4th Gen Suspension Options/FAQ

[sportschiro07]

Morphyne,... good point.. hadn't thought about that one..
lets take out the heavy front and rear bumper.. what would you use to lift your Runner to 3" ?

 

[sportschiro07]

3" lift

Just noticed this morning that my Runner already has the Bilstein 5100 front and back.. saves me some money that way.. but I still have the 1.5" height on the back than the front.. I guess the guy i got it from liked it that way.

Just to confirm: there is no way to reset the front shocks to 2.5 mark without removing the whole thing right...? due to coil pressure etc.. etc...


.. to add to this post... since i have the 5100 already.. would i need to change to a different coil to help with the weight if i want to add a bumper.?. will not be adding winch.

 

[alia176]

So I'm planning on throwing a 3" Toytec lift on my 05 SR5 and had a few questions. The lift is just gonna be 3 inch spacers on the front and then 2 inches added on the back with rear coil springs. I talked to a few mechanics around my area and a majority of them said that not only would it ride pretty bad. But eventually my upper control arms are going to see some issues if I didn't replace those and my shocks to after market. I was wondering if any one has this lift or if anyone agrees with what they had to say about that.

I'm sure all of you have seen this video but it's a nice review of spacer usage and such

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOCtx6mM-u8&feature=youtu.be

 

[morphious]

Great thread and very good information sharing on here gang thank you! I just finished my install of OME 885 coils and Bilstein 5100 struts up front set and second notch from the top. Also did my rear with Procomp FJ coils and Bilstein 5100 in the back. I really like how it turned out as the handling is great! Here are a couple pics of the metamorphosis of my 4th gen! there is first a before pic with only a front 3" spacer kit and then after the lift installation. Then finally with the Procomp rims and tires I installed as well. Again... many thanks to all of you who have great input that can help someone like me to install my own lift. Much mahalos from Hawaii!

Oh...one weird thing might be worthwhile exploring is that I had 35" from ground to fender in the front with the 3" motofab spacer and the stock struts and coils. Of course it was 32" before the spacer. Now with the spacer removed and the lift installed I have got 39" with the same sport rims and tires. I'm looking at a 7" difference. Out of the norm? I'm the 2nd owner of the vehicle and the coils and struts were replaced before I got the car. (cop car) The springs and struts were in decent shape and I've saved them in case I ever want to go back stock for whatever reasons. I am glad to have gotten a 7" lift with this set up when compared to the stock set I had on there to begin with. Alignment is scheduled and off roading will commence shortly!

Are you sure the coil perches for the front 5100's are set properly and not upside down? Seems like you have a lot of lift and you are not set at max. See below:

WRONG WAY, UPSIDE DOWN:

CORRECT WAY:

 

[Brian3676]

Anyone have Radflo rear springs on there 4Runner? I have them on order with my 2.5 extended coils for the front, but jusy saw you can run metaltech long travel progressive rate springs even with standard travel shocks.

Thinking maybe I should call MT and switch my order up as people seem to love the MT long travle springs. I am also thinking the progressive rate would be nicer for daily driving as well....

 

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Looking for some advice on my proposed suspension.

I have new Bilstein 5100s to install, now I need springs. I bought a set of Taco front springs still mounted as a coilover, and for the life of me, we can't get them apart. So I'm just chalking it up as a sign and going OME springs for the front.

Plan is get OME885 for the front (V8 + winch/mount + bull bar). I have roughly 80-100lbs additional with all that, which is why I'm not opting for the 886s.

In the rear, I have FJ coils that I purchased, though with the 885s, these will probably be about 1-1.5" short, where I will put in Daystar spacers to bring it around.

Sooo:

F: OME 885 (net lift 2.5-3")
R: FJ coils + Daystar 1.5 (net lift 2"ish)

That should level it out, or maybe leave a little front rake, correct? Other option is get OME895 for the rear, but I'd like to avoid that for now if possible. If the FJ rears end up being too tall, I'll keep the stock springs and just use the spacers.

FWIW, my measurements came out with the rear 1.5" higher than the front.

