Owner reviews for shock absorbers

I installed the Bilsteins and I like them. Replaced what I believe were the original OEMs on my 2006 that had 120k miles on them, so the ride was pretty brutal.

I always ran Monroe shocks on my Rangers/B series since I did mostly on road driving and they held up great when I did go off road.

Bilsteins are great. You will likely see a good boost in handling and feeling like a train when WOT applies. These should last at 200k before they are dying to be replaced.

It now drives much better than stock suspensions with air springs Also, Its now returned to a "factory" Prado. ????????

Upon disassembly, I found the KYB Excel-G shocks were completely shot and offered no rebound. I installed Bilstein B4 "Touring Class" units. The no-name aftermarket strut bearings weren't doing the suspension any favors either and I was glad to get the new German Febi units. So far, so good

KYB shocks are working fine for me. I have an ilx. Same platform

Back in May I replaced my rear shock absorbers with Sachs ones from a Mk7 Golf, as others on this forum had suggested. This actually made the rear suspension a little firmer but made a night and day difference to the ride quality at any speed. It made the car a bit more composed and settled at speed as well. Overall it's so much better.

Looking at potentially going with Bilstein B6 shocks/struts and Steeda Ultra-Lite springs combo, as I've heard great things about each part/company individually though I haven't seen any reviews of them used in tandem, at least on the 2005-2014s.

I’m stock for now, and probably only going to upgrade to some entry/mid-level Bilstein.

I would rebuild the struts with new KYB shocks and retain the OEM springs and buy new OEM mounts. I have had terrible luck with quickstruts in a Lexus.