I picked up a 96 4runner in the middle of summer as a project/hunting vehicle and it has slowly turned into my daily driver. With the rear bumper being completely rusted out and me needing a receiver, I started building a bumper for it. This leads to my question. The bumper is going to be adding quite a bit of weight to the rear of the vehicle and I only have enough money to purchase a set of springs. So, do I go ahead and purchase and install the 3" lift springs that I want or do I purchase some heavy duty factory height springs then do the full lift kit down the road? What are your thoughts on lifting the rear first (to accommodate the extra weight) the lifting the front to match down the road?

Also, if anyone has pictures of their rig with no lift and aftermarket bumpers, please post them up.

Thanks in advance!

You could just use air bags on the rear.

True, but I'm also going to be doing a lift within the next 6 months and I need the bumper/reciever now for hunting reasons (I put it off too long).

Will the bags also work with a 3" lift? I haven't found anything that says they will.

It depends what kind of bumper you're going to build. A tube bumper will be lighter than a plate bumper & not weigh much more than the stock bumper & those steel brackets that hold it in place. Your lift springs will be determined by the weight of your rear bumper. I wouldn't want to do the rear springs twice within 6 months because it's a pain getting taller springs in & out of there.

You should just put a hitch on for now if you're going to add a lift later.

I'm actually getting it built for the cost of material which comes out to right at $150 (about $25 more than getting strictly the receiver). It kind of helps when your uncle is a custom fabricator for a local custom offroad shop.