[Iron duke]

Originally Posted by connorms

While I had the wheels off I noticed some fluid on the rear drum. I figured it was either my axle seal had finally gone out, or my wheel cylinder was leaking. I was really hoping it was the wheel cylinder as I didn't have the same symptoms I've seen on other threads related to the axle seal, but I took my drum off to find everything coated in gear oil :/. I guess I caught it pretty early as the leak wasn't as bad as I've seen in some threads, but either way this will be the next thing I'll be taking care of (again, once the weather clears up)

If you do it early enough you may be able to save the wheel bearings and not have to deal with that headache atm

[connorms]

Originally Posted by Iron duke

If you do it early enough you may be able to save the wheel bearings and not have to deal with that headache atm

I was wondering about that. I've heard it mentioned in a couple threads that catching it early can save the bearing, I'm just kind of hesitant since I don't know exactly how long it's been leaking. I don't drive the 4runner much so it may have been leaking for a while and I just never noticed? The inside of the drum was pretty thoroughly soaked, but the leak wasn't bad enough to drip down the back of the wheel like I've seen in other threads so I'm kind of unsure.

I also read that sometimes the seal goes out due to a bad bearing, so I'm debating just doing everything just for the peace of mind. Is there an easy way to tell if the bearing needs to be replaced when everything is pulled out? Or just the standard way of checking bearings?

[Iron duke]

Originally Posted by connorms

I was wondering about that. I've heard it mentioned in a couple threads that catching it early can save the bearing, I'm just kind of hesitant since I don't know exactly how long it's been leaking. I don't drive the 4runner much so it may have been leaking for a while and I just never noticed? The inside of the drum was pretty thoroughly soaked, but the leak wasn't bad enough to drip down the back of the wheel like I've seen in other threads so I'm kind of unsure.

I also read that sometimes the seal goes out due to a bad bearing, so I'm debating just doing everything just for the peace of mind. Is there an easy way to tell if the bearing needs to be replaced when everything is pulled out? Or just the standard way of checking bearings?

Yes. Just lift up the diff so the wheel is in the air and try to see if there's any play by shaking it. If there is any at all, you got a bad bearing.

[connorms]

I really wasn't a fan of the hexagon halos on my old retrofit. I think I mentioned it in the original post, but the day I finished wiring them up I went out wheeling with some friends, and the hexagons immediately fell off the projector shroud, only hanging on by the wires. They were also probably 1/2" thick, and in my opinion looked kinda gaudy and cheap. While I'm waiting for it to stop raining so I can do my axle seal, I figured I'd redo the headlights and try something new. I was a big fan of the bronze I painted my wheels, and had a "what if" moment and decided to try painting my housings the same color. I figured it'll either look cool and be different than the typical white 4runner/black headlights, or worst case I won't like it and I can just paint them again.





My thinking was that the bronze is dark enough that it won't be too noticeable unless in direct sunlight, so it might make for a kind of cool look that I hadn't seen before. They turned out good, but I'm still trying to decide if I like how they look installed or not. It's kind of difficult to tell, since this color changes so much depending on the lighting and the only lighting I've had lately is foggy and rainy lol. I'm also not driving it because of the axle seal, so I can't really take it anywhere to see how it looks in direct sunlight or anything. Figured I could at least break my camera out and take a picture of everything to see if anyone else has some input on it:



I also finally painted the grille black, which made the headlights look much better compared to when it was chrome. I still need to wire up the rear halo and take some better pictures when it's on the road, but I think the color is kind of growing on me. Also still need to get around to ordering some new side markers, as a while ago I was driving very fast through some backroads and hit a bump too hard, sending the corner lights flying because both mounting tabs snapped off...

[connorms]

I've been toying with the idea of selling my long travel and going back down to mid travel + 33s. I've been accepted into a university in Colorado, and I'm still deciding on if I'll go or not, but if I do I'll need to sell either my truck or my 4runner and dailying whichever one I keep. Obviously this forum is a bit biased, but I'm leaning towards selling my truck and keeping the 4runner purely because I'm so nostalgic over this thing lol. My truck makes WAY more sense to keep (low miles, heated seats, more room, etc), but just doesn't have the cool factor the 4runner does. I guess I'm just looking for some opinions, but would I be stupid to "downsize" since I'll be dailying the 4runner, or am I being stupid and I should just keep my truck? If I do end up going, I'll be driving from coastal California to Fort Collins, and I'm sure the 4runner can make that drive if I take care of some maintenance ahead of time, I'm just not sure if I'll regret downsizing or not immediately after doing it. If anyone dailys their 4runner in Colorado some insight would be appreciated, as I've never lived where it snows so I'm not sure if these older cars suck to daily when it's regularly sub-30 in winter. My taste has also slightly changed since building this out (maybe maturing?) as I've been finding myself drooling over OEM+ builds like @alexperrucci or @cblock406 .

