Hello,
Well I finally got my 15 posts and I would like to share my experience with you guys with my lift and install. I picked up my 3rd gen runner in February, and I knew it wouldn't remain stock for long. I had a 2nd gen 4runner that I really enjoyed but I had to sell it. Now that I had some extra cash I wanted to get another runner, but wanted one a little newer with the 5vze. I purchased it Super Bowl Saturday in February bone stock, with 270k miles on it, and the jrney begins.
pretty much the way i bought it except with the snowboard rack & minus the running boards. Oh and that notorious rear end sag.
Before I got to the fun stuff (suspension) I had to take care of some maintenance so within a week of buying her i did new timing belt, water pump, tensioner, thermostat, new radiator, new belts, tranny service, full tune up, valve cover gaskets, and a smog (CA).
After I got All that stuff out of the way it was time to start reading (a lot), researching, and trying to figure out what setup i wanted to go with. When I was doing research there were a lot of write-ups that had 3 inch lifts for 3rd gen 4runners, but it seemed as if everything was very vague and I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. So I started calling toytec and wheelers offroad. They are both very helpful by the way. However toytec can be a little biased because they want to sell you their setup. I called them told them I wanted bilsteins 5100 all around and they kept trying to sell me their boss shocks and springs which I didn't want. They may be good, but when I asked about warranty on their boss shocks they said 1 year, and bilstiens are lifetime warranty and have an awesome reputation. So I contacted Wheeler's Offroad and they were extremely helpful and got me exactly what I wanted for what I was doing. This is not my daily driver so I wanted something a little aggressive but be able to daily it if i wanted/needed to.
What I decided to go with was:
Front:
-2x Tundra bilstein 5100's
-2x Wheeler's/Eibach 3 inch lift coils. ( They are the same as the Toytec/Eibach 3 inch coils, they just say wheeler's on it and are black instead of red. Oh and like 20 bucks cheaper.)
Rear:
- 2x bilstein 5100's
- 2x ome 890 coils
Misc:
- extended brake lines front & rear
- energy suspension front sway bar & rack/pinion bushings
- spidertrax wheel spacers (front & rear)
- Toyota OEM upper/lower balljoints, inner/outer tie rod ends
- Toyota OEM Reboot kit, (Rebooted both axles and did inner boot extend mod on OEM Axles)
packages started arriving, and got to know my ups driver pretty well, lol
Now time to start wrenchin!!!
Where the runner stayed for about 2 weeks
I don't have a press or ball joint removal tool set so 1st thing I did was remove the front knuckles on both sides and took them to my local mechanic shop to press out the old ball joints and press in the new ones.
After I got the knuckles back with the new ball joints installed it was time to start putting the new front end together !
I asked Wheelers for some swag and they came through!
While I was waiting for my LBJ I took my tires off my wheels since I was going to use the stock wheels and cleaned and painted them!
I also rebooted my stock axles with this rebuild kit
I got those projects done and I was still waiting on my LBJ so I moved on to the rear. It took me a full day to complete the rear, which would have took me a few hours but the rear shocks are A PITA to get to (the Upper Mount Nut). I had to grind through the shock to remove it.
new rear shocks!
New springs vs. Old springs
Rear end done, my baby Khaleesi can't wait to ride in the runner!
With the rear end all done it was time to get some rubber for my rig. I was looking at the cooper stt pro. They look great, and have good reviews so I went to the new America's Tire and talked to them and they pointed me in the direction of cooper mtp's. They are almost the same as the stt pro's but it has 2 ply sidewall instead of 3 and has a little bit different tread pattern and about a couple hundred dollars cheaper, so I gave them a try. I'm not planning to do a lot of rock crawling.
Almost Done!
Finally got my LBJ's in and installed within an hour
Made an Appt. to get an alignment the next day.
