Another suspension thread, but now I'm buying.

68whiskey

68whiskey

New member
I know, I know. Its all been beaten to death. However, I'm about to pull the trigger on a lift and Id like to see what everyone thinks. Heres what I'm thinking:

OME lift, 881 in the front, 906 in the rear. Im also thinking about going for the firm shocks, right in the middle.

I won't be doing any real serious wheeling any time soon. The rear is sagging, but other than that the stock suspension is good. As everyone knows, however, the '02 is very low compared to other years within the third gen. I just want a decent lift, nothing crazy, to level it out and give it some height. I know that suspension is very subjective. I thought about doing '99 coils, but I feel like the OME will be a better route for me to firm things up a little and get me closer to being ready to hit the trails when the time comes. Any input on this redundant topic would be great. With as much as I've read, its still a little different when I'm getting ready to make the purchase. Thanks everyone.
 
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Best advice is get what your research told you to get. It's subjective. If you've done the research and have an idea of what you're going for, pull the trigger. Most likely, you'll be really happy. Let's face it, anything beats an old worn out stock suspension.
 
One of the reasons i decided not to go with the '99 coils is that at least with the OME suspension, I can get the shocks/springs and everything together, and I can get the front assembled before they ship making my job of installing them a lot easier. If anyone knows a place that sells '99 coils with Bilstein shocks or anything of that nature, let me know!
 
68whiskey said:
Did it soften up over time? How long did you ride on the 906s before you decided to swap them out?
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It got a little better. For road use it was perfect, but offroad - especially washboard type terrain - it was pretty bad.

I had those springs on for about 5,000 miles before I removed them.
 
I just went through this exact same research phase. I ended up buying moog springs for front and back, and kyb gas shocks all around. It gives the 4runner a nice solid ride. It is not soft, it is what I would call more firm. However you have to realize that soft or hard is relative to a 3rd gen 4runner. You won't ever get that true soft bouncy pickup ride that takes bumps without feeling it. 3rd gens are a firm truck and are designed that way. A 4th gen and newer will give you a more plush soft ride if that is what you want. I ordered one set of each from Amazon: moog 81401 and 81088. Then on ebay I bought the kyb gas a just shock kit for $205. So that plus moogs and new sway bar bushings I got new suspension for a total of $330 doing the labor myself. Brought my ride height to perfect for me because this is my daily driver. Here is how it sits now. I hope this is helpful. Put me to probably the same height as a stock 99 or a bit higher.
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TejasRunner01 said:
I just went through this exact same research phase. I ended up buying moog springs for front and back, and kyb gas shocks all around. It gives the 4runner a nice solid ride. It is not soft, it is what I would call more firm. However you have to realize that soft or hard is relative to a 3rd gen 4runner. You won't ever get that true soft bouncy pickup ride that takes bumps without feeling it. 3rd gens are a firm truck and are designed that way. A 4th gen and newer will give you a more plush soft ride if that is what you want. I ordered one set of each from Amazon: moog 81401 and 81088. Then on ebay I bought the kyb gas a just shock kit for $205. So that plus moogs and new sway bar bushings I got new suspension for a total of $330 doing the labor myself. Brought my ride height to perfect for me because this is my daily driver. Here is how it sits now. I hope this is helpful. Put me to probably the same height as a stock 99 or a bit higher.

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How much have you driven since using the new springs? And how was it compressing the springs on the front? One of the benefits for me with the OME or ToyTec kit is that I can get the front assembled, making the change much, much easier. Although it would be nice to save about 700 dollars with the route that you went.
 
Can anyone also tell me whether or not the trim packer is needed on the drivers side? Will it lean without it, should I get it on one or both sides?
 
If you want to eliminate the lean, you'll need at least one trim packer on the driver's side. I have two on the driver's side and one on my passenger side spring currently.
 
TejasRunner01 said:
You won't ever get that true soft bouncy pickup ride that takes bumps without feeling it. 3rd gens are a firm truck and are designed that way
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That's bogus; you can absolutely get a nice soft ride in a 3rd gen! The 4th gen and up might have more sound deadening, but as far as actual ride, you could definitely make a 3rd gen ride comparable to a "4th gen+". Like you said though- suspension is very subjective, and up to the person's preference.
OP-
You make it sound like you want a firm ride for the trails- why is that? Generally speaking- firmer is better for on-road handling, and softer is better for off-road. That being said, you need to have your spring rates correct for the weight you're carrying. If you have lots of steel armor, you'll want a higher spring rate than if you're maintaining a mostly-stock weight.
The rear coils are super easy to swap, and I think 5th gen rear coils might be a good option for you. You can usually pick up rear 5th gen coils with super low miles on Craigslist for cheap. They're made for a slightly heavier rig, so they have a higher spring rate.
To swap rear coils, you just pull the bottom of the shocks off, pull the end links off at the frame, jack one side up, and the drooping side coil will fall out. Using that method, I had zero issue getting my tall 3.75" lift Superflex coils in.
 
My stock suspension is shot. Replaced the back with 906 first. Gives me rake. Not bad but just put on 881 front and took them right back off lol. Passenger side ubj and drives side cv axle are really unhappy with this new arrangement and started weeping at me the first test drive. Besides that I think I'm going to 890 and put the 881s back on to loose the reverse rake. It looks horrible like that to me.

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SoFloT4R said:
My stock suspension is shot. Replaced the back with 906 first. Gives me rake. Not bad but just put on 881 front and took them right back off lol. Passenger side ubj and drives side cv axle are really unhappy with this new arrangement and started weeping at me the first test drive. Besides that I think I'm going to 890 and put the 881s back on to loose the reverse rake. It looks horrible like that to me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Low Range Offroad has an OME kit with 880s in the front, 890s in the rear, and the "soft" shocks. There is also a kit with the 881s up front and 906s in the rear. The will assemble the front for free if you pay for the top mounts, and the shipping is free. So id basically save 100 bucks less than ToyTec's website for the same thing.
 
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