Something I really dislike about my new to me 2017 TRD Off Road is the front end rake. Only has 37k miles, but there is 1 3/4" difference from the frame rail behind the front fender to the frame rail in front of the rear fender. Add in the OR style wheel its terrible backspacing and its aesthetic looks terrible. What I would like is a simple level'ish front, but also an additional inch front and back to allow for a 33" tire. I've looked and just don't know which direction is best. Any advice? Would like to keep it under $500.

Long term use will be forest service roads, green and yellow trails in CO and NM. I just found a set of used Predator steps with bolt on/off steps. Will also move to a set of TRD wheels as well. Probably run KO2's or Patagonia M/T's in 285/70/17.

Thanks in advance.

If you are willing to spend a bit more than $500, I would recommend looking at the Eibach Stage 1 lift during a holiday sale. They would be way better than adding spacers for a level look. And the OR wheels don't look too bad if you plastidip them black. That's what I did until I can afford new wheels. And as far ass the wheel offset, maybe some spacers to kick them out of the wheel well a bit?

Revtek 432 - $500 plus install....

Kit 432 – 3″ Front And 2″ Rear Split Spacer System

Yesterday, I did bilstein 5100 on all 4 corners along with 2 new bilstein 1in larger coils which gave me 1 in in the back. The two 5100 on the front I set at 1.75. Glad I did it my truck thrives better, it’s more spotty and you sit up higher. I paid 208 for new springs and 400 total for my 5100’s . the install guys at tandem off-road were great. Got my alignment dead on.

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Both look like good options and thanks. I ran 5100's on my JKU with a 2.5" AEV lift and they were stiff. After about 10k miles they did improve, but were stiff as in really tight compression. How are the 5100's on these rigs? OEM spring rate seems stiff, but with overall improved rebound thus far. I do not like the nose dive on my rig.

I got the Rough Country leveling kit, 2.5 inch front, 1 inch rear. Only $139 plus install which I did myself. Do need alignment after install which my dealer did.

Works great. I have have zero problems with it. 2 Inch Lift Kit | Toyota 4Runner 4WD (2010-2022) | Rough Country

Just wanted to voice what seems to be an unpopular opinion, but the rake is there for a reason, to give allowance for the addition of weight when you go down the road. I live in the oilfield of East Texas and it seems that every 19 year old with their first oilfield paycheck has to put a "leveling kit" on their Z71. As a result most of them go around with their front headlights pointed to the sky and the rear of the truck sagging with just a little bit of cargo or passengers or heaven forbid a trailer.

If you just absolutely love the leveled look go for it just be aware of why the rake is there in the first place.

PS, the guys who do this to 3/4 and 1 ton trucks around here are shameful. They are welcome to do it but in my opinion they take a platform designed to haul and tow heavy weight and ruin it by putting soft suspension, leveling kits, and "bro dozer" rubber band tires on 24" wheels. To each their own, I'm sure they think my 4runner should have bigger tires, bumpers, etc.

5100s seem to be the go to here for a "budget", but quality lift. For under $500 they really can't be beat. Set them at 2.5" and add a 1" spacer in the rear and you should be level and clear 285s. Trimming may be required up front to the mud flap or fender liner, but that's it.

The rake on these is really aggressive. I just added a 1" spacer in the front and it made a world of difference with stock size 265/70r17 KO2s. I just have no interest at the moment of going any taller for tires.

As to the rake issue, I come from owning and lifting several JKU's for Overlanding. I get and understand the issues with leveling and then loading the rear, roof rack or towing and the potential for squatting it can bring.

For me, that will be solved with airbags, but not until I know what trailer I am buying. I put a deposit on one, but the build time is/was 18 months. I am still 11 months out, if they are on time. My guess is I will become impatient and buy something else. Not knowing my overall and tongue weight will keep me from buying a higher end Icon or equal lift plus the bits and pieces right now so I can finish it out.

For now... an inexpensive spacer kit just so I don't look at it and think damn, that's just not right!