I guess that being said, if anyone can give some advice I'd love to hear it! (or if anyone's looking to trade their mid travel for some long travel hit me up too )

[alexperrucci]

Originally Posted by connorms

I've been toying with the idea of selling my long travel and going back down to mid travel + 33s. I've been accepted into a university in Colorado, and I'm still deciding on if I'll go or not, but if I do I'll need to sell either my truck or my 4runner and dailying whichever one I keep. Obviously this forum is a bit biased, but I'm leaning towards selling my truck and keeping the 4runner purely because I'm so nostalgic over this thing lol. My truck makes WAY more sense to keep (low miles, heated seats, more room, etc), but just doesn't have the cool factor the 4runner does. I guess I'm just looking for some opinions, but would I be stupid to "downsize" since I'll be dailying the 4runner, or am I being stupid and I should just keep my truck? If I do end up going, I'll be driving from coastal California to Fort Collins, and I'm sure the 4runner can make that drive if I take care of some maintenance ahead of time, I'm just not sure if I'll regret downsizing or not immediately after doing it. If anyone dailys their 4runner in Colorado some insight would be appreciated, as I've never lived where it snows so I'm not sure if these older cars suck to daily when it's regularly sub-30 in winter. My taste has also slightly changed since building this out (maybe maturing?) as I've been finding myself drooling over OEM+ builds like @alexperrucci or @cblock406 .

I guess that being said, if anyone can give some advice I'd love to hear it! (or if anyone's looking to trade their mid travel for some long travel hit me up too )

Wow thanks man, still in the beginning stages of my build. Big fan of yours!

I daily mine and love it. Not the biggest car in the world but plenty of room for me. Comfortable, ac/heat work, can handle daily duties as well as weekend fun. Last January I drove mine from Atlanta, GA to Colorado and spent 6 weeks there. The 4Runner was a joy to drive out there, handles the winter driving amazing, it made it easy. Honestly no complaints there as long as your ac/heat and 4wd are working good. My biggest complaint was probably the fact my rear hatch struts wouldn't hold the gate up very well in the cold temps lol. Easy fix.

If you really want to keep the 4Runner I say go for it! I don't think you'll be disappointed. Looks like there's tons of amazing trails in CO too!

[cblock406]

Originally Posted by connorms

I've been toying with the idea of selling my long travel and going back down to mid travel + 33s. I've been accepted into a university in Colorado, and I'm still deciding on if I'll go or not, but if I do I'll need to sell either my truck or my 4runner and dailying whichever one I keep. Obviously this forum is a bit biased, but I'm leaning towards selling my truck and keeping the 4runner purely because I'm so nostalgic over this thing lol. My truck makes WAY more sense to keep (low miles, heated seats, more room, etc), but just doesn't have the cool factor the 4runner does. I guess I'm just looking for some opinions, but would I be stupid to "downsize" since I'll be dailying the 4runner, or am I being stupid and I should just keep my truck? If I do end up going, I'll be driving from coastal California to Fort Collins, and I'm sure the 4runner can make that drive if I take care of some maintenance ahead of time, I'm just not sure if I'll regret downsizing or not immediately after doing it. If anyone dailys their 4runner in Colorado some insight would be appreciated, as I've never lived where it snows so I'm not sure if these older cars suck to daily when it's regularly sub-30 in winter. My taste has also slightly changed since building this out (maybe maturing?) as I've been finding myself drooling over OEM+ builds like @alexperrucci or @cblock406 .

I guess that being said, if anyone can give some advice I'd love to hear it! (or if anyone's looking to trade their mid travel for some long travel hit me up too )

Wow, thanks man! You've built yourself a killer off-roader, I think you just need two 4runners and do a fresh OEM+ build!

Kidding aside, mine is capable enough for what I use it for, it's easy to DD, and my wife still doesn't mind driving it when she needs to.

