2nd Gen 4runner 4'' Suspension Lift Progress and Pictures

[redrunn]

Hey Team,

My 4runner had the classic rear sag, and I wanted to lift anyway.

My decision to go for a 4'' lift was primarily cost. The price for regular rear springs, vs 4'' lift Pro Comps was the same. I bought a set 4 Pro Comp ES3000 shocks as well. I was really torn between these and the SkyJacker Soft Ride 7000s. Bought the parts at 4wheelparts. Be aware that there are a tonne of negative reviews about this company. I chose to go ahead, simply because there is a physical location 40 mins from my home. Something is better than nothing.

For the front end, I sourced ball joint spacers, diff drops, and sway bar drops from ebay. I've heard the torsion bar adjuster bolts can be very tricky, and unpleasant. They aren't cheap either. I might order a set of them, but well see how things go tomorrow.

I'm still waiting on the parts. I have a master cylinder, CV shaft, brake caliper and pads going in tomorrow. Once I start the build, I'll post lots of photos and a DIY.

 

[redrunn]

pictures, problems, and solutions.

ok guys, been a while since i posted. not sure if anyone follows this, but its been quite a ride getting the rig lifted. THIS ISN'T A FULL DIY. JUST RANDOM USEFUL INFO FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING THE SAME.

I chose to cherry pick from the procomp 4'' lift kits for second gen 4runners.

Parts List:
ES3000 Series Shock Absorber
Part # 318514
2 CDN$ 105.98

ES3000 Series Shock Absorber
Part # 326513

2 CDN$ 105.98

4 Inch Lift Rear Coil Springs
Part # 57490
1 CDN$ 114.99

Ball joint spacers, sway bar and diff drop in the front. + Upper Ball joints from PartS____


THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW:

If you bought a truck that is local to Eastern Canada, right in the salt belt, think twice about lifting. You will be dealing with rust left and right. Do not start work UNTIL you have an angle grinder, ratchet straps and upper ball joints. You will have to cut off the tops of all four shocks if you are replacing them. Cotter pins will be hell to remove.

THE ACTUAL LIFT:

If you do go for the procomp 4'' springs, know that they will not go in easy. I had to get my safety done, and the shop said that they'll fit the rear springs and shocks in, as long as I help the mechanic. Safety certification + rear shocks and springs for $250. Thank god I went this route.

1: We had to torch off the top bolts of both the shocks, it was hell.
2: We needed 3 coil spring compressors per ProComp spring to get them in
3: While I went to my house to get my own compressors (he only had two), the mechanic thought he'd be smart and disconnect the upper trailing arms, lower trailing arms, and the track bar (panhard). DO NOT DO THIS. You will have to use ratchet straps to pull everything back in.
5. Expect brake lines to crack if they are rusted. Buy a roll of hose and flaring kit in advance. The threads are 10x1mm, and the line is 3/16ths.

PICTURES with TIPS:

I planned to do a full write up, but with the dirt, rust and grease I had to deal with, i couldn't keep picking up my phone.

BEFORE YOU INSTALL BALL JOINT SPACERS, you have to wedge something between the upper control arm, and right behind the bump stop. If you skip this step, grinding out the UCA and fitting the ball joint itself is impossible without additional steps. You will end up having trouble popping the cv shaft back in. A large 1 1/4 socket works perfectly. Just slip it in behind the rubber bump stop under the UCA.

I had to trim a lot of metal with a grinder to clear my stock tires, as well as the procomp shock absorbers. These absorbers work well for bracket lifts, but not for our application.


View image: IMG 20150722 120903[1] Thoroughly grind both said areas. Even with all this grinding, I have a scary clearance of maybe a 1/8'' .

View image: adf Truck when I bought it. Iconic rear sag. Bought from first owner. They ended up neglecting it badly over the last few years.

View image: IMG 20150720 160249 Rear with everything disconnect. Don't do this please. All you need is to disconnect the sway bars, release tension from the brake lines, and compress the springs as much as possible. This route is a headache and won't get you anywhere.

