I see that the final decision was to get the QA1s, I just wanted to throw this in for those that may want to know what the difference is other than the obvious price difference.
KYB has a new release of shocks that are manually adjustable. The AGX. They currently do not have any that are for our trucks or even have the travel dimensions needed to use as a substitute.
The only KYB shocks for us right now are the Gas-A-Just. These are an improvement over the average shock, just not the Bilstein shocks the X already comes with.
The KYB shocks have baffles inside that work with your driving. These baffles relax/constrict depending on how hard they are compressed or extended. This in turn regulates the flow of the gases causing the shock to be softer or stiffer as needed.
The QA1 Stocker Stars have manual adjusting valves instead. Then (after trial and error for your X) you can fine tune the shocks to match what you are doing whether it is for payload, road conditions, or driving style. Once you know the settings your X likes the best then it will function consistently to the setting you have them at.
The KYB shocks may or may not function the way they should to the conditions depending on how they were during compression/rebound. The stock Bilstein shocks are a mono-tube design like the Gas-A-Just but work better (in my opinion). Figure, the Bilstein shocks were designed in conjunction with TRD for the X-Runner, where the KYB shocks are mass produced to work with any Tacoma, which happens to also fit an X-Runner.
We’re always looking for the next great product (including shocks) for you guys, but for now it looks like either replace the stock Bilsteins or get a set of QA1s.