We installed 275/70/17 and Bilstein 5100's all around @ 1.75" in the front and their 1" spring in the back with a 10 mm trim packer and Ride Rite air bags. The photo was taken after a trip around the block and the airbags at 20-25 lbs. (leak testing)... oh, and I hadn't put the spare tire back on yet.

After a couple hundred miles and some settling, and the bags at 5-7 lbs. the forward rake measured at the frame is 1" while the wheel wells are just slightly under 2" (level at the wheel wells is reverse rake). I prefer a little forward rake as I deplore reverse rake, and we load up and pull a pop-up all summer.

But I digress. If I pulled the 10mm trim packer (3/8" +/-) I'd be at roughly 1/2" of rake at the frame. That's pretty darn level.

The wife and I did the install ourselves using the "compressor-less" method and it worked like a charm. In addition to the price of the Bilsteins, rear springs, trim packers, and airbags all we needed was an alignment. Obviously some 1" spacers in lieu of the springs would knock $100 - $150 off the bill, but all in all, we were somewhere in the $900 range.

A mild lift, additional travel from the shocks, and we got rid of the boat-like handling which was enough to make you sick on our twisty roads.

Now we went with 275/70/17 as a compromise given our altitude, steep grades, and the fact that we use the T4R to pull a trailer. That said we did not need to do any cutting. However, the lip of the front bumper is as close as I would want to push it and we may go ahead and do the "pro cut" for good measure. I'm fairly certain that we could have stuffed 285s under it as well with the pro cut and either removing or modifying the front mud flaps... of course that is largely due to the offset of TE wheels.

When you hit Colorado give me a holler, we'll hit a trail or two!

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I totally agree. A little annoying.. also doesn't help with clearance on the front end.
I ended up getting Bilstein 5100s all around. Lifted the front the full 2.5 inches.
Also, specific to our use of the truck (we're off-grid camping) ...

WEIGHT
Whether it's a RTT or a trailer, or just food, water and people weight is the biggest issue most don't pay attention to.

So to fight the weight issues in the back when off-grid camping in terms of a slight loss of departure angle we added airbags. These are super cheap and can be inflated when the weight is on and deflated when the weight is off.

Hope this helps..
Stay safe out there.

My 100lb tool bag in the back does a decent job at leveling my 4Runner.

All great advice and greatly appreciated.

And to clarify, I've read this several times on this site...

265/70/17 (no matter the flavor) is a 30.5-31.5" tall tire
275/70/17 (no matter the flavor) is a 30.5-31.5" tall tire, only "10mm wider"
285/70/17 (no matter the flavor) is a 32.25-32.75" tall tire, and again, another "10mm wider"
285/75/17 is a "34 inch" tire....

Owners seem to like to go to a 275/70/17 tire here, which is an odd size, typically more expensive than a 265 but still the same height.

Where 285/70/17 is a "33 inch" tire. Same as a 295/70/15 and 305/70/17 are 33" tires as well. "35's" start at 315/70/17.

interesting.

https://www.falkentire.com/tires/lig...peaka/t3w-tire

275/70R17 wildpeaks are 32.4".

285/70R17 tires aren't actually 33"

There is advertised size and then there is mounted and on the ground size.

Notoriously, BFG KO2 315's aren't even 34" when mounted and on the ground. The "mold" may have intended what the engineers are reporting to marketing for sizes, but in reality, they are not the same thing.

Show me a set of Wildpeaks mounted and on the ground that are 32" let alone 32.4" and I'll eat my words. And by 32" I mean not inflated to 90psi!

Here is part of a chart I developed 2 years ago for a project on a Jeep site. These are the "advertised" specs for all of what are commercially accepted 33" tires. The idea of 33" or 35" tires comes from a series of calculations by a manufacturer with the acceptance of inches/percentages/millimeters calculations all being equal as calculable around industry standards.

