I can't give you advice since I have no information about lifts. Since they are completely illegal in my country I do not bother...

My opinion about stressing drive train, yes it will be additional stress to it. It was designed for some height so now it sits in sorts of neutral position. Lift will move it out this neutral position unless rest of drive train is modified to compensate that. But I can be wrong.

Those are good looking parts BTW. All of them, but 660€ is overkill. But if you got money, then hey, why not.

Well, i can get the price down to €460 when i buy seperate parts instead of the kit (same site and incl. shipping costs. weird..)

But something tells me i should get some ball joint spacers as well, no?
(i asked the same question in the tires & lift sticky)

The only way to not stress the cv axle with a bj spacer lift is also doing a diff drop kit.

Some kind of high angle replacement CV do not exist?

I know this has been asked over a 1000 times and i'm doing my research but it's difficult to translate in my own language.

Actually, 1" of lift is enough for me. But i need new suspension anyway and those lift kit's often come as 2" minimum.

Is it possible to lift the front that much without stressing out steering components, CV and other things? Looking for the sweet spot here...

I can live with a 1" lift up front and 2" lift in the rear. The rear will drop anyway with a roof top tent, bumper, spare tire and 2 bikes loaded. I have no plans for a winch-bumper.

Maybe just a 2" lift at the rear and a 1" front lift by cranking the torsion bar??

What are my options here?

(now reading on yota tech forum: 2nd gen 4runners lift guide)

Ok, so most people use BJ spacers and soften the torsion bars. Correct?

I read a dozen topics/threads and most of them say you don't need diff drop down brackets if you stay under 2" and have manual hubs...
This BJ spacer-thing is a hot topic on many fora but i find that very few threads come to 1 conclusion. So before i throw some €€€ i want to be sure.

They do not sell spacers in belgium (seriously) but i found a company in Finland. They can deliver 2 blocks for €89 without nuts and bolts.

If i go for the spacers, how thick can they be? They sell spacers of 1", 1.5", 2", 2.5" and even 3". (This is actual thickness of the block, not the lift)
I would go for the 2" one and soften the TB.

Combine This with a 1.5" BL and i think i can get a decent lift for some mild offroad trips.

Got a delivery today.



Also ordered the bj spacers from AliExpress. (i know... ) Delivery date is between 2 and 12 november.

I just need to play the waiting game.

Wow, my BJ spacers arrived today. 5 days delivery from Singapore... I'm impressed. Had to pay extra EU-taxes though...









Block itself is 3,8mm (or 1,5") thick. The nuts are rated A2 70. Which is 700N/mm² tensile strength (or how do you say that in english?) and actually good. I expected less for that price. But no rating on the bolts.

Now i need to find some time to get everything installed...

I'm also looking for a steering wheel. PO put in some 'racing wheel' and i don't like it. It will be difficult to find an original one here in Belgium but maybe a wheel from another model will fit too. A corolla or something??

Started to take out the old suspension. Boy what a ride...

We have a saying 'good tools are half the work'... Well...





So much for quality...

I soaked the upper bolt from the shocks 3 days ago but no succes. So we 'squared out' the chrome bar. (if you know what i mean...)





Found out that the PO used 2 different wheel-nuts. It kind a worried me a bit.

Some more work on the rear suspension...





Old vs new:



The rear is all done. More pictures will follow because it's already dark. Winter time here...

I want to see ride height pictures!

Yeah, me too!

The plan was to fit the bj spacers today but no. Someone up there didn't want it to happen.
The day started with a sting from a wasp. Painfull. Put some ice on it and went back to the garage.

I got the ball joint free from the a-arm but but couldn't get the screws out. Looks like they are pressed in or something?



We tried to remove the entire BJ but the lower bolt wouldn't move either.

Then my stomach started complaining and found myself sitting on the toilet for the rest of the day.

Fun...

Get yourself a big hammer and swing away. You don't need to save them anyway's.

Yeah, we tried that already...

This is how she currently stands:



Clearly the front isn't lifted yet. Tires are 235/85/R16 (31.7 X 9.3 R16).
I'm thinking of leaving it this way. If we install our RTT and rear bumper with tire carrier, the rear will drop and level out a bit.

My next project is to find a way to install our RTT. Problem is, we have no factory roof rails... No rain-gutter either so we will have to drill into the roof.

The idea is to use ISB aluminium rails.





(size is in metric mm)

If i drill a pair of these in the roof i can slide in any home made bracket. I got the inspiration from yotatech forum.

Question is, will it hold a RTT?? I guess there is only one way to find out..
Or are there any other options i overlooked?