I have a 2016 4runner premium SR5 4x4. As we all have known, the SR5's is notorious for having nose dives and bad cornering.

Since my OEM tires is near dead, i plan to purchase the TRD wheels or aftermarket wheels and put on some AT tires and eventually sometime soon, upgrade my suspension system. What do you guys recommend? Brand, size, anything etc... What should i look for or watch out for.


what setup do you guys recommend in terms of springs, or coilovers or anything different?

Going Bigger: 5th Gen Tire Fitment Guide

5th Gen Wheel & Tire Thread

5th Gen 4Runner Lift Buyers Guide

Another Bilstein 5100 Question

As always, search is your friend. Advance search the word "build" 5th gen forum only, titles only. There are LOADS of worthy build threads where people document their progression through several different suspension setups.

This is one of the most popular questions on this forum, and you could literally spend a year continuously reading and re-reading the answers to this question. I highly suggest you spend some time searching ("5th Gen Suspension Upgrade" in the top search box would yield some good starting points) and reading the top threads that come up week after week on the front page of the 5th Gen subforum.

Long story short, know this: your suspension should match your needs, and the longer you spend here doing some real research about the options will save you a lot of money, time, and heartache. Start by searching the following threads. Also visit member's build pages and see their journey, there are quite a few very informative individual build threads. Good Luck.

Another Bilstein 5100 question

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-ge...s-choices.html

OME nitrocharger shocks

Bilstein TRD Pro suspension kit on sale PTR13-35140

Great threads already posted. I was in your shoes a couple months ago and this was my suspension choice, if you can still find one. ...

I have searched and read posts about these topics including the links you posted. Thank you for that. There's just so much information that i'm still trying to collect and put together.

I guess the best way to do this is to change the tires as I have read that the OEM tires have weak sidewalls so that will be a first mod when i finally buy a new set of wheels.

Afterwards, i will purchase shocks and coilovers to help out with the handling.

My main goal is to have a little bit of lift and make the ride comfort as close to a TRD Trail as possible. With my current SR5, i can feel every little bump and cracks on the road and the road isn't even that bad. Crossing railroad tracks is a whole different level in itself.

What's the role and purpose of your 4Runner? Do you ever go off-road? What type of off-roading do you do? If your OEM tires are almost dead and never tore a sidewall then why are you concerned about their weak sidewalls now? Seems like they did their job for your purpose.

Information about what you want to do with your truck and how you use it would be helpful in giving you any advice. Or I could just tell you to go out and get a set of Stage 7 Icon's.

You mean drives like a truck? lol

Two things worth mentioning:
1- Aftermarket suspension are mostly (with varying degrees) stiffer than stock and reduce nose dive. The thinner sway bars on the SR5 cause more body roll vs the thicker sways of KDSS trucks, but are less harsh on corrugations.

2- Heavier LT tires with higher ply ratings (such as the BFG KO's, many A/T or mud terrains) are stiffer, need more air for the same load ratings as passenger tires, and therefore ride a bit harsher. In return offer more durability and traction off-road

That being said, how far to go with tires and suspension depends on your offroad needs and budget. Keep in mind more extreme setups come with more compromise to truck handling in one way or the other.

Besides the links above, there are some good build threads to look at as well.

Since you're asking brands, I've tried Bilstien, Wheeler's (Eibach) and KING for suspension, others here run Icon, Fox, and Dobinsons. For tires, I've tried BFG KO2s and Cooper AT3. All worked well in what they do.

Plenty of others to consider as well and way too many to list.

Literally every answer to every question you asked (as well as examples of products for you do to further searches on) is in those threads. So, you're welcome!

Why do you want thicker sidewalls? Your OEM tires seem to have done fine. They're P-rated, which means they're the very best on the road in terms of handling, noise, traction, and mpg. Are you going to spend a significant amount of time off-road? Do you need thicker sidewalls? People use tires with 6- or 10-ply sidewalls so they can air down for more traction off-road without getting punctured on sharp rocks. The downside is, some of these larger E load tires are 55-60lbs apiece or more, and your OEM tires are 41lbs each, so your truck will feel sluggish for daily driving (unless you regear $$$), and your fuel economy will take a hit.

