I need the help and advice from some of you more or less professionals out there. Just purchased a used 03 SR5 and I'm not real happy with the clearance, especially under the front end. I've never lifted a vehicle and need some advice. From this thread it looks like a 2" front and 1" rear would be ideal. How would you recommend doing this and how much money would I be looking at??

A simple Cornfed spacer kit sounds like it will do the trick for you. Or if you are happy with the height of the back end, just get a set of small spacers for the front. Either way, it's a fairly basic job and will give you a bit more clearance up front and a more level look instead of the "nose down" look of the stock 4Runner.

Keep in mind that you'll still have the same ground clearance under your controls arms, so you're not really gaining ground clearance all around.

That's not entirely true- The outboard ends of the arms (at the hub) will be at the same height, the inboard ends will be 2 inches higher (at the frame mount).

Welcome!

A 1.25" Daystar front spacer and FJ Cruiser rear springs will give you approx what you are looking for. Total cost $50 (DS spacers: $50 + FJC rear springs: $0)

-Shawn

Well, ground clearance is measured at the lowest point to the ground. So since the lower control arms distance from the ground will not change, it's safe to say that ground clearance didn't increase overall, even if ground clearance does increase in some respects.

Also, a small spacer lift can include preload and top out spacers. A 2" front lift will not raise the lower control arms anwhere near 2". Due to the geometry of the front suspension, a 1" topout spacer will net 2" of lift as measured at a reference point. When I installed my spacers (1.25" lift) the lower control arms remained in the same exact position as before the spacer installation. I still gained ground clearance under the skids though.

Thanks for the ideas. Mostly I'm just not happy with the front end, the back isn't too bad. So I agree with you EH007...the nose down look just isn't doing it for me. If I were thinking about the Cornfed spacer kit, which kit would get rid of that look and allow me to put on a bigger tire without making it look noticeably jacked up?? And what would the cost be? The cheaper the better, as long as I'm not compromising the quality overall.

I run a 265/70/17 tire which is one up from stock approx. a 32" tire ( 31.7 or something ) . I want to lift a little and a 2/1 would be perfect IMO.

I although want to get rims with a different offset/backspace will still keep the same tire size.


A set of FJ springs will not give you 1" in the read . Look for CJ's post , I thought it was a 1/2 or a little less.

Depends. I put 4x4 FJC springs on my '08 and got just under 1" of lift in the front.

Does anyone have before and after pictures after installing Daystar 1" front leveling spacers onto their 4th gen?

Go to burtmanindustries.com and pick your size! Easy as 1 2 3

Strange , but good to know. Seems like everyone gets slightly different results.

Do you have a pic of your set up ?

Yep.

Before:


After: (FJC 4x4 springs w/ DS top-out (1 3/8") and rear 2.5" spacer)

(sorry I don't have a level shot)

The thing to understand is that I put the FJC 4x4 springs on my 2WD V6. I'm sure if you put the FJC springs on a 4x4 V8 the lift will be slim to none.

I disagree as well. I was one of the first to do this, and I got exactly 1" in the rear. The 1.25" Daystar spacer gave me 2" in front as well.

Rear only:



After:

TRBenj
Do you have FJ springs all around or just in rear? Your 4runner looks good. Any more pics with current set up?

hey i have a 2/1 cornfed for sale p.m. me if interested it was on my truck for 4 months