UPDATE:
I got my runner back on Friday and took it straight home and went to work. I drove it the next day and I absolutely hated the tires I got. I understand that mud terrains are going to have some road noise but these were the loudest tires I've ridden in! Like I said before, it isn't my daily so I wanted something a little aggressive, but these tires were really really really really loud. It took a lot of weights to balance and at highway speeds the tires vibrated like crazy. When I slowed down they hummed very loud from 20 mph to stopped. I went back to America's Tires and told them I was unhappy with my tires so told them I wanted some different tires. The tires I came down to were Toyo mt's or bfg km2's. I've had both of these tires before and loved them. I ended up going with some KM2's and ordered them up! I had the km2's on my old runner and loved them, Toyos are also a great tire but I think the toyos are too heavy for our yotas. Took about a week for km2's to get here, got them installed Saturday and couldn't be happier!
This is how it sits today
before and after
I am extremely happy with how it came out. It rides amazingly smooth, the smoothest lifted vehicle I have ever ridden in. +1 Bilstein
Came out exactly how I wanted it to sit! no rake, no huge gaps, perfect in my opinion.
Wheels stick out perfectly with the fender flares using 1.25 spidertrax spacers.
I got 285/75/16 BFG KM2's
This whole project took about 2 weeks to do, wrenchin a few hours after work and on the weekends, all by myself.
The lift with brake lines cost just about $1000
The Tires cost about $1200 with road hazard/ lifetime rotation and balance.
Wheel Spacers $200
Misc. Tools, fluids, alignment, ball joints/tie rod ends, ball joints pressed out, Beer and food right around $600
Right around $3000 for full lift and tires doing the work myself.
Paid $3400 for the 4runner, and $600 for maintenance performed at first.
Total amount I have in my rig including what I paid for it is $7000.
I am extremely happy, and am looking forward to using it for years to come. Plans for the future include lockers/gears, sliders/bumpers, roof rack, full size spare.
I hope this thread helps someone out!
I have to say thanks to [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] (Timmy the Toolman)'s videos on youtube, the best tutorial videos for sure!
Well I finally got my 15 posts and I would like to share my experience with you guys with my lift and install. I picked up my 3rd gen runner in February, and I knew it wouldn't remain stock for long. I had a 2nd gen 4runner that I really enjoyed but I had to sell it. Now that I had some extra cash I wanted to get another runner, but wanted one a little newer with the 5vze. I purchased it Super Bowl Saturday in February bone stock, with 270k miles on it, and the jrney begins.
pretty much the way i bought it except with the snowboard rack & minus the running boards. Oh and that notorious rear end sag.
Before I got to the fun stuff (suspension) I had to take care of some maintenance so within a week of buying her i did new timing belt, water pump, tensioner, thermostat, new radiator, new belts, tranny service, full tune up, valve cover gaskets, and a smog (CA).
After I got All that stuff out of the way it was time to start reading (a lot), researching, and trying to figure out what setup i wanted to go with. When I was doing research there were a lot of write-ups that had 3 inch lifts for 3rd gen 4runners, but it seemed as if everything was very vague and I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. So I started calling toytec and wheelers offroad. They are both very helpful by the way. However toytec can be a little biased because they want to sell you their setup. I called them told them I wanted bilsteins 5100 all around and they kept trying to sell me their boss shocks and springs which I didn't want. They may be good, but when I asked about warranty on their boss shocks they said 1 year, and bilstiens are lifetime warranty and have an awesome reputation. So I contacted Wheeler's Offroad and they were extremely helpful and got me exactly what I wanted for what I was doing. This is not my daily driver so I wanted something a little aggressive but be able to daily it if i wanted/needed to.
What I decided to go with was:
Front:
-2x Tundra bilstein 5100's
-2x Wheeler's/Eibach 3 inch lift coils. ( They are the same as the Toytec/Eibach 3 inch coils, they just say wheeler's on it and are black instead of red. Oh and like 20 bucks cheaper.)