I'm using OME 883s up front and Wheeler's T13 in the rear. Bilstein 5100s all the way around. My goal was less body roll in turns and less nose dive if I have to brake suddenly. I have about 2.5" of lift up front and 1.5" in the rear. It drives and rides more like a truck. I put LT Nitto G2s in the stock size because I go offroad regularly but I didn't want the weight of, say, a 285 Ridge Grappler on my daily driver. My tires are 4lbs heavier than stock, but they're mounted on wheels that are 7lbs lighter than stock, and I'm just as zippy off the line as when I had the OEM Duelers with zero mpg loss.

Some people go up to LT tires from OEM and think that they ride a lot harsher. So if you're looking for ride comfort, maybe an aggressive looking P-rated tire is best? A mild lift like mine and some poly sway bar bushings will help the body roll and nose diving for sure. My LT tires helped, too...the truck feels more planted. I do feel small bumps and cracks in the road more, but it's not something that bothers me. My truck feels like a truck now instead of feeling all floaty.

I use my SR5 mainly as a daily driver driving to work and back etc. so i want the comfort of a smooth ride and not feel road bumps too much or as little as possible. I don't do hardcore offroading but i like to go fishing and ride some easy trails..

As far as the weak side wAlls, the SR5 is known for nosediving when breaking amd i've heard that new tires with stronger sidewalls will help with that.

If you are looking for comfort, the stock suspension/tires are for you. Upgrading the suspension and stiffer tires will do the exact opposite. Just saying.

Agreed. @smakdatt , that jarring feeling when your truck nose-dives from sudden braking is the soft front suspension bottoming out. The tires' sidewalls do absolutely nothing to prevent this. Going to a 6-ply (load range C) or 10-ply (load range E) sidewall will help a bit with the truck leaning while turning. My E load tires makes the truck feel more planted to me.

The way I understand the OEM tires, those thinner sidewalls allow the tire to deform when going over a small bump or pothole, thus dissipating the energy from hitting those obstacles. The OEM tires are like a soft cushion made for comfort and performance on the pavement. That said, with the new E load tires, I do feel little bumps and potholes more because my 10-ply sidewalls are now too hardcore to be deformed by those imperfections in the road. So they don't dissipate the energy of hitting a pothole or crack in the road. So I feel it more. It bothers some. It doesn't bother me unless I am not paying attention and hit a big pothole (of which there are plenty in Nashville). It's a trade-off for being able to air down to 15psi or lower when going offroad.

I posted my experiences with my suspension upgrade here and my experiences with my tire upgrade here. Check those out. Your mileage may vary, obviously.

Get a set of Bilstien 5100's, use stock coils, raise the front to 1.75" and get a set of P-rated All-terrain tires. That should solve the nose dive issue. Sidewall strength doesn't have anything to do with the nose dive. Doesn't sound like you need the extra weight, harshness, impact on MPG, and noise of an LT rated tire.

I was in the same boat, only I live in the mountains and my commute can include 5 feet of snow and ice, washed out roads and a lot of fire trails. So for now I did a basic lift, a set of AT tires that are winter rated. I plan on much more but need to pay some bills.

The lift is Bilstein 6112 fronts set at 2.5 “ of lift. The rear is the Bilstein 5160 external reservoir with the Icon 2“ rear springs. This is as close as you can get to the ride you are looking for without going full overland adventure suspension (in my opinion).



I then added stealth custom series RAY10 rims in dark bronze and wrapped them in 285 70/17’s from Falken (Wildpeak AT3W P-rated). The front needs a little fender trimming but not bad.



I went with P-rated for one main reason, I live in snow half the year and the P rated tire is a silica compound based tire making it better for wet and snow traction. The LT version is better for off roading but not as good on snow and ice. Your environment will determine the tire type. I had Duratracs on my last rig and they were awesome on snow and off road, only they are DOUBLE the cost of the Falkens. Here is the rear no fender trimming involved.



So basically my SR5 is now a much better ride on road and has no nose dive. You may be tempted to do a spacer lift due to cost, I will advise against this my spacer lift just made the nose dive worse. Good luck on your build!




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How much lift do you have in the rear? Love this stance! Have any pics with the lift before you upgraded wheels and tires?

Oops sorry. 2” Icon rear springs. I would say it brings it up closer to 2.5 inches in the rear with the third row. Sorry no pics of the lift only it looked too goofy, wouldn’t do that to Eleanor (my rig).


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