hey there...first off coming over from tacomaworld.com ive got a 2006 speedway blue doublecab.

ive installed bilstein 5100s on my truck to get some lift and i was looking to do the same thing on my 4runner. ive got a 2004 limited 4WD and i have a few questions regarding everything.

1. been lurking for a while trying to figure out what XREAS is. still a little foggy on this.

2. how do i know if i have it?

3. my rear shocks have a line running from them so im wondering how i would change these shocks. my front is really smashed so i cant really see whats up with those shocks.

4. what setting would you put the 5100s on to make it level without doing anything to the rear.


thanks

1) It is a cross linked hydraulic shock system. Lines connect your front right to left rear shocks and vice versa. It is to prevent body roll and can be identified by looking at your shocks and finding lines that come off it. Also, there will be a small canister on the outside of your frame rails.

2) Looking at number 3, you likely have it.

3) If you have xreas you will need to replace all 4 shocks, you can not replace just two.

4) Not too sure, but I am sure someone will chime in.

well you have come to the right spot. stay tuned

Here is a picture of my xreas front shock when i took it off, you can see the hydraulic line coming off it.

thanks for the quick responses. so what exactly happens to the XREAS system after you change the shocks? are they just closed lines after that or do you have to remove the whole system?

The lines automatically seal themselves, some people remove them but I have not bothering to remove mine. If you do not lose any fluid when you take the shocks off (so all 4 wheels have to be off the ground) you can put xreas back on at a later time... why you would want to, I have no idea. I took mine off and never looked back! If you want to keep your xreas and not have to mess with the rear suspension you can look into a small spacer in lieu of 5100's in the front.

i have always kind of veered away from spacers...simply because over at tw they have a bad rep. any recomendation on a spacer? (how it affects ride, etc)

also how does the 4runner handle without the XREAS is it a big deal?

on a side note...is 3" of lift the max without aftermarket UCAs? before i kill my cvs

I think spacers get a bad rep when it is not deserved. I wheeled the hell out of my truck for a long time on spacers without a problem. Clearly the bigger the spacer the more it will change your right. I had Cornfed, and people have also had great success with Daystar. Another option you can look into is putting FJ Cruiser springs in the front. If you are a V6, it will give you about 3/4" of lift in the front and when you combine that with a small spacer it does not change your ride much.

How it handles without xreas really depends on what suspension you go for... my coilovers are firmer than the factory suspension so I notice no difference.

In general 3" in the max you can do without UCA's, I would not go above 3.5" even with UCA's. Aside from UCA's and CV's if you go past that amount of lift the suspension will not have the right amount of downtravel left and it can really hurt your ride, especially if you off road. You want a nice balance of uptravel and downtravel in the front suspension. It is almost identical to Tacoma front suspension.