[connorms]

Originally Posted by alexperrucci

Wow thanks man, still in the beginning stages of my build. Big fan of yours!

I daily mine and love it. Not the biggest car in the world but plenty of room for me. Comfortable, ac/heat work, can handle daily duties as well as weekend fun. Last January I drove mine from Atlanta, GA to Colorado and spent 6 weeks there. The 4Runner was a joy to drive out there, handles the winter driving amazing, it made it easy. Honestly no complaints there as long as your ac/heat and 4wd are working good. My biggest complaint was probably the fact my rear hatch struts wouldn't hold the gate up very well in the cold temps lol. Easy fix.

If you really want to keep the 4Runner I say go for it! I don't think you'll be disappointed. Looks like there's tons of amazing trails in CO too!

Thanks man, that's good to hear! Everything works great, just a few small things I'd want to take care of before I would daily it. That's one thing I miss, too. I'm honestly looking forwards to going back to dailying a smaller car anyways, trying to parallel park a 20ft+ truck that drives like a boat is miserable haha

Originally Posted by cblock406

Wow, thanks man! You've built yourself a killer off-roader, I think you just need two 4runners and do a fresh OEM+ build!

Kidding aside, mine is capable enough for what I use it for, it's easy to DD, and my wife still doesn't mind driving it when she needs to.

Trust me I debated just leaving the 4runner back at home and buying another one once I make it out to CO, but the prices of 4wd Toyotas right now makes it so hard to justify doing that. I'm also trying to get away from the whole debate about which car to put money into, double the insurance, registration, etc so I'm kind of looking forwards to going back to a single vehicle. As much as I'd like to, it doesn't make sense for a broke college kid to have two built out cars lol

[Iron duke]

Originally Posted by connorms

I've been toying with the idea of selling my long travel and going back down to mid travel + 33s. I've been accepted into a university in Colorado, and I'm still deciding on if I'll go or not, but if I do I'll need to sell either my truck or my 4runner and dailying whichever one I keep. Obviously this forum is a bit biased, but I'm leaning towards selling my truck and keeping the 4runner purely because I'm so nostalgic over this thing lol. My truck makes WAY more sense to keep (low miles, heated seats, more room, etc), but just doesn't have the cool factor the 4runner does. I guess I'm just looking for some opinions, but would I be stupid to "downsize" since I'll be dailying the 4runner, or am I being stupid and I should just keep my truck? If I do end up going, I'll be driving from coastal California to Fort Collins, and I'm sure the 4runner can make that drive if I take care of some maintenance ahead of time, I'm just not sure if I'll regret downsizing or not immediately after doing it. If anyone dailys their 4runner in Colorado some insight would be appreciated, as I've never lived where it snows so I'm not sure if these older cars suck to daily when it's regularly sub-30 in winter. My taste has also slightly changed since building this out (maybe maturing?) as I've been finding myself drooling over OEM+ builds like @alexperrucci or @cblock406 .

I guess that being said, if anyone can give some advice I'd love to hear it! (or if anyone's looking to trade their mid travel for some long travel hit me up too )

This is just from what I’ve heard, but if you’re going to be living in Colorado and are in proximity to nice trails, I’d keep the LT. You will enjoy it out there for sure. Also, selling your LT kit used will NOT cover the price of a new mid travel setup of the caliber you’re used to. I see full LT kits with coilovers going for 3k, and oem fit Fox DSC coilovers are over 2k alone, then BFT UCA’s and LCA’s (best value for sure) will be an extra $1,800, then cv’s an extra $200 etc… Just keep what you have and you will most likely not regret it.

Now for deciding which vehicle to keep. I’d say whichever one you love more. I traded my first 3rd gen for a more “responsible” truck and missed it so much that 6 months later I sold it and got another 3rd gen lol. Nice rigs like yours are becoming increasingly rare, so I’d stick with yours as long as I physically could, even if it’s frustrating or makes you go broke. I’m on year 2 of college with a 4runner and it’s been extremely reliable and a lot of fun. You’ll figure out some way to make money, you won’t have a lot, but if you’re smart you’ll get by for sure.

