2010 SR5 Lift for On-road Performance Only

[JamesWhite]

I browsed this great forum for the past week, got so much useful information. It is very appreciated so many nice people contributed to the forum.

Actually I own my truck for 2 years and had no idea about lift before. I will not do any real off-road driving other than occasionally on beaches and gravel paths. I like this truck except nose diving and corner rolling.

After read through the threads here, I think I made my mind to go with OW 2.0 either the full kit or the special one (w/o rear coil). I know that tires contribute a lot (maybe the No. 1 factor) but I will put into phase 2 when the stock set needs to be trashed. Since on-road performance is my only purpose, I don’t think I want make the vehicle higher than stock if not necessary.

Now my questions come:

1. What is the expected lift height for the OW 2.0 rear coil?

2. If I keep the stock rear coil (less stiffness) and install OW 2.0 front coilovers and rear shocks , will this downgrade the on road handling (especially cornering) performance?

3. If I can go with the option of keeping stock height, does this imply that after market UCA is absolutely not neccessay?

4. If I can go with the option of keeping stock height, does this imply that differncial drop is absolutely not neccessay?
(I understand this will not be an issue for the lift less than 3", but it will be nice if no change on CV angle at all )

5. Is the FJ rear coils have same spring rate as the coils with the OW2.0 kit?

6. Has any body upgraded the sway bar and/or link? What I leant that TEs with KDSS have thicker sway bars which make the on-road outstanding and KDSS also make the off-road exceptional. Therefore if I don't care the off-roading, it seems a good idea to me. I also found some threads in 4th Gen and ADECO makes thicker sway bars but not for 5th Gen.

Thanks in advance for the responses.

 

[453030]

I have the full 2.0 kit yet briefly considered what you are thinking of. Regarding your questions:

1. The 2.0 rear coil will lift 2" after it has properly broken in, in my experience.
2. Even keeping your stock rear coils you can expect an improvement in on road handling. Cornering will be firmer and nose dive much better.
3. You will not need new UCAs staying stock height. They come into play with lifts and bigger tires, and help aid alignment and clearance. For the record, I did replace my UCAs yet am still on stock size tires. I did have my castor adjusted forward and I love the ride, and the older UCAs would have been prohibitive for that.
4. You don't need a diff drop even if you use the full 2.0 kit.
5. not sure
6. I don't think the KDSS sway bars will go on your truck. They really are what makes a stock KDSS Trail so sweet to drive on road. I once posted the actual size differences in the bars front and back, and they are substantially larger.

Now some general thoughts. When I started planning my upgrades I did not want to lift the back and only raise the front a bit. So the "special 2.0" kit seemed perfect. Then I hit a slightly moderate trail with my family and full cargo, and I bottomed in a few areas. Fully loaded, the truck handles off road bumps and rocks much differently, and was too bouncy. As I do go off road I decided I needed a firmer rear end (yes, I know, that's what she said). Not wanting to go a full 2" I thought about SAW coils which are said to be 1.5".

Then I circled back to why I chose Overland Warehouse in the first place - the expertise of Andries and Mark tuning the kits. It seemed stupid to not get their full benefits, so I scrapped the no-lift idea and went with a standard 2.0 kit. My friend, I could not be happier, on and off road.

Think it through a bit more. One recommendation if you stick with your current plan. You can have them make the front coilovers with 600LB springs instead of the standard 650LB they usually use on a 2.0 shock. When I was mulling keeping my stock rear coils, Andries and I thought this would better match the truck front to rear. Then again, going with the full kit made me know the front and rear would match.

Good luck with the decision.

 

[Foques]

Very curious to hear more on this as I am in the same predicament - looking to upgrade suspension a wee, and also do not plan on offroading (we don't even camp).

 

[1engineer]

I browsed this great forum for the past week, got so much useful information. It is very appreciated so many nice people contributed to the forum.

Actually I own my truck for 2 years and had no idea about lift before. I will not do any real off-road driving other than occasionally on beaches and gravel paths. I like this truck except nose diving and corner rolling.

After read through the threads here, I think I made my mind to go with OW 2.0 either the full kit or the special one (w/o rear coil). I know that tires contribute a lot (maybe the No. 1 factor) but I will put into phase 2 when the stock set needs to be trashed. Since on-road performance is my only purpose, I don’t think I want make the vehicle higher than stock if not necessary.