View image: IMG 20150720 192759 Procomps dirty as f*. They are the lowest quality shocks I have ever come across. The paint quality was dirt. Bottoms of every shock were unpainted where a hanger was used to hold them up. Just horrible finishing. They ride firm and fine, but if they could care less about the finish, I suspect their quality. Use a spray can to spray them your color of choice before installation. Don't worry about priming and such, as the paint is nothing close to mirror finish.

View image: IMG 20150721 135353 After the rear was lifted. Handling was fun.

View image: IMG 20150722 184857 after the ball joint spacers and sway bar drop. still needed about 2 inches in the front. sorry for the bad focus.

View image: IMG 20150726 164555 I thought my t-bars would have seized bolts, but I was suprised to find that mine were free, after days of penetrating in advance. It was pleasant to crank them up. Gave the truck a much needed firm ride. I hadn't leveled it yet.

View image: IMG 20150726 180133 Comparison to friend's tracker

View image: IMG 20150728 212047 After leveling, and a trunk full of tools.

LAST TIP: You need to bang the studs out of the old ball joints. If you're ball joints look like they haven't been changed in 8 years, they will not bang out, just trust me. I had to get two last minute ball joints from P-Src at 50 bucks each. Get a grease gun and fill em up BEFORE you stick them in. The ball joint spacers make greasing a hard task without a flex hose.


GOODLUCK GUYS, sorry for the long post. Just random info for anyone who is considering the lift.

 

[MT Tatman]

It's always more work than you expect, but always worth the effort.

 

[redrunn]

yep

It's always more work than you expect, but always worth the effort.

You learn a lot along the way as well.

 

[redrunn]

updates

Got the Diff Dropped: Lord Jesus, these jobs are never ever as easy as the instructions given by the suppliers. The diff drop was a bit more than an inch. it was unconventional and you have to deal with the lovely parabolic path of the diff itself. So the diff has 3 mounting points, two that cradle the diff to the chassis, and one swing mount (just like rear trailing arms) to the frame of the truck in the front. The diff drop is just two fat cylindrical spacers that go between the cradles to bring the diff down, consequently lowering your CV angles to stock.

PROBLEMS: 1: You need pry bars and a lot of elbow grease to move the diff into place. The parabolic path constituted by the swing mount at the front, means that the cradle mounts will move away from the chassis mount points, as the diff is lowered. What you have to do is pry the diff into place while jiggling the bolt through the mounts. My solution was to have my buddy down there with me. We both got on creepers and wrestled it into place. My diff drop was more than an inch, this is unconventional and not recommended. Stick to an inch, the next problem will solidify this.

PROBLEM: 2: The swing arm eventually hits the frame as it is being lowered. To get these unconventional drops in, we had to really pry on the diff. The swing arm mount does hit the frame. When you floor it on take off, and the front of the truck jerks upwards, there is a metal on metal knock sound. I gotta check it out, but I am pretty sure this is what it is. Nothing some grinding won't fix, but if you are planning a diff drop, it is not just r/r-ing two bolts and done.

Set aside at least 3 hours for everything to be done, IF you are dropping it a bit more than an inch. Stay within an inch or less though.

TIE RODS: Basic stuff. Instead of torching away at your old rods, just order new ones from rockauto. They are dirt cheap on there, and ship plenty fast. IMO, just order everything ( i wish i did). 4 Ball joints, pittman arm, idler arm, inner and outer tie rods and tie rod adjusters will all together cost about 100 bucks. You can't go wrong, just gitt err done. Be sure to have both, a tie rod puller, as well as a ball joint remover to make your life easy. You might think that a hammer, torch and pickle fork will work, but just save yourself all the hassle. Some of these trucks are very lightly driven for years (like mine), and are still on their original tie rods and ball joints ( like mine). No pickle fork and hammer will get them out without wrecking other components.