[connorms]

Originally Posted by Iron duke

This is just from what I’ve heard, but if you’re going to be living in Colorado and are in proximity to nice trails, I’d keep the LT. You will enjoy it out there for sure. Also, selling your LT kit used will NOT cover the price of a new mid travel setup of the caliber you’re used to. I see full LT kits with coilovers going for 3k, and oem fit Fox DSC coilovers are over 2k alone, then BFT UCA’s and LCA’s (best value for sure) will be an extra $1,800, then cv’s an extra $200 etc… Just keep what you have and you will most likely not regret it.

Now for deciding which vehicle to keep. I’d say whichever one you love more. I traded my first 3rd gen for a more “responsible” truck and missed it so much that 6 months later I sold it and got another 3rd gen lol. Nice rigs like yours are becoming increasingly rare, so I’d stick with yours as long as I physically could, even if it’s frustrating or makes you go broke. I’m on year 2 of college with a 4runner and it’s been extremely reliable and a lot of fun. You’ll figure out some way to make money, you won’t have a lot, but if you’re smart you’ll get by for sure.

Good point on how expensive the mid travel can end up costing. That was something I was wondering about since it looks like I'd either barely break even on it, or end up paying more just to get a suspension setup that doesn't perform as well. The only reason I would want to go down to mid travel is just to go to 33s and get better MPG if I'm dailying it, but I guess it doesn't make a lot of sense to spend money and end up with less suspension haha. I also didn't realize how expensive tires have gotten. It looks like a set of 33s cost more than I originally paid for my 35s...

Definitely agree with you on which vehicle to keep, too. I know I'd regret selling the 4runner immediately, even if it makes way more sense to keep my truck. I feel like I'd probably do the same as you, except now even a stock 4wd 3rd gen costs 3-4x what I originally paid for mine. I appreciate the insight! Definitely leaning towards keeping the 4runner

[connorms]

One "mod" I've neglected to mention on here is my exhaust. Back in high school I wanted the 4runner to sound better, so I went out and bought a new muffler with plans of cutting out the stock one and welding the new one in. I cut out the old muffler and started it up to hear what it sounded like, and ended up liking it with no muffler. Being a dumb high schooler, I tore out all the exhaust from the muffler back, and left it with just a short section behind the cat. I figured with the long travel and everything it kind of made sense for it to be obnoxiously loud, and decided that being able to have a conversation while driving wasn't necessary... Lately, I've been getting more and more tired of how loud it is, especially when leaving for work in the mornings. It also drones horribly, and if I stop at a light with the windows down the cab will start to fill with exhaust fumes, since it dumps out right under the passenger rear seat. Long story short, it was time to take care of it, especially if I want to start dailying it.

All that was left of my old exhaust:


Luckily for me, my job sells Magnaflow catalytic converters and mufflers, so between the discount my job gets from being a vendor and my employee discount, I was able to get the Magnaflow "Overland" cat-back system for a really good price. This wasn't something I was originally planning on getting so soon, as I really needed to focus on fixing my rear suspension, but we only place an order with Magnaflow every 6 months to a year, so if I wanted to include this exhaust on our order to get free shipping I had to buy it a little earlier than I intended.

I got around to installing it this weekend, after fighting a rusty, rounded out bolt that was holding on the single piece of my old exhaust. I finally got it out after a lot of heat and swearing. It almost looked like a 12-point bolt by the time I got it out:



The install of the exhaust is ridiculously easy, as it's all bolt on and it comes with some helpful diagrams and pictures. What's really cool about this exhaust is it allows for three different volume levels, depending on what addons you put on the muffler. I chose to go with the quietest option to start, so I installed the NDT chamber. It's ridiculously easy to change this later, so I figured I'd start with the quietest and I can always change it later:



I also replaced my driver side rear axle seal, as I mentioned in a previous post that it was leaking. While doing this, I replaced my brake shoes, springs, and had my drums turned. I also filled my dif with some Redline synthetic 75w90 gear oil. I didn't take any pictures, but this is more for personal documentation/maintenance history than anything.

[javob]

looks dope, read through everything, you did an awesome job on your build

[connorms]

Originally Posted by javob

looks dope, read through everything, you did an awesome job on your build

Thanks man, I appreciate it!

================================================== ====

I'm currently waiting on some parts to come in for my rear suspension, but found some pictures from an old project that I've since forgotten about. It's slow at work so figured I'd make a post about it in the meantime.

