AQH4Runner
New member
Hello everyone. I'm a new member to the forum with a question about the Air Lift 1000 system. I believe I've read most of the other posts on this subject, but haven't found exactly the answer I'm looking for, which is why I'm reaching out here.
A bit of background info first. We have a 2011 Limited which we've owned for about a year and a half now. Both my wife and I absolutely love this truck. It originally was purchased to replace my wife's Murano as somewhat a matter of necessity. We needed a vehicle that could tow a horse trailer (my wife and daughter ride). We looked at the other typical options in the SUV category (mainly for piece of mind and due diligence), but in reality the 4Runner was the clear cut front runner for me from the start due to our past experiences with Toyota vehicles and the 4Runner's reputation. Not to mention I loved the look of the 5th gen. Since towing is only an occasional occurrence for us I didn't want to go with a pickup (even though my wife really wanted a Tundra) mostly due to the gas mileage they get the 95% of the time we don't really need it. Plus, owning a pickup automatically bumps you to the top of the list when a friend/relative needs to move something.
So we've been towing our horse trailer off and on since purchasing the 4Runner. The trailer is roughly 2300# unloaded and we only use it for one horse. When fully loaded with the horse, tack, and some hay it's in the 4000# - 4500# range. We mainly only tow for short distances around northern IL and occasionally somewhat longer ones to southern IL and Indiana, so we're never dealing with any tough hills. And while a V8 would be nice on occasion, we've never had any power problems for our situation. The only thing I've wanted to address when towing is the sag. When everything is hooked up and loaded, the rear drops about 1.5"-2". We get the occasional flash from oncoming cars at night that think our brights are on, but other than that the 4Runner has never felt unsafe or unstable. We've never had any problems with sway or braking (have a Prodigy P2 brake controller) and always take it pretty easy because towing a live animal is a little different than a camper or boat.
Anyway, I've done a lot of research and feel that the Air Lift 1000 is going to be the best solution for us to "fix" the little bit of sag we're experiencing when towing. My main question is, does installing the Air Lift 1000 change the ride quality of the vehicle when it's not loaded? I know you let a good portion of the air out of the bags in this situation and are only supposed to keep about 5 psi in there so they maintain their shape, but since the air bags take up more room inside the coils than the factory bump stops, I'm worried about getting a bouncy ride when unloaded. The 4Runner has recently become my daily driver and I've come to like the ride of the XREAS system on our lovely suburban Chicago roads. I'd prefer to keep things as close to my new "normal" as possible. Changing out the suspension or lifting aren't options for us at this point either.
One other question. Are there any other members on here that know of good shops in the Chicagoland area (west suburbs would be ideal) that do this type of suspension work? To say that I'm particular about my vehicles would be an understatement and I like those that work on mine to be equally focused on attention to detail as I am. I'd do it myself, but the nights and weekends are filling up quickly and I'd like to get this done in the next month.
There is such a wealth of knowledge on this forum and there are so many mods I'd love to do given the time and $. Thanks in advance for the responses.
A bit of background info first. We have a 2011 Limited which we've owned for about a year and a half now. Both my wife and I absolutely love this truck. It originally was purchased to replace my wife's Murano as somewhat a matter of necessity. We needed a vehicle that could tow a horse trailer (my wife and daughter ride). We looked at the other typical options in the SUV category (mainly for piece of mind and due diligence), but in reality the 4Runner was the clear cut front runner for me from the start due to our past experiences with Toyota vehicles and the 4Runner's reputation. Not to mention I loved the look of the 5th gen. Since towing is only an occasional occurrence for us I didn't want to go with a pickup (even though my wife really wanted a Tundra) mostly due to the gas mileage they get the 95% of the time we don't really need it. Plus, owning a pickup automatically bumps you to the top of the list when a friend/relative needs to move something.
So we've been towing our horse trailer off and on since purchasing the 4Runner. The trailer is roughly 2300# unloaded and we only use it for one horse. When fully loaded with the horse, tack, and some hay it's in the 4000# - 4500# range. We mainly only tow for short distances around northern IL and occasionally somewhat longer ones to southern IL and Indiana, so we're never dealing with any tough hills. And while a V8 would be nice on occasion, we've never had any power problems for our situation. The only thing I've wanted to address when towing is the sag. When everything is hooked up and loaded, the rear drops about 1.5"-2". We get the occasional flash from oncoming cars at night that think our brights are on, but other than that the 4Runner has never felt unsafe or unstable. We've never had any problems with sway or braking (have a Prodigy P2 brake controller) and always take it pretty easy because towing a live animal is a little different than a camper or boat.
Anyway, I've done a lot of research and feel that the Air Lift 1000 is going to be the best solution for us to "fix" the little bit of sag we're experiencing when towing. My main question is, does installing the Air Lift 1000 change the ride quality of the vehicle when it's not loaded? I know you let a good portion of the air out of the bags in this situation and are only supposed to keep about 5 psi in there so they maintain their shape, but since the air bags take up more room inside the coils than the factory bump stops, I'm worried about getting a bouncy ride when unloaded. The 4Runner has recently become my daily driver and I've come to like the ride of the XREAS system on our lovely suburban Chicago roads. I'd prefer to keep things as close to my new "normal" as possible. Changing out the suspension or lifting aren't options for us at this point either.
One other question. Are there any other members on here that know of good shops in the Chicagoland area (west suburbs would be ideal) that do this type of suspension work? To say that I'm particular about my vehicles would be an understatement and I like those that work on mine to be equally focused on attention to detail as I am. I'd do it myself, but the nights and weekends are filling up quickly and I'd like to get this done in the next month.
There is such a wealth of knowledge on this forum and there are so many mods I'd love to do given the time and $. Thanks in advance for the responses.