The cv angles were the cause of most of the heavy vibes. My truck had the front jacked all the way to the stoppers. I relaxed the front and took measurements after the diff drop to level it out. This also fixed the problem of the UCA rubbing the tire. An alignment will still go a long way. If anyone knows any GOOD, and cheap spots in Scarborough ON, please let me know. I remember I went to a place in Etobicoke to align my lowered e39 for $40. Shops want $100 to align the front end alone on the runner.

[MENTION=49649]KidVermicious[/MENTION] recommended removing the front cross member bolt for the diff. this is definitely a better way to drop the diff.

 

[redrunn]

Vibrations hopefully going to be fixed.

Hey guys,

So I bit the bullet and set out to find a panhard drop as well as some adjustment for the 4 links in the rear. All the IFS kits have some sort of modifications of the links, probably due to bad angles and vibration.

Rough Country simply uses a shortened upper control arm x2. (easiest)
Pro Comp and everyone else use relocation brackets for all 4 links. (much more time consuming.

I went ahead and got the pro comp one, just because I had procomp explorer rear springs. You can give summit racing a call for the parts. Remember to ask for them as replacement parts. They are on back order, expected in 3 weeks.

91-1204 - 53.99 Lower bracket
91-1272- 37.99 Upper bracket
91-1268- 34.99 Panhard drop

Rough Country has em stock and can ship right away.
100 for two upper rear links.


Hope this helps anyone. Cheers.

 

[BigRyan1986]

You learn a lot along the way as well.

Wow I have a 4"procomp lift on my runner and yours sounds like it was way more of a pain in the ass to put in. From the sounds of things you pieced together your front lift. did you go this way instead of just getting the full kit to save money? Im just interested in knowing. I pulled my lift from a parts truck so i didn't buy mine new since it was pretty much drop brackets and rear springs.

 

[Dropzone]

the funky handling of a lifted rear coil sprung truck is why I am going to leafs on my 94. Plus I am recycling parts from my 81 so it is cheaper

 

[BigRyan1986]

the funky handling of a lifted rear coil sprung truck is why I am going to leafs on my 94. Plus I am recycling parts from my 81 so it is cheaper

Mine still handles pretty good. I am going to go to the 63's though

 

[redrunn]

yep

Wow I have a 4"procomp lift on my runner and yours sounds like it was way more of a pain in the ass to put in. From the sounds of things you pieced together your front lift. did you go this way instead of just getting the full kit to save money? Im just interested in knowing. I pulled my lift from a parts truck so i didn't buy mine new since it was pretty much drop brackets and rear springs.

hey, yeah exactly.

i just wanted to do just what was needed to lift. what I didn't realize is, the kits do just that. It is exactly what is needed to lift. the cheapest kit you can buy is the rough country, but I see so many rough country mall crawlers that I just didn't want to say I have one on my truck (i know i know)...

So yeah, I just sat on the computer, and spent hours figuring things out. One thing I realized is that 4crawler's panhard drop brackets are just PROCOMP ones that have been altered. No one should waste their money on an expensive 4crawler one, the procomp one is like 35 bucks for a 4 inch. Just cut and weld 1/4'' tabs to extend if you need it.

Thats really cool that the drop bracket and rear springs did it for you. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but my u-joints are fine. I have heavy vibes from 20-60, and from 120+ on acceleration, and a heavy grinding noise on decel.

Anyways, putting these brackets the trailing arm brackets in is going to be a pain. Wish me luck guys.

 

[BigRyan1986]

hey, yeah exactly.

i just wanted to do just what was needed to lift. what I didn't realize is, the kits do just that. It is exactly what is needed to lift. the cheapest kit you can buy is the rough country, but I see so many rough country mall crawlers that I just didn't want to say I have one on my truck (i know i know)...

So yeah, I just sat on the computer, and spent hours figuring things out. One thing I realized is that 4crawler's panhard drop brackets are just PROCOMP ones that have been altered. No one should waste their money on an expensive 4crawler one, the procomp one is like 35 bucks for a 4 inch. Just cut and weld 1/4'' tabs to extend if you need it.