How a tire diameter is calculated:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=202

Tire Brand - 285/70/17 Size Type Diameter Width

BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2 285/70/17 A/T 32.7 11.5
BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2 285/70/17 A/T 32.7 11.5
BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KM2 285/70/17 A/T 33 11.5

Nitto Terra Grappler G2 285/70/17 P 32.6 11.5
Nitto Terra Grappler G2 285/70/17 A/T 32.76 11.5
Nitto Terra Grappler 285/70/17 A/T 32.76 11.5
Nitto Dura Grappler 285/70/17 H 32.79 11.49
Nitto Dune Grappler 285/70/17 A/T 32.64 11.73
Nitto Ridge Grappler 285/70/17 A/T 32.76 11.5
Nitto Ridge Grappler 285/70/17 A/T 32.76 11.5
Nitto Exo Grappler 285/70/17 A/T 32.99 11.5
Nitto Trail Grappler M/T 285/70/17 M/T 32.99 11.5
Nitto Trail Grappler M/T 285/70/17 M/T 33.15 11.81
Nitto Trail Grappler M/T

Yokohama Geolander A/T S 285/70/17 A/T 33.1 11.5
Yokohama Geolander A/T G015 285/70/17 A/T 32.9 11.3
Yokohama Geolander A/T G015 285/70/17 P 32.8 11.2
Yokohama Geolander M/T Plus 285/70/17 M/T 32.9 8.9
Yokohama Geolander M/T G003 285/70/17 M/T 32.9 11.6

Falken Wildpeak A/T3W 285/70/17 A/T 33 11.6
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W 285/70/17 P 32.8 11.3
Falken Wildpeak M/T 285/70/17 M/T 32.9 11.4

Firestone Destination Special Edition 285/70/17 P 32.8 11.5
Firestone Destination A/T 285/70/17 A/T 32.8 11.5
Firestone Destination A/T 285/70/17 P 32.8 11.5
Firestone Transforce AT2 285/70/17 A/T 32.8 11.5
Federal Couragia M/T 285/70/17 M/T 33.1 11.3

Atturo Trail Blade X/T 285/70/17 M/T 32.7 11.5
Sumimoto Encounter AT 285/70/17 A/T 32.8 12
Sumimoto Encounter AT 285/70/17 P 32.9 11.7

Kuhmo Road Ventuer MT51 285/70/17 M/T NA NA
Kuhmo Venture AT KL78 285/70/17 M/T 32.7 11.5
Kuhmo Road Ventuer AT51 285/70/17 A/T 32.7 11.5

Mastercraft Courser AXT 285/70/17 A/T 32.76 11.7
Mastercraft Courser AXT 285/70/17 P 32.76 11.4
Mastercraft Courser CXT 285/70/1\ A/T 33.07 11.5
Mastercraft Courser MXT 285/70/17 M/T 32.91 11.5

Continental T C A/T 285/70/17 A/T 32.7 11.5

Milestar Patagonia M/T 285/70/17 M/T 32.9 11.5
Milestar Patagonia A/T 285/70/17 A/T 32.8 11.5
Milestar Grantland 285/70/65 A/T 32.8 11.5

Cooper Discover AT3 285/70/17 A/T 32.83 11.4
Cooper Discover ATP 285/70/17 A/T 32.83 11.4
Cooper Discover AT3 285/70/17 P 32.76 11.5
Cooper Discover A/TW 285/70/17 A/T 32.83 11.4
Cooper Discover A/TW 285/70/17 P 32.76 11.5
Cooper Discover STT Pro 285/70/17 M/T 33.3 11.5
Cooper Discover MTP 285/70/17 M/T 32.91 11.5
Cooper Discover ST MAXX 285/70/17 A/T 32.99 11.5
Cooper Zeon LTZ 285/70/17 A/T 32.71 11.35

Goodyear Wrangler TrailRunner A/T 285/70/17 A/T 33 11.5
Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac 285/70/17 M/T 33 11.5
Goodyear All-Terrain Adventure Kevlar 285/70/17 A/T 32.8 11.5
Goodyear Wrangler MT/R Kevlar 285/70/17 M/T 33 11.5

Kenda Klever A/T 285/70/17 A/T 32.8 11.5