Thanks ahead of time!
wtcnbrwndo4u

 

[Hawaiian Hillbilly]

Are you sure the coil perches for the front 5100's are set properly and not upside down? Seems like you have a lot of lift and you are not set at max. See below:

Aloha Morpheus! Yes 100% installed correctly. I pulled it once after initial installation to readjust the bilsteins to the level its at. So I cant figure it out either besides the possibility of my oem springs and shocks being completely shot. But they were in good condition as this is our daily driver. Lucky I suppose? lol Ill post some pics of the front springs once I get them. Great thread and all the help in here is freaking AWESOME!

 

[Hawaiian Hillbilly]

Looking for some advice on my proposed suspension.

I have new Bilstein 5100s to install, now I need springs. I bought a set of Taco front springs still mounted as a coilover, and for the life of me, we can't get them apart. So I'm just chalking it up as a sign and going OME springs for the front.

Plan is get OME885 for the front (V8 + winch/mount + bull bar). I have roughly 80-100lbs additional with all that, which is why I'm not opting for the 886s.

In the rear, I have FJ coils that I purchased, though with the 885s, these will probably be about 1-1.5" short, where I will put in Daystar spacers to bring it around.

Sooo:

F: OME 885 (net lift 2.5-3")
R: FJ coils + Daystar 1.5 (net lift 2"ish)

That should level it out, or maybe leave a little front rake, correct? Other option is get OME895 for the rear, but I'd like to avoid that for now if possible. If the FJ rears end up being too tall, I'll keep the stock springs and just use the spacers.

FWIW, my measurements came out with the rear 1.5" higher than the front.

Thanks ahead of time!
wtcnbrwndo4u

I absolutely love the ome 885 coils (amazon) and bilstein 5100 combo on the front end of my 04 v6 runner. I would suggest going to the second highest level on the bilsteins as the top level was too much recoil and was kinda rough on the spine...lol

As for your rear suspension...its a tough call because many posts ive read show different people with the same stuff get different lift heights due to oem or stock springs and shocks which are shot and therefore sagging.

What I did in the rear is order a set of procomp fj lift coils (amazon) to go with the bilstein 5100 rear shocks. the lift ended up really stable and leveled everything within 1/4" to 1/2" variance in height from the ground up in height all the way around. I mostly did this because I carry a good amount of weight in the rear with my eclipse 15" sub woofer and box approx. 75lbs and supplies when traveling/wheeling with the grandkids. I am "considering" a 1" spacer in the rear to compensate for the times I may carry (extra) loads but we shall see. Its holding up well as is. The stock fj coils you mentioned in the rear (may not) be enough even with the coil spring spacers to level out your ride. You may be very close though. The procomp fj coils I got from amazon was priced well and worked great for my needs. I am cheap like that! lol But I wanted something that would be good on and off road without sacrificing thousands on a highly priced lift kit which although is much better in my opinion...just too expensive for me. Amazon became my best friend for a while...lol I prolly have roughly $600 to $800 invested in the DIY (amazon) lift I did including the 5100 bilsteins and coil springs front and back.

keep us posted on your lift please. its always good to hear of and see others builds! mahalos from Hawaii!

 

[Hawaiian Hillbilly]

Are you sure the coil perches for the front 5100's are set properly and not upside down? Seems like you have a lot of lift and you are not set at max. See below:

WRONG WAY, UPSIDE DOWN:

Heres a pic of my old man emu 885 coil spring and bilstein 5100 up front. Sorry I'm really not good with a computer and photos this pic is sideways. But shows the correct placement of the lower plate on the bilsteins. I got some dust boots to install instead of the original bilstein boots. Happy wheelin everyone!

 

[04run&gun]

Great thread and very good information sharing on here gang thank you! I just finished my install of OME 885 coils and Bilstein 5100 struts up front set and second notch from the top. Also did my rear with Procomp FJ coils and Bilstein 5100 in the back. I really like how it turned out as the handling is great! Here are a couple pics of the metamorphosis of my 4th gen! there is first a before pic with only a front 3" spacer kit and then after the lift installation. Then finally with the Procomp rims and tires I installed as well. Again... many thanks to all of you who have great input that can help someone like me to install my own lift. Much mahalos from Hawaii!

