2008 Suspension Question
 

The time has come to replace the tires on my 2008 2WD SR5 and I'm looking to improve the look a bit with a lift? This is my daily driver that typically sees nothing more than a gravel road and public boat landings.

I am sitting at 175k miles, still have the OEM suspension and have had no issues at all. I have considered a daystar spacer lift, purely for aesthetics. However, based on the age and some mixed reviews on spacers, I'm looking at Bilstein 5100 in front and rear.

So a couple of questions...

If I go with Bilsteins up front at 1.75 ish, I will need to raise the back a little - should I do that with spacers on the rear or new springs?
If I go new springs, should I go ahead and replace the springs up front as well?

you dont need to raise the back, my 08 sits very high in the rear already, all you should need to do for the look you want is raise the front to make it more level with the rear. once you raise the rear & the front you will probably need bigger tires to look right.

I just did the 5100's on my '08 4WD. Based on advice from a friend, I didn't replace the front springs. I went with the .85" lift, front and rear, as well as a 1" lift block up front. The truck looks evenly lifted, as the front of these trucks is typically lower than the back. I went with new springs in the back to give me the lift.

I have a friend with the bilsteins at 1.75 in the front and stock rear. His 4Runner still has a small rake to it but it’s better than factory.

He’s also running 265/70R17 and they fit good.

For the money, the 5100s are a nice upgrade

Thanks guys, I should have included that I am getting new tires as well. I want to go a size up from my stock size 265 70 16.

So to recap, I don't need to raise the rear if I go to 1.75 on the front and I won't have a reverse rake?

What about the springs in general, should they still be good even after 175k?

You’ll be fine going up a size with 1.75” in the front. You are correct, you’ll still have a rake in the front. I imagine your springs will be ok but there’s plenty of options out there.

You could always do the FJ springs in rear and get the FJ springs put on the bilsteins. That way you could leave the bilsteins at 0.85” setting and the springs will put about an inch (+ or -).

If you’re wanting the best bang for your buck, I’d go with 5100s on stock springs.

My springs were shot on my 08 at 125k miles, so replaced them with Moog FJ springs when I installed 5100s and de-commissioned the XREAS. That said, the build bug hit me harder than expected and I'm now looking at swapping out the Moog springs for OME coils to handle the weight of the steel bumper up front (and sliders soonish).

For the relatively low cost of new coils (lots of options), I'd replace them, especially since you've got 175k on the originals. Do you have XREAS?

No xreas,
I should probably mention, that mine is a SR5 with 2wd :( had her for 11 years, so I'm committed at this point!

Do have a 1976 CJ if the mood hits!

Gotcha, that's a good run - prolly time for a refresh.

I went with Moog FJ 81045 springs in rear and Moog FJ 81108s up front, 5100s set to 0. Leveled my 2008 (v6, 4WD) pretty evenly and very cost effective (ordered Moog springs from Rock Auto). Aligned fine with no issues, stock UCAs.