difference.

 

One problem I have with using the shocks that come with new springs is now the set up is mismatched to the rear even if you change out the rear shocks. Chances are you have some miles on the stock set up and now are just replacing the fronts with A) a fresh set and B) that are mismatched to the rear springs with different ratings. Factory suspensions are matched front to year with so much testing and by design that it is best to change like items in pairs. IE, change out all four shocks to the same set as they were designed to work together or if doing springs as well do the rears too. Fresh springs or different rates change the way they work naturally, and that way the front and rear work together as designed whether from the factory or aftermarket as both take this in to consideration when designing and testing their setups and products.

In the case of which brand, you can't go wrong with either. I currently have Bilstein on mine and was happy with the upgrade.

Tyler

 

My vote is for Eibach 2.0 coilovers- you can get the explorer kit from Peak suspension which is what I did. This included rear eibach shocks that are matched and set up for the 1” lift block. It’s perfect as far as the stance I wanted and it rides about the same going straight and better through curves (less body roll) I was really worried I was gonna mess up my caddy like ride but it’s actually better as far as I’m concerned. I did a diff drop, longer end links and the sway bar drop to correct the geometry of the suspension after doing the explorer kit (about 100.00 for all these additional parts) this whole install took me about 10 hours but I haven’t had any experience with IFS- and I milked it out with beer drinking and BSing with my old man when I did it in my garage.

 

I’ve used Bilsteins as replacement shocks on two different vehicles and I was happy on both occasions. They are well made, and the valve technology they use is superior to the standard shocks most people buy (ie. Monroe).

 

My Taco came with Bilstiens, after getting beat to death in the mountains I replaced them with a set of Raancho's and the ride was so much better on and off the road...
most every company makes shocks depending on what you want to do.
like rancho makes a series of the same shock.
4000=soft, 5000=not so soft, 7000 a little firmer, and 9000 firm

know if I had 10 ply 65lb tires on the Taco, the bilsteins that came with it may have been okay.

the magazines also dinged the stiff shocks that came on it that year..

 

The suspension on a non ZR2 setup is pretty much set to support the weight. As in the rear of either a diesel or gas is the same, but the from the spring rating is different for diesel and gas. So having different maker for shock/strut between front and back is not a problem.

 

well guys i ended up buying Eibach springs and RHA shocks! The 15% off sale helped me make up my mind lol

 

How do you like it so far?

 

Looking for some guidance please. I have a RC 2” leveling kit installed on my 18 LT. I’m fixing to replace my rear shocks since my truck sways a bunch. I keep reading about having to buy shocks that consider lifts. If I only have the leveling kit installed up front and nothing in the back, would that lift concern apply to my new rear shocks?

 

no buy stock height rear shocks. only buy extended rear shocks if you lifted the rear

 

I have the bilstein 6112s on the front (set at .6" of lift with a 2"and RC spacer, gave me 1.5" of lift ..) and I have the 5160s on the rear with the roadmaster helper springs set at the white spacer. I'm pretty happy. If I were to change anything it would be the rear leaf pack to a more progressive setup, ditch the road master and add airbags with the Daystar cradle and onboard air for quick adjustment.
PS my truck is my work truck.