Oh...one weird thing might be worthwhile exploring is that I had 35" from ground to fender in the front with the 3" motofab spacer and the stock struts and coils. Of course it was 32" before the spacer. Now with the spacer removed and the lift installed I have got 39" with the same sport rims and tires. I'm looking at a 7" difference. Out of the norm? I'm the 2nd owner of the vehicle and the coils and struts were replaced before I got the car. (cop car) The springs and struts were in decent shape and I've saved them in case I ever want to go back stock for whatever reasons. I am glad to have gotten a 7" lift with this set up when compared to the stock set I had on there to begin with. Alignment is scheduled and off roading will commence shortly!

So are your procomp fj rears +2 or 1.5 of lift how stiff are they? What size tires are you running?

 

[Hawaiian Hillbilly]

So are your procomp fj rears +2 or 1.5 of lift how stiff are they? What size tires are you running?

Aloha friend....yes the fj springs are advertised as +3"....for my purposes I like them a lot. I needed something that was not too stiff due to back and neck issues (getting older) but could handle a bit more weight than the 4runner lift coils depending on brand. The springs come in the "cheap" fj front and rear lift kit with shocks too on amazon. I found the pro comp springs listed separately (part# 57492) and went for it. the fj "kit" is not something I would run as a whole. Because of bad reports on the shocks as they are said too be stiff and ride really hard. So the bilsteins fixed that for my rear without compromising height gains. I run either stock 17" sport wheels with 265/65/17 or steel pro comp 285/75/16 tires. Rear fits ok but front fender skirts will need trimming. Thinking of adding a body lift to remedy this.

 

[smorabito19]

Does anyone know how much it should be to get 2 struts up front and 2 absorbers installed in the rear? I have the bilstein 5100 adjustable shocks and I was just told by a trax tires that I'm looking at $475.00


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[04run&gun]

Aloha friend....yes the fj springs are advertised as +3"....for my purposes I like them a lot. I needed something that was not too stiff due to back and neck issues (getting older) but could handle a bit more weight than the 4runner lift coils depending on brand. The springs come in the "cheap" fj front and rear lift kit with shocks too on amazon. I found the pro comp springs listed separately (part# 57492) and went for it. the fj "kit" is not something I would run as a whole. Because of bad reports on the shocks as they are said too be stiff and ride really hard. So the bilsteins fixed that for my rear without compromising height gains. I run either stock 17" sport wheels with 265/65/17 or steel pro comp 285/75/16 tires. Rear fits ok but front fender skirts will need trimming. Thinking of adding a body lift to remedy this.

No way, +3? Wow. Your front must be at like 4.5 then. Is there any way you could get a pic of your cv axles? I'm curious to see the angles . Nevertheless the pic with black rims looks great. I'm going for that stance but with 885s with bilsteins on the lowest setting. Unless a diff drop will cure any harsh cv Angeles.

 

[Hawaiian Hillbilly]

No way, +3? Wow. Your front must be at like 4.5 then. Is there any way you could get a pic of your cv axles? I'm curious to see the angles . Nevertheless the pic with black rims looks great. I'm going for that stance but with 885s with bilsteins on the lowest setting. Unless a diff drop will cure any harsh cv Angeles.

Heres some pics of the measurements with the stock shocks and springs with the motofab 1.5" spacer (3"net lift) where I had just over 35" from ground to fender. Then second pic is of the old man emu 885 and bilstein 5100 lift installed (no spacer) showing just over 39" from ground to fender. which is very weird as the original stock height before spacer was 33" so im looking at a gain of roughly 6" in front WHICH IS OBSCENE. The next pics show the cv angles both passenger and drivers side after lift installation. I apologize for the crappy pictures as I'm trying to learn to edit my pics with cropping and resizing. ALOHA FROM HAWAII GANG!