This was back when I first got my welder, and was my first "real" project with it that was something besides welding practice coupons together. I've always loved the look of the Sherpa roof racks, and had a friend with a plasma table so I thought it would be a fun project to try to make one. I designed up a template in Autodesk and had it cut. It took a few tries to get the roof curve correct, but by the end I pretty much nailed it. (Please excuse the shitty pictures, they're just old phone pictures I found while clearing some space on my phone):



All welded up:



Unfortunately, these are the only pictures I have of the rack. For some reason I chose to make it all out of 1/8" wall steel, and the main structure was 1"x1/8" square tubing. This made the rack ridiculously heavy, like 150lbs minimum and was almost impossible to lift onto the roof without 2 or 3 people. This made me lose interest in the project, so it sat in my backyard until it rusted too bad for me to do anything with it. I ended up tossing it, but I think I still have the cut file for the side fairing so maybe down the road I'll try again out of some aluminum or something. Wasn't my greatest idea originally and was a huge waste of time and money, but I've been finding myself looking at racks again so might have to try again once I get my mile long to-do list taken care of...

[connorms]

Over the past few months I've been slowly gathering parts to redo my rear suspension. Now that I'm living on my own and have to spend my money on boring stuff like rent I can't really afford to go all-out quite yet to match the front long travel, so I tried doing everything on a pretty tight budget. That being said, for a pretty low budget I'm very happy with how everything came together. My rear end was long overdue for a refresh, as I've been running a Rough Country lift in the rear for the last ~4 years now... It's done its job and I definitely got my moneys worth, but it was in much need of an upgrade.

Parts list:
Eimkeith PCK - bought off Vilmont Market for $50 shipped
LC80 7.5-wrap coils (double purple/blue/white) - $60 shipped
ICON 2.0"x10.5" shocks - bought off my neighbor for $100
Toytec extended rear brake line - included with PCK
Custom shock towers - $100 to have them cut, welded up by yours truly
Rear dif breather - $30, still need to install
2nd gen 4runner sway bar end links - $30 on eBay (probably temporary)

What kind of started everything was my neighbor stopping by while I was doing my rear axle seal. He's got a 1st gen Tundra, and mentioned how he had some ICONs he used to use that were made for a 2nd gen Tundra, but he took them out because they were too big and were bottoming out all the time. I scored them off him for $100 including a jug of shock oil, and he told me they were rebuilt ~1,000 miles ago. I couldn't really pass up the deal, so I told myself I had to make these work, and in turn I'd fix up the rest of my suspension at the same time.



You can see how beat up one of my old shocks were. The other one was even worse, as on that side the upper shock nut came off at the dunes, which caused my shock to be wedged against my upper link. It was sitting at a weird angle, so when the suspension would compress it would hit my sway bar and lower link, which dented the shit out of it... It also bent my upper link when the nut came off, so that will need to be replaced soon too.

Since the shocks were originally made for a tundra, the eyelet bushing had a 1/2" opening. 3rd gens use a 3/4" opening, so I ordered some hourglass bushings from Energy suspension (part #BDVQ9.8108G if anyone is interested). They don't have an internal sleeve, but I figured the main point of them is to prevent metal-on-metal contact and they were all I could find that had the right dimensions. They ended up fitting perfectly on the shock stud, so I can't really complain as of right now.

I was hoping the new shocks would fit with no issues, but that was really wishful thinking. My old shocks had ~8" of travel, and the new ones have 10.5". I threw them in using the stock mounting points, but just at ride height they were fully compressed, so there was no chance that was going to work. I debated giving these back to my neighbor and buying some slightly shorter LC shocks that could use the stock location, but in the end I decided a set of (almost) new ICONs were going to ride much better than some cheaper LC shocks, and the LC shocks would have still ended up costing more. I decided it was time to do an outboard shock mount, but had to design something custom up since these aren't a "standard" shock (eyelet on each end). What I came up with was this:




All welded up:



Pretty proud of how these turned out, as they were my first welding project in the last ~1.5 years.

Next up were the springs. I did some research on it, and it sounded like LC springs were one of the better options for me, as they're cheap, flex really well, and would hopefully provide just a bit more lift than what I previously had. I don't carry much weight in the back (no bumper, spare tire, etc) so I decided the 7.5 wraps should be perfect. I found a set of double purple/blue/white springs on iH8mud for a grand total of $60 shipped, so I couldn't pass that up as other people were wanting $150+(!!!).