Thats really cool that the drop bracket and rear springs did it for you. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but my u-joints are fine. I have heavy vibes from 20-60, and from 120+ on acceleration, and a heavy grinding noise on decel.

Anyways, putting these brackets the trailing arm brackets in is going to be a pain. Wish me luck guys.

Good luck. Sounds like you are having way more issues than i did. I just unbolted everything and started putting it all back to gether loose then in got the tires on and tightened it all down once i had i t on the ground. I did my entire rear by my self in a weekend. Check out my pics in my build thread and see if they might help you out any. Also if you have any questions just ask.

 

[redrunn]

Good luck. Sounds like you are having way more issues than i did. I just unbolted everything and started putting it all back to gether loose then in got the tires on and tightened it all down once i had i t on the ground. I did my entire rear by my self in a weekend. Check out my pics in my build thread and see if they might help you out any. Also if you have any questions just ask.

Thanks budd! I'm going to look through your build. I haven't touched it yet. I need to go buy fasteners, and its thanksgiving here today, so I'm gonna get em tomorrow.

I'm gonna run through your thread. I'll pm you if anything.

Thanks again!

 

[BigRyan1986]

Thanks budd! I'm going to look through your build. I haven't touched it yet. I need to go buy fasteners, and its thanksgiving here today, so I'm gonna get em tomorrow.

I'm gonna run through your thread. I'll pm you if anything.

Thanks again!

No problem glad to be able to help. Enjoy the turkey. We still have like a month or month and a half :mmph: Where are you in Canada? I am wondering if you are close to any of our car club guys is why i ask.

 

[redrunn]

No problem glad to be able to help. Enjoy the turkey. We still have like a month or month and a half :mmph: Where are you in Canada? I am wondering if you are close to any of our car club guys is why i ask.

I'm in Toronto, Ontario. Know any good ones around? None of my friends work on vehicles, so it's always a solo effort. Would be cool to join a club.

 

[BigRyan1986]

I'm in Toronto, Ontario. Know any good ones around? None of my friends work on vehicles, so it's always a solo effort. Would be cool to join a club.

Ill have my wife ask if there is a chapter close to you. Im not a facebooker thats her domain. Ill let you know tomorrow

 

[BigRyan1986]

I'm in Toronto, Ontario. Know any good ones around? None of my friends work on vehicles, so it's always a solo effort. Would be cool to join a club.

What color is your runner? I am the only one in the club that has a lifted anything i believe let alone that goes wheeling. It would be cool to see another 2nd gen in the club. Even funnier if our runners are the same color

 

[redrunn]

What color is your runner? I am the only one in the club that has a lifted anything i believe let alone that goes wheeling. It would be cool to see another 2nd gen in the club. Even funnier if our runners are the same color

RED! :nod:

 

[BigRyan1986]

RED! :nod:

LOL Nice

 

[redrunn]

LOL Nice

Hey Man,

I was wondering if you could help me out. I got under the 4runner today. I noticed that my passenger side upper link was bent, and my driver's side was straight. I have no idea if this is a stock method for some kind of clearance, or I bent it while wheeling or something. I might be able to heat it up and beat it down, but I wanted to ask you if yours was like this as well. I tried looking up photos but couldn't quite find it.

Long story short- Could you tell me if your upper links out of your 4-link rear has the passenger side bent, and the driver's side straight?

 

[BigRyan1986]

Hey Man,

I was wondering if you could help me out. I got under the 4runner today. I noticed that my passenger side upper link was bent, and my driver's side was straight. I have no idea if this is a stock method for some kind of clearance, or I bent it while wheeling or something. I might be able to heat it up and beat it down, but I wanted to ask you if yours was like this as well. I tried looking up photos but couldn't quite find it.

Long story short- Could you tell me if your upper links out of your 4-link rear has the passenger side bent, and the driver's side straight?

I think they are straight. Ill take a look when i go out to lunch. I'm pretty sure they should be straight. If you cant bend it back or find one let me know i have an extra set id sell you.