 

[t-man]

Heres some pics of the measurements with the stock shocks and springs with the motofab 1.5" spacer (3"net lift) where I had just over 35" from ground to fender. Then second pic is of the old man emu 885 and bilstein 5100 lift installed (no spacer) showing just over 39" from ground to fender. which is very weird as the original stock height before spacer was 33" so im looking at a gain of roughly 6" in front WHICH IS OBSCENE. The next pics show the cv angles both passenger and drivers side after lift installation. I apologize for the crappy pictures as I'm trying to learn to edit my pics with cropping and resizing. ALOHA FROM HAWAII GANG!

That's because you have the perch on the shocks up on the top setting. So that's 2.5" plus what the springs give you. Be careful, you'll destroy your shocks in short order.

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[04run&gun]

Heres some pics of the measurements with the stock shocks and springs with the motofab 1.5" spacer (3"net lift) where I had just over 35" from ground to fender. Then second pic is of the old man emu 885 and bilstein 5100 lift installed (no spacer) showing just over 39" from ground to fender. which is very weird as the original stock height before spacer was 33" so im looking at a gain of roughly 6" in front WHICH IS OBSCENE. The next pics show the cv angles both passenger and drivers side after lift installation. I apologize for the crappy pictures as I'm trying to learn to edit my pics with cropping and resizing. ALOHA FROM HAWAII GANG!

Thats pretty wild. Looks great though. How does it wheel?

 

[Hawaiian Hillbilly]

That's because you have the perch on the shocks up on the top setting. So that's 2.5" plus what the springs give you. Be careful, you'll destroy your shocks in short order.

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Aloha tman! I had them on the top setting and then redid it to the next lower level. The ride was way too stiff for my liking and felt real rigid and the struts were screaming to me HELP! So these pics are at the lower setting. I never would have thought of that the way you mentioned. So its the 885 lift springs (near3") plus the setting on the bilsteins? So if installed the lift at the zero notch on the bilsteins it would still be a near 3" lift just because of the springs? Good to know this stuff thank you for clearing that up for me. Now it makes sense. This forum rocks!!

 

[Hawaiian Hillbilly]

Thats pretty wild. Looks great though. How does it wheel?

Took it out fishing and it did well in our spots. Nothing dramatic just normal wheeling to get to the fishing grounds. It handles well on my terrain. But I am a slow wheeler myself. lol don't like to fix broken parts too often. Basically built this small (economy) lift to get to our local fishing spots which require off roading on lava rock both smooth "pahoehoe" and jagged "a'a" as heck in spots it will rip up tires fast and also sand type grounds all in the same trip. Fun times indeed. I appreciate this forum and all the information contained in it. I wouldn't have been able to do it without this website! BIG THANK YOU TO ALL IN HERE!

 

[Hawaiian Hillbilly]

I am glad to have taken the chance on building my own lift after finding this forum. My son.....(27 year old) was trying to get me to spend 3k on a lift and tire combination from a local retailer. I said "BOY....IMMA DO IT THE HAWAIIAN HILLBILLY WAY...ON MY OWN!" Little did he know I was surfing through this forum like a house wife cleans house after smoking crack! lol I'm happy with it for now and I don't have the dreaded saggy drivers rear end that I have read a lot of complaints about. Plus I'm pretty level all the way around 4 corners. Once again many thanks to all in here! I'm a Chevrolet guy but I'm liking this runner a lot!

 

[t-man]

Aloha tman! I had them on the top setting and then redid it to the next lower level. The ride was way too stiff for my liking and felt real rigid and the struts were screaming to me HELP! So these pics are at the lower setting. I never would have thought of that the way you mentioned. So its the 885 lift springs (near3") plus the setting on the bilsteins? So if installed the lift at the zero notch on the bilsteins it would still be a near 3" lift just because of the springs? Good to know this stuff thank you for clearing that up for me. Now it makes sense. This forum rocks!!

Yes, the lift springs will do the lifting all on there own. Also you can break your shocks by putting to much load on them by adjusting the collar up on the shocks. Not to mention bushings. Lol looks good though man!

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