They were a little rusty, and I had some extra paint laying around so I decided to match them to my wheels. I'm kind of addicted to this color, but still trying to not go overboard with it. It ended up being a complete PITA to paint these, as I had the bright idea to take them down to completely bare metal before painting them. I went through 2 cans of paint stripper, and spent probably 5-6hrs hitting them with a wire wheel just trying to get the previous coating off. If I were to redo this, I'd just scuff them up with sandpaper and paint over it, since they'll probably get dinged up either way and they don't really need a great finish. It was also a pretty big gamble, as I didn't test fit these first so I was really hoping I liked how they sat. Either way, I'm happy with how they turned out, just in hindsight I wouldn't have spent so much time on it:



I was planning on ordering a PCK in addition, since I was sick of feeling my rear end swinging out from under me all the time, and managed to get lucky and found someone post a set on Vilmont Market for almost 1/2 off. Everything kind of came together at a perfect time, and he also included an extended rear brake line which saved me another $30.

Lastly, I ordered a set of 2nd gen 4runner rear sway bar end links, as mine were shot and I found a good deal on eBay. They're 2" longer than stock, so I was thinking these should match nicely with the additional ~2" of downtravel I should be getting with the new shocks. I didn't take many pictures of these, as they were a direct bolt on install and have been covered to death on here. They're really thin and will probably break with any real wheeling, but I figured they're a good hold over until I buy or make some nicer adjustable ones (one project at a time lol).



I took a picture of everything (besides the PCK and sway bar links) before throwing it all together. I painted the shock towers with a few coats of self etching primer beforehand, then wire wheeled the paint off in the areas I'll be welding it. I was thinking this would prevent any rust in the areas I can't paint once they're installed, but only time will tell.

After a ton of back and forth checking clearances and travel, I found a spot I was mostly happy with. A major oversight I had is that (like every other outboard shock mount) I was going to need spacers to keep the wheel from rubbing at full bump. This made it difficult to check clearances since I couldn't really stuff it up without contacting, but the soonest I could get a set of spacers would be another ~2 weeks, and I already had everything torn apart and ready to weld up. I checked everything as best as I could and welded the shock towers in. I guess we'll see how it goes once the spacers come in and I can really check it all .




I can't take any pictures of it flexed out until the spacers come in, but once I get those ordered and installed I'll post some pics of it all flexed out. Next up I'm going to be making some lower links, which I already have the materials for. I just need to get around to cutting and welding them up. Overall it rides so much better than before, and I have a much more solid setup without it costing an arm and a leg. I still have a few more things to finish up on (rear links, diff breather, and extended brake lines mainly) but I'm stoked on how it all came out, and I finally feel comfortable to drive this thing further than a ~1 mile radius from my house.

One thing I've noticed is that the back end feels a little loose compared to before, which is kind of strange as I was expecting the opposite. The shocks are valved for a Tundra, which is much heavier than our trucks so I was expecting a bit of a stiff ride. I was thinking that maybe it's due to the longer end links? Does anyone know if getting some shorter end links (like the front links from a 3rd gen 4runner) would tighten things up? It's not undriveable at all, and I may just need to get used to it, but if anyone has some advice to tighten things up a bit I'd appreciate it!

[Dezert4Runner]

Originally Posted by connorms

One thing I've noticed is that the back end feels a little loose compared to before, which is kind of strange as I was expecting the opposite. The shocks are valved for a Tundra, which is much heavier than our trucks so I was expecting a bit of a stiff ride. I was thinking that maybe it's due to the longer end links? Does anyone know if getting some shorter end links (like the front links from a 3rd gen 4runner) would tighten things up? It's not undriveable at all, and I may just need to get used to it, but if anyone has some advice to tighten things up a bit I'd appreciate it!

The LC coils have a really light spring rate. Similar to that of stock 4Runner coils (160#, I believe). If you were going from an OME 890/891 that had a little higher spring rate I could see how a taller ride height/ center of gravity would make it feel less stable and sway more. If I’m understanding your previous lift you mentioned, you probably had a stock 4Runner coil and a spacer? It really shouldn’t drive too differently if your shocks weren’t changed. Icons are digressive, so maybe that’s playing a more significant factor than I would guess. The front end links are shorter than the stock rear ones, so that’s not the right move. You did good swapping the rears for 2nd gen 4Runner rears. .