hello everyone I was going to replace my shocks on my 97 4runner limited and I was wondering what brands you guys went with and how they performed....thanks for any help.

Rather than us just throwing brands or model numbers at you, it makes a huge difference with how you use your 4Runner and what (if any) modifications you've done to it - partly due to added weight of modifications. Do you off-road at all or plan to? Are you interested in extended shock travel for off-roading instead of the fairly short stock shocks? Are you referring to front or rear shocks or both? Do you prefer a stiff ride around town so you can corner harder or carry extra weight in the cargo area? Do you tow anything? What do the other typical passengers prefer for how the ride feels? Do you have any amount of lift or want to add any in the near future?

thanks for the reply...I tow a popup camper nothing major...I would like to keep it close to stock, it's more a grocery getter than an offroader I save the offroading for my 92 pickup. thanks all

The PO put Gabriel Gas-A-Just's on my 99' and it has a nice firm ride (if thats what youre looking for) and i took it on a very bumpy road at 35mph to test it and it did great. much smoother than my 89' torsion bar suspension... (sorry thats all i have to compare to)

Hopefully, others that have more experience with a stock setup can chime in.

Since my 4Runner weighs about 500 lbs more than stock, rear shocks that I'm most familiar with will be too stiff for stock 4Runners. So at least I can say Rancho 5000's and OME N86 shocks will be too stiff for stock. Bilsteins will most likely be too stiff as well. OME (Old Man Emu) has a softer version with the model number N86C. That one would work fine for stock, although I've broken off 2 of the top studs of OME N86 shocks and I know 2 other people who have also broken the top studs off of OME's. Now I'm using Rancho, which has a much thicker top stud.

Just in case you're afraid that the shocks will be too soft when towing, you might consider an adjustable shock, such as Rancho 9000 series. I'm sure there's a couple other brands too. Rancho's seem a little bit cheaper build quality in general, but the adjustability can be very nice, so you can turn a dial on the shock to make it softer or firmer depending on your situation that day.

What do you think of a softer shock coupled with air bags. I had the adjustable ranchos on my 85 but my mechanic thinks air bags would be good for my 98 when I want to tow.

I was searching the net and found a good price on kyb gas adjust shocks...anyone have them?

I installed the stock OME shocks and springs a few months ago. I find the shocks just a bit on the stiff side but when its loaded (like carrying 15 bags of mulch last weekend) the added stiffness helps. It also takes the rough stuff better than the OEM setup.

What were you guys doing when you broke the studs on the OME shocks!?! Did that sideline you or was the truck still drivable?

I don't know about the exact instant that the other 2 guys broke the top studs on their OME rear shocks. But for the 2 times I broke mine, the first time I was just driving on the highway and it let go. It handled differently enough that I had to stop and figure out what broke. It sort of swayed diagonally between the front right and left rear. The root cause of that 1st time was fatigue cracks at the base of the top stud that finally fractured all the way through. I checked the other shock at that same time and it was also showing fatigue cracks in the same place. OME warrantied both shocks for me. When I installed those replacement shocks, it took a year or so before one broke again. The root problem that 2nd time was opposite of what it was the 1st time - I apparently didn't tighten the top stud enough since I thought they might have been too tight the first time that contributed to their fatigue and breakage. Before it broke the 2nd time, I didn't notice rattling, but there was enough play that the top stud rubbed against the mounting hole in the frame and wore away a portion of the stud. So then it broke when there was extra stress of the axle hanging off the shock at full flex while off-road on Poison Spider Mesa in Moab. It was still drivable. I think I drove a few other trails that week with some highway miles before I replaced it. The handling was screwy but it's not critical to be in place to keep it drivable temporarily. In other words, it's not worth bringing a trail spare but it needs to be replaced soon after. Ultimately I chose Rancho shocks as a replacement primarily because the studs are much thicker and designed to take abuse. I'm using Rancho 5000's for a Land Cruiser (5028 I think) because they have a longer extension for additional wheel travel, but I had to add longer and softer frame bump stops due to the longer-than-stock length when they are fully compressed. So it works great for me, but might not work for others.

All I know about air bags is based on a former regular member here from years ago (Sherpa) on his stock height '98? 4Runner. He replaced the rubber cone bumpstop inside the coils by adding airbags inside his rear coils so he wouldn't get the annoying bottoming-out when driving over dips in the road when the axle hit the hard bump stops. He said it was a huge improvement and fixed the problem of bottoming out. I don't know how much (or if) it changed the ride otherwise. So, yeah it might be good for towing.