Ah... recharged the ac refrigerant today. Exciting times... Took a can and a half. Hoping I don't have a leak...

Man, need to replace the struts/shocks. When I asked the prev owner if he ever had them replaced, he paused and said that none of the shops ever recommended that he replace them. The fronts feel like I have an inch of suspension (that's total) and the rear shocks are totally blown and non-existent.

Funny story-
My wife, when she was a week out from her due date with my son (two and a half weeks ago?) wanted to take the 4Runner when we went anywhere because she thought it would be the thing to break her water - because it rode so rough. LOL, well it wasn't a ride in the 4R that broke her water directly... I was changing the oil and asked her to run and get another oil filter socket for me (it was tightened WAY too tight by the PO), and while she was at the parts store she went into labor. LOL.

So about replacement suspension... here are some of my thoughts about a modest, usable ~2" lift". Again, my utmost concern is balancing quality of travel and total system cost, not about maximum overall ground clearance.

Option #1: ~$550-600
> Front: Taco/4R Bilstein 5100 with stock springs (second mount)
> Rear: Bilstein 5125 with OME 906

+ Plus: Inexpensive, quality setup that will last.
- Minus: Not a fan of the rear shock upper mount... and although there is a 5100 sold by Sanoran Steel is available with a proper upper mount, it is only available in a full $700 kit. Kind of sucks. Worried the dampening will be too soft based off user reviews (need to confirm dampening levels), no travel increase if adding UCAs later.

Option #2: ~$750-800
> Front: Tundra Bilstein 5100 with either TRD Tundra front springs or a custom mix of coilover perch and spring with 4Runner upper mount
> Rear: 906 springs with Land Crusher or FJ rear shocks... need to research which ones people are running (Bilstein 5100)

+ Plus: Higher dampening level, slightly additional up travel, can pick front spring rate, and adjustable ride height. Will make running a 2" lift tolerable because of extra up travel. May need to look into bump stop changes to the front to use extra travel without damage
- Minus: Will take some time and math (not a big deal), and will be cheaper than the ToyTech lift. 906 springs in rear don't have a long enough static length to take advantage of longer than stock rear shocks, and I don't want to go with a higher lift or spacers (ick)

Option #3: ~$1.4-2k FOR SOME REASON THIS KIT IS NOT LISTED ON SS's SITE ANYMORE....
- Front: High Speed Desert with Radflo from SS, either Radflo 2.0 Coil-Overs or , 2.0 Radflo and External Reservoir, 2.5 Radflo,
- Rear: Toyota LC80 Coils (no info on coil count) & Radflo 2.0 Aluminum Body Shock Absorbers (optional reservoir mount - no information on SS's site about cost)

+ Plus: Will allow me to dabble in shock valve tuning, etc, and would allow me to get UCAs at a later date
- Minus: Not much information on quality of Radflo (that I've heard), as it is not a trusted name like Bilstein, Icon, TC, or King. Also not happy that I'm locked into LC rear coils. Sure they ride like OEM, but they achieve a much higher lift than I'm after.

Option #4: ~$2.2k, 3.1k, 4.1k
- Front: Icon 2.5" Coilovers (+UCA: ~$900 -- allows extended travel kit +$0)
- Rear: Icon 2.5" ext res with OME 906 (+dampened Jounce stops: ~$1k)

+ Plus: Will allow me to dabble in shock valve tuning, etc, but requires UCAs and only adds an extra inch of down travel. (-$1k if not getting extended susp kit, doesn't require custom UCAs).
- Minus: Oh my goodness, is it expensive