Rear:
- 2x bilstein 5100's
- 2x ome 890 coils
Misc:
- extended brake lines front & rear
- energy suspension front sway bar & rack/pinion bushings
- spidertrax wheel spacers (front & rear)
- Toyota OEM upper/lower balljoints, inner/outer tie rod ends
- Toyota OEM Reboot kit, (Rebooted both axles and did inner boot extend mod on OEM Axles)
packages started arriving, and got to know my ups driver pretty well, lol
Now time to start wrenchin!!!
Where the runner stayed for about 2 weeks
I don't have a press or ball joint removal tool set so 1st thing I did was remove the front knuckles on both sides and took them to my local mechanic shop to press out the old ball joints and press in the new ones.
After I got the knuckles back with the new ball joints installed it was time to start putting the new front end together !
I asked Wheelers for some swag and they came through!
While I was waiting for my LBJ I took my tires off my wheels since I was going to use the stock wheels and cleaned and painted them!
I also rebooted my stock axles with this rebuild kit
I got those projects done and I was still waiting on my LBJ so I moved on to the rear. It took me a full day to complete the rear, which would have took me a few hours but the rear shocks are A PITA to get to (the Upper Mount Nut). I had to grind through the shock to remove it.
new rear shocks!
New springs vs. Old springs
Rear end done, my baby Khaleesi can't wait to ride in the runner!
With the rear end all done it was time to get some rubber for my rig. I was looking at the cooper stt pro. They look great, and have good reviews so I went to the new America's Tire and talked to them and they pointed me in the direction of cooper mtp's. They are almost the same as the stt pro's but it has 2 ply sidewall instead of 3 and has a little bit different tread pattern and about a couple hundred dollars cheaper, so I gave them a try. I'm not planning to do a lot of rock crawling.
Almost Done!
Finally got my LBJ's in and installed within an hour
Made an Appt. to get an alignment the next day.
UPDATE:
I got my runner back on Friday and took it straight home and went to work. I drove it the next day and I absolutely hated the tires I got. I understand that mud terrains are going to have some road noise but these were the loudest tires I've ridden in! Like I said before, it isn't my daily so I wanted something a little aggressive, but these tires were really really really really loud. It took a lot of weights to balance and at highway speeds the tires vibrated like crazy. When I slowed down they hummed very loud from 20 mph to stopped. I went back to America's Tires and told them I was unhappy with my tires so told them I wanted some different tires. The tires I came down to were Toyo mt's or bfg km2's. I've had both of these tires before and loved them. I ended up going with some KM2's and ordered them up! I had the km2's on my old runner and loved them, Toyos are also a great tire but I think the toyos are too heavy for our yotas. Took about a week for km2's to get here, got them installed Saturday and couldn't be happier!
This is how it sits today
before and after
I am extremely happy with how it came out. It rides amazingly smooth, the smoothest lifted vehicle I have ever ridden in. +1 Bilstein
Came out exactly how I wanted it to sit! no rake, no huge gaps, perfect in my opinion.
Wheels stick out perfectly with the fender flares using 1.25 spidertrax spacers.
I got 285/75/16 BFG KM2's
This whole project took about 2 weeks to do, wrenchin a few hours after work and on the weekends, all by myself.
The lift with brake lines cost just about $1000
The Tires cost about $1200 with road hazard/ lifetime rotation and balance.
Wheel Spacers $200
Misc. Tools, fluids, alignment, ball joints/tie rod ends, ball joints pressed out, Beer and food right around $600
Right around $3000 for full lift and tires doing the work myself.
Paid $3400 for the 4runner, and $600 for maintenance performed at first.
Total amount I have in my rig including what I paid for it is $7000.
I am extremely happy, and am looking forward to using it for years to come. Plans for the future include lockers/gears, sliders/bumpers, roof rack, full size spare.
I hope this thread helps someone out!
I have to say thanks to [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] (Timmy the Toolman)'s videos on youtube, the best tutorial videos for sure!
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