Now my questions come:

1. What is the expected lift height for the OW 2.0 rear coil?

2. If I keep the stock rear coil (less stiffness) and install OW 2.0 front coilovers and rear shocks , will this downgrade the on road handling (especially cornering) performance?

3. If I can go with the option of keeping stock height, does this imply that after market UCA is absolutely not neccessay?

4. If I can go with the option of keeping stock height, does this imply that differncial drop is absolutely not neccessay?
(I understand this will not be an issue for the lift less than 3", but it will be nice if no change on CV angle at all )

5. Is the FJ rear coils have same spring rate as the coils with the OW2.0 kit?

6. Has any body upgraded the sway bar and/or link? What I leant that TEs with KDSS have thicker sway bars which make the on-road outstanding and KDSS also make the off-road exceptional. Therefore if I don't care the off-roading, it seems a good idea to me. I also found some threads in 4th Gen and ADECO makes thicker sway bars but not for 5th Gen.

Thanks in advance for the responses.

You titled your thread "lift" yet you want to keep it the stock height.
You also said for "on road performance" only.
You want to keep body roll and nose dive to a minimum.

To accomplish these goals all you need is new shocks and tires. You also stated (correctly) that the OEM tires were the number one cause for these conditions yet you said you would keep them until they are worn out. Why keep something you know will fix a problem you are trying to solve? I know you are new but you make no sense. You are doing it exactly BACKWARDS. Your Phase one should be phase two.

1. Put on new tires. Since you are only on road get the Michelin MS. Perfect for on road and should solve 90% of your problems.
2. If not, then put on a set of Bilstein 5100 shocks. That should solve the other 10%.
3. If still unsatisified, THEN go the coilover route. Just because you read about some people doing something does not make it correct for you. Good luck.

 

[JamesWhite]

Thanks for the above replys.

 

[JB.]

James, are you running 32psi on stock tires?

Try adding about 5psi and then re-assess. You might be surprised.

 

[KCcarguy]

You should consider Bilstein 5100s. They'll solve most of your problems.

 

[ATL4R]

ADDCO Sway Bars

Thicker sway bars are on the way from ADDCO. I emailed them a few months ago and got this response:


From: John W <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Cc:
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2012 3:46 PM
Subject: RE: Comments

xxxxx, The bars for the new 4-runner should be ready in March.

Thank you,
John Wright

 

[Qjake]

Agreed that a set of quality tires and Bilstein 5100's front (with your OEM coils) and rear will fulfill your needs.

If you are set on Overland Warehouse give This Thread a read for more info on the different kits they offer, or just give them a call.

Best of luck with which ever you choose!!

 

[Intruder]

1. Put on new tires. Since you are only on road get the Michelin MS. Perfect for on road and should solve 90% of your problems.
2. If not, then put on a set of Bilstein 5100 shocks. That should solve the other 10%.
3. If still unsatisified, THEN go the coilover route. Just because you read about some people doing something does not make it correct for you. Good luck.

This. Exactly this.

Getting an OW kit to improve on-road handling with no plans to take it off road is like using a sledgehammer on a finishing nail...

 

[Jtraskell]

Agree with 1engineer and Intruder. I would add, that whatever tire you get, if you decide to go with that suggestion, make sure it is at least a "C" load rating. I have "D" that does well for my purposes, but at least a c load will help tremendously.

 

[Foques]

what if one wanted to get a slight lift? Nothing too drastic, but a little something, with exact same reasons (barely any offroad) in mind?

I'm also concerned about the mileage.. wouldn't want it to drop too much..

 

[zidaro]

what if one wanted to get a slight lift? Nothing too drastic, but a little something, with exact same reasons (barely any offroad) in mind?

I'm also concerned about the mileage.. wouldn't want it to drop too much..

swap in a front set of bilsteins, using the stock springs, on the lowest lift setting. Little lift, heavier valving for a tighter feel. Keep the rear stock and you will have a level stance.

 

[Foques]

Hypotethically, wouldn't it be better to change front and rear?

