Worth It? FJ Trail Teams Suspension - $150 - Toyota 4Runner Forum

jpless · 05-11-2010, 04:34 PM

I'm looking into the FJ swap with spacer mod and am trying to find a setup. I found a full kit with the front springs still mounted and 12k miles. I wasn't planning on doing it soon for budget $ but I also haven't been able to come by that many setups for a decent price so I want to grab it if it's worth it.

Should I grab these for $150 while I can? Would it make the install much easier than just getting the coils?

Depending on what I hear, I may have to delay my condenser replacement for this.

Thanks in advance!

ARK_SWAMP_RIDER · 05-11-2010, 05:03 PM

I've seen coils for around $50, whole shock/coil setups for arounds $100. Others have gotten lucky and gotten it all for free, but this isn't common. For a low mileage FJ setup, I'd be willing to pay more. Also, since it is the FJ Trail Team setup with Bilsteins, I'd also be willing to pay more as well. That's just me, but I'd go for it. Do you have the regular suspension or XREAS?

SkylineGTRracer · 05-11-2010, 05:15 PM

Since you wanna lift it I'd say thats a steal! (besides free as I have heard that as well) I have seen those go for $350+ for front and rear. I would have gone that route if I wanted a lift.

jpless · 05-12-2010, 08:31 AM

great! I plan to pick them up Friday or Saturday, not sure when I'll get around to the install. Still debating DIY or not, but I'll probably go ahead with it next time my GF goes out of town (2 weeks). That way I can give it the time and care it needs.

Now to decide if I should put spacers on and if so, what option. I've saved all the pics I could find of FJ setups on the Lift and Tire Central Pictures thread. No spacers, 1/2" up front, 1.5 rear + 1 front, 1.5 front, and 1 front.

I'll be reading over all the threads I can find many times trying to do this. I want a slight lift so I can fit bigger tires. I mostly tow my boat but plan to make a couple trail runs

ARK_SWAMP_RIDER · 05-12-2010, 09:14 AM

That depends on if you want to level it out, or actually lift front/rear. Typically with a FJ setup I'd suggest the Daystar Budget Boost spacer, it'll give 1.75-2" of lift. This will be level, but as soon as you hook to the boat you're rear end will sag (depending on the size of the boat, air bags in the rear coils could be an option). Otherwise, I'd say the Toytec top plate spacer, it'll give 1" and leave a bit of rake, so it won't be as bad when hooked to the boat. I have the front FJ springs and Toytec spacer, love the setup. If you decide to lift front/rear, I'm not much help as I've not looked into that part of it (I can't lift any more than I am because I have the OEM rear air suspension).

jpless · 05-12-2010, 10:55 AM

I'll probably go with the daystar budget route. my boat is 19' and for the most part I'm towing it less than a mile between storage and boat ramp so I'm not too worried.

It also depends on what tires I decide to go with. They'll come a couple months after the lift (or I may delay the lift until I'm ready). I want to match them. I liked how you got 3" total with your setup but those tires won't fit on my limited wheels.

Stock Diameter is 30.51 (265/60/18)
275/60/18 = 30.99 (+~.5)
265/70/18 is 32.6 (+2.1)

the question is, will the 265/70/18 fit with a daystar budget lift?

ARK_SWAMP_RIDER · 05-12-2010, 11:27 AM

With the 18" wheels, you just drop a number in the middle. So, a 255/70/18 is identical in size to my 255/75/17's. The Hankooks I have are offered in that size, can be found here. This would be identical to my setup, just on a 18" wheel with less sidewall. Fitment would be the same. I'm fully satisfied with the 255's, I've gained ~1 mpg with them so that's a good deal in my book. I would confirm the amount of lift given by the Daystar and rear FJ springs, but I'm pretty sure that would level it out perfectly.

jpless · 05-12-2010, 12:19 PM

Thanks for the info on the tires!

The full suspension swap should net me about .75" up front and 1" in the rear. With the Toytec topout kit, that should give me about 1.75" front, 1" rear. Since I really like the look of the 2/1 leveling kits (without FJ swap).

Toytech topout spacer (1" total front):

Or, if I go with the daystar budget lift (or similar 2" total gain spacer), I should have around 2.75" front, 1" Rear.

FJ Springs and 1" toytec (states as 2" front, ~.25" rear, but I think the bilsteins all around will give me 1" rear)

These kits are so confusing. Some advertise the total gain, others the size of the spacer which is less than the total gain. Decisions, decisions!

MSU4Runner · 05-12-2010, 01:45 PM

I agree, all the spacer choices can be too much. I am installing FJ coils with Bilsteins, Daystar 1.25" levelling topout spacer, as well as some new General Grabber AT2's (265/70R17's) this weekend on my 4runner. Once I get everything complete I will post some pictures. Might help to see yet another setup, although I have 17" wheels.

jpless · 05-12-2010, 02:00 PM

awesome! let me know how it goes.

My plan is to get 255/70/18s like ARK_SWAMP_RIDER, most likely. The difference in our setups is thus the rear air. Does that add any rear height over non-air rear?

jpless · 05-13-2010, 11:42 PM

picked up the bilsteins today, everything looks good. The rear is already compressed and pinned in place so install will be fairly easy (hopefully). Never touched the suspension before so I'm going to take my time.

Now to order the spacer. I'm pretty busy the next couple weekends so it may be a while but at least the search for the parts is over!

ARK_SWAMP_RIDER · 05-13-2010, 11:52 PM

Time is key, it took me 2 hours to do the first side (front only) but then probably half that for the other side. Just take it easy, look over the writeups, and you shouldn't have any issues.

MSU4Runner · 05-26-2010, 12:09 AM

Hey jpless,

Just to follow up, I posted about my install here in case you want to check it out.

-Hal

BamBam · 05-26-2010, 10:39 PM

I would hop on a deal for the FJ Trail Teams set up. I've owned a lot of trucks in my day, and the smoothest and most compliant one ever was the Trail Teams I drove for the last two years. It was way better than the normal stock FJ in my opinion, and I drove quite a few before I got into a Trail Teams with NO intention of buying it and driving it off the lot two days later.

I have an 07 Sport 4Runner now with XREAS and I feel that the FJ was MUCH smoother and handled the offroad stuff with ease.

zon · 05-27-2010, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BamBam

I would hop on a deal for the FJ Trail Teams set up. I've owned a lot of trucks in my day, and the smoothest and most compliant one ever was the Trail Teams I drove for the last two years. It was way better than the normal stock FJ in my opinion, and I drove quite a few before I got into a Trail Teams with NO intention of buying it and driving it off the lot two days later.

I have an 07 Sport 4Runner now with XREAS and I feel that the FJ was MUCH smoother and handled the offroad stuff with ease.

Do you have any expirience with the FJ TRD package with the red Bilsteins?

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