Just hold the top during when jacking up the first few inches and you should be fine. The lotus adapter (which is in the picture) makes the jack pretty darn stable. If you want it to be more stable, get that $100 base (actually looks pretty good).
Depends on what you want to do/trips you take with the car! Also wheel offset is an important factor when considering larger tires as lifting an IFS doesn't necessarily clear a tire (will reduce the frequency of rubbing but will still rub when full compressed).
Imho the absolute best off the...
Friend of mine has that wheel and 295 KM3s and was still rubbing on that plastic but behind the mud flap and on that fender itself. Can't remember his caster # but try to get as high as you can!
Ouch! Have you contacted your insurance to see if they will help? A coworker had to deal with a rodent case on their Honda and the dealer quoted 4.5k. Insurance covered it thankfully
If you really don't want to trim at all, 275/70/17s would be the safest bet. With factory offset wheels, you could likely fit 285s with only removing the mudflaps + high caster. There may be some trimming needed on the front fender. I believe they trim the pros slightly to fit the more...
With part-time 4WD, it's best that you don't use it on surfaces where you have a lot of traction. Turning on these surfaces will cause the driveshaft to bind and is likely what you're hearing/feeling. The Limited trim 4runner has full-time 4WD which has a center diff and allows for use on high...