I'm just trying to figure out this practice.. never went UP in a car, i've always went down before.. (yes, that's what she said)

 

[1engineer]

what if one wanted to get a slight lift? Nothing too drastic, but a little something, with exact same reasons (barely any offroad) in mind?

I'm also concerned about the mileage.. wouldn't want it to drop too much..

If you have the same concerns as the OP, AND you want a slight lift to make your truck more "visually" appealing to you, then follow the same steps as I outlined above with the addition of:

When adding the Bilstein 5100 shocks, adjust the fronts up to the 1st level and get the spacer kit for the Bilstein rear shocks. That should lift you up an inch or so and still give you, combined with the new tires, the performance you desire.

I personally do not modify my vehicles much beyond new tires and vent shades for these reasons:

For the last 20 or so years I drive about 30K/year miles.
I trade every 2-3 years, or right before 90K/miles whichever is first.
Aftermarket add ons add very little in real value for resale or trade.
I understand the physics of adding 2-3" to a vehicle's CG in terms of on road handling and geometry changes to axles.
I do go off road quite often, both for work and to haul my bike to trailheads. A stock 4Runner is more capable than 99% of the drivers driving them, both on road and off road.

That is not to say I don't like the looks of a lifted 4Runner with black wheels and the 285 Duratracs and the nifty bumpers. I think they look cool. Will I ever mod one like that? Probably not. I used to mod the hell out of my vehicles when I was younger. Yes, I had the lifted trucks running 35's and all kinds of other mods. I also found that modding for performance was never a 1:1 ratio. Usually one performance mod = two problems down the road. Also I learned that you tire quicker of a modded vehicle than a stock one. Learning lessons like that are only accomplished over time. If I were going to keep a vehicle for several years I would put a nice set of wheels, bilsteins on it and not much else. I will put on a good set of tires this spring - P rated. A lot of people complain about handling and nosedive on the 4Runners but after 30K miles these are non issues for me. Actually the 4Runner is very comfortable to drive and handles just fine. The problem is people are comparing the 4Runner's handling to a BMW or some other apples to oranges comparision.

 

[philsey]

swap in a front set of bilsteins, using the stock springs, on the lowest lift setting. Little lift, heavier valving for a tighter feel. Keep the rear stock and you will have a level stance.

Exactly this, although it does not make sense to me to put heavier-duty shocks on the front and leave the oems on the rear. The lowest setting is almost a perfect level.

 

[rickwol]

Hypotethically, wouldn't it be better to change front and rear?
I'm just trying to figure out this practice.. never went UP in a car, i've always went down before.. (yes, that's what she said)

I'd be interested in an answer/explanation to this as well. Would swapping out the rear shocks with the Bilsteins also allow me to put a bit more weight in the cargo area? Also, if I am only interested in correcting the nose dive (will never want any kind of lift whatsoever) and do not offroad much then would you still recommend the adjustable 5100 series or should I go with some other Bilstein?

 

[1engineer]

I'd be interested in an answer/explanation to this as well. Would swapping out the rear shocks with the Bilsteins also allow me to put a bit more weight in the cargo area? Also, if I am only interested in correcting the nose dive (will never want any kind of lift whatsoever) and do not offroad much then would you still recommend the adjustable 5100 series or should I go with some other Bilstein?

You would want to put the plain 5100 Bilsteins on the rear. Remember that shocks are for "dampening" the spring in compression or extension. A normal shock will not accomplish any lift. The shock will not enable you to carry extra weight in the rear. It will still sag. What it WILL do if you carry more weight is stiffen the spring as it extends and compresses, dampening the effect. Air bags are best to keep the "sagging" minimal.

A Bilstein 5100 fot the front has an extra piece: A collar that is adjustable that fits to the bottom of the spring. Adjusting this collar will effectively "lift" your vehicle's front end. I think it has three points of adjustment.

 

[JamesWhite]

James, are you running 32psi on stock tires?

Try adding about 5psi and then re-assess. You might be surprised.

I will try it. Thanks a lot!

 

[Foques]

thank you for the explanation, Engineer.

I agree with Philsey, though, leaving rear shocks OEM doesn't make much sense to me.

so, in order to accomplish this, i'd just need 4x5100 Bilsteins.. correct?