Best value mid budget shocks

[TacoTime]

Hello

Although mostly subjective, still entertaining assessment of mid shocks on 3rd gen. Probably under what you’re exactly looking for but shocks seen similar for 4th gen…

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[Chris_2025OR]

Hello

Although mostly subjective, still entertaining assessment of mid shocks on 3rd gen. Probably under what you’re exactly looking for but shocks seen similar for 4th gen…

Love the shock value series. I keep hoping they're going to come out with an episode for the 4th gen.

 

[GDTRFB]

Not from the center of the hub, no.
The front was measured at 37 and the rear was at 38 5/8. Both of these measurements were taken from the ground to the bottom of the fender trim.
Hope this is of help though.

That is helpful, thank you.

Did you go with the 0 or 440# rear springs?

Did you change uca’s, or stick with stock?

Are you still enjoying the ride? Any off road testing yet?

 

[Keithz24]

That is helpful, thank you.

Did you go with the 0 or 440# rear springs?

Did you change uca’s, or stick with stock?

Are you still enjoying the ride? Any off road testing yet?

*The rear springs are 0 to 400lbs.

*I did change the UCA's to the OME UCA's.

*Nothing crazy off road. Just a few forest service roads.

Unfortunately, I do have some bad news to report. The strut on the passenger side has developed play in the top hat. It results in a noticeable rattle while traveling down the dirt roads. Man did I go down a rabbit hole trying to find the rattle.
I think it was assembled wrong from the factory. I have been in contact with ARB, and they are supposed to be sending me a new strut to replace it. They want me to send the strut that is damage back once I get it changed out so their engineers can take a look at it.

Here is a video of what is happening. Sorry for the shaking but you can really see it in the last 3-5 secs.

 

[BAQ717]

6112/5160s are supposed to be released Q4. Feel like that’s going to be the move. I’m going to pair those with the TRD UCAs and call it a day

 

[Chris_2025OR]

6112/5160s are supposed to be released Q4. Feel like that’s going to be the move. I’m going to pair those with the TRD UCAs and call it a day

Do you know the part number on the 4th gen pro UCAs?

 

[1_nutted_wonder]

I have the MT64's installed. After a few days of driving, they settled 38.75inches in the front and right at 40inches in the rear. Measured from the ground, center of the hub up to the bottom of the fender trim. I have the clip on the front struts set to the second from the bottom (No Accessory added). Runing 28570r17 tires 31 psi. Ride is frailly comfy. It's a little bit firmer. Not as pillowy as the stock off road suspension was. I no longer get the cluck when going over speed bumps though. I will say that I wish that ARB offered some isolators for the bottom of the rear spring. They seem to make some seating noise sometimes when going down the dirt roads. 

What setting are the Circlips set on for the front struts?

 

[Chris_2025OR]

I finally landed on a set of shocks (Falcon 3.2). I spoke with the guys over at Shock Surplus, Ian from Wheel Every Weekend, and a sales rep from Icon to pick their brain about shocks, tuning, and my application. I'll dive into some of the research and my thought process but keep in mind, I'm not a professional and shock tunes are subjective. What's right for me isn't necessarily going to be right for you.

I'll try to keep the summary concise.

1) I wanted better high speed and weight damping, so I ruled out any shocks that were below 2.5 inch diameter (except Falcon with its 2.3in dia. body)

That means:

Eibach Stage 2, Ironman Stage 2, and Icon kits Stages 1-3 are out.

Which leaves:

Fox 2.5 Performance Series, Icon 2.5 front coilovers paired with Icon 2.5 rear shocks, Falcon 3.2 and OME MT 64.

2) Comparison

I recommend these resources to get knowledge from:
- Shock Value Seasons 1-3 + the best value episode on Youtube
- Bilstein Shock Talk Ep. 12, 13, 50 on Youtube

Fox 2.5 IFP - $2,274
- Linear piston, linear valving
- 2.5 diameter body
- No "HTO" on Tacoma versions
- UCA not required
- Notes:
There is a general consensus that FOX's "vehicle specific valving" should be taken with a grain of salt. People think that FOX uses universal-ish valving and doesn't do the same level of behind the wheel RnD as the other manufacturers on this list. The saying goes "(shock) Dynos don't drive cars, people do." However, they were highly recommended if you get them custom tuned because the parts themselves are great, the stock valving just sucks.

My $.02 - From past experience, FOX 2.0 is too soft and FOX 2.5 is too stiff. idk about this newest generation of shocks from them, and I really wanted to get these because they just seemed like the right fit for me. But I was concerned they wouldn't handle extra weight well. They weren't highly recommended by the people I talked to, and I ultimately questioned the valving for what I wanted. And the maintenance intervals aren't great.

Icon 2.5 - $2,745, $3595 w/UCA
- Digressive piston, digressive valving
- 2.5 diameter body
- rear reservoirs
- UCA recommended
- Notes: good vehicle specific RnD, compression damping is the same as 4/10 clicks on their adjuster coilovers, some people have concerns over spring and seal quality, same maintenance intervals as other "race" shocks.

my $.02 - A digressive piston with degressive valving probably isn't ideal for the small bump/trail chatter compliance I'm looking for. Race maintenance intervals. Awkward price point. Wasn't recommended for my application by the people I talked to.

Falcon 3.2 - $2,199
- Linear piston, digressive valving
- 2.3 diameter body
- rear reservoirs
- rear adjusters
- Spring top out
- Foam bump stop
- UCA not required
- Notes: some people say the seals leak, some people say they're up there with King, Fox, Icon, Bilstein. The engineers there are ex fox and bilstein employees. They spend a good amount of RnD on application specific valving and design.

my $.02 - My guess is the valving curve should be pretty good with a linear piston for higher flow on small chatter, digressive valving for control, then a progressive bottom and top out section. I'm looking for weight control and the rear shocks come with adjusters that increase damping specifically for hauling. At the price point, they seem like the best fit for me, and they were highly recommended. Hopefully the seals hold up

OME MT64 - $2,282, $2962 w/ UCA
- Digressive piston, digressive valving
- 2.8 diameter body
- Hydraulic top out
- UCA required
-Notes: longest lasting of the bunch, largest diameter piston, hydraulic top out.

my $.02 - 2.8 diameter body and hydraulic top out are awesome. Low maintenance. They're supposed to handle weight well given that they're designed for Australian outback overlanding. This was my second choice but, ultimately, the need for new upper control arms pushed it into a different price category.


Note: Bilstein does not yet have a 2.5 product for the 4th gen Tacoma. However, they are coming out with 6112 front struts paired with 6100 rears by the end of 2025. It's exciting to see the old 2in 5160s replaced by a 2.6 inch 6100 shock in the rear, and they would probably have been my choice as the best value shocks had they been available.

 

[TacoTime]

Updated value series video dropped today. Subjective of course but interesting at the same time .

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