compare these lifts please

[Illestreker]

The Sonoran Steel 1.2 lift kit: 1.5"-3.5" Front & 3.5-4.5" Rear
1996-2002 - System 1.2 - $1,275.00 : Sonoran Steel, Sonoran Steel Custom Metal Fabrication L.L.C. Custom Toyota Truck Parts
How is the front of this ^ kit adjustable?

and

Toytec ultimate lift: 0-3.5 Front & 3.75 Rear
Ultimate Lift Kit for '96-'02 4Runner

I'm looking to get one of these two lifts. My goals are to have good daily driving street manors and excellent weekend off-road manors. There is a thread about the sonoran steel 1.2 kit over on yotatech (but its from 2006) and the guy who sells it claims he doesnt like coilovers because there spring is a smaller OD than factory or replacement springs and therefore have to compensate with a stiffer lb rate. Also question about the toytec ultimate lift coilovers, if they lift 0-3.5" wouldnt the ride quality get stiffer and stiffer the more you compress the coilover in order to achieve the 3" lift? From my experience with coilovers this is usually the case.

-If I would to go with the toytec kit I would probably choose this rear:

Toytec Superflex 024RCB: 3.75" Rear Lift coils

AND

-Bilstein 9602R703 5100 Series Long Travel- *** CAN ONLY BE USED WITH Toytec Superflex 024RCB COILS*** Longer rear bump stops and extended brake line may be required

If you have either of these kits please chime in and tell me more about it, how it does for DD and offroad. and which you would choose and why. Thanks!

 

[tre9er]

Tough choice. The Toytec will give more front adjustability but overall may be harsh to your taste, especially without armor. I don't have either, so someone else can chime in on that.

 

[downpour11]

Tough choice. The Toytec will give more front adjustability but overall may be harsh to your taste, especially without armor. I don't have either, so someone else can chime in on that.

With the Toytec coilovers you can choose your spring rate for your application. Harshness isn't necessarily a factor. IMO 600# springs will ride fine with no added weight.

If it were me, I'd go with the Toytec ultimate. The selling point being the coilovers.

 

[SCRunner12]

Toytec hands down. There isn't anything really wrong with the Sonoran Steel lift, but I'd prefer the adjustability and choice of spring rate in the front.

 

[cdrewferd]

I have just the front coilovers and they are awesome. Being able to dial in your ride hight is the biggest plus they have. With the SS lift, if you add a front bumper and a winch, you may want to change out the front springs to get your lift back. With the Toytec, you just dial up the coilovers a bit.

 

[white_n_slow]

I have the Sonoran Steel 1.2 kit and if I had to do it over again, I would do the Toytec kit without a doubt.

The SS kit is nice, and it is complete, however:
1) Ride height can only be adjusted by disassembling the front suspension and compressing the springs to change perches. So if you add a winch or whatever down the road, it is a lot harder to adjust the front end.
2) Tundra springs are pretty stiff. This is fine for most people, and OK with me, but Toytec at least gives you your choice of spring rate.
3) this could be viewed as a pro or a con: the kit is mostly new toyota parts. Pro: you know you're getting quality parts, con: it's way expensive for something that you could probably find in the junkyard for 1/4 the price.

If you decide the SS kit is what you want and you have more time than money, I would suggest piecing it together yourself using the classifieds and junkyards rather than buying the whole kit. It is a great kit and includes stuff like swaybar re-mounting brackets, extended brake lines and bumpstops, adjustable panhard, etc. So it is definitely a quality product, but I just feel the Toytec kit or putting your own kit together is a better value. If you want the SS 1.2 and don't care about the price, then go for it.

If price were no object, I would still prefer the Toytec front end over the Tundra/Bilstein (aka SS) front end, but that's just me.

 

[Atrox Caeda]

The SS kit is adjustable because of the strut design where there are different perch points along the body. As far as the coilover set up goes... I ran mine at stock height for a long time before obtaining my rear springs and I honestly don't feel a difference in the ride quality once they were adjusted to sit at 2.5" higher. I also like that if I change the weight up front I can adjust them. Coilovers are the way to go. rebuildable and fully adjustable, you just can't really go wrong with them. With that said Sonoran Steel has some awesome products!

 

[Illestreker]

As far as the adjust-ability on the front for the 1.2 kit I most likely wouldnt ever make adjustments, I would just go with the most amount of lift and leave it, so thats no biggy.

As far as the tundra springs being on the stiff side, seems a few people are saying that kit was softer and more "comfortable than there OME lifts... Also have you ever rode in a 3rd gen 4runner with the toytech coilovers to know which one is stiffer (1.2 kit vs. toytech coilover)?

I seems like the 1.2 kit comes with more suspension accessories stuff where as toytech is only springs/shocks.

Both kits are about the same price and what i'm willing to spend.

 

[Illestreker]

The SS kit is adjustable because of the strut design where there are different perch points along the body. As far as the coilover set up goes... I ran mine at stock height for a long time before obtaining my rear springs and I honestly don't feel a difference in the ride quality once they were adjusted to sit at 2.5" higher. I also like that if I change the weight up front I can adjust them. Coilovers are the way to go. rebuildable and fully adjustable, you just can't really go wrong with them. With that said Sonoran Steel has some awesome products!

Good to here thanks!

So when you adjust the coilover for the 2.5" of lift or even maxed out at 3.5" Does the front suspension travel change at all? Like do you sacrifice any bump/droop when cranking up the coilover all the way?

 

[white_n_slow]

As far as the adjust-ability on the front for the 1.2 kit I most likely wouldnt ever make adjustments, I would just go with the most amount of lift and leave it, so thats no biggy.

As far as the tundra springs being on the stiff side, seems a few people are saying that kit was softer and more "comfortable than there OME lifts... Also have you ever rode in a 3rd gen 4runner with the toytech coilovers to know which one is stiffer (1.2 kit vs. toytech coilover)?

I seems like the 1.2 kit comes with more suspension accessories stuff where as toytech is only springs/shocks.

Both kits are about the same price and what i'm willing to spend.

I haven't driven a truck with the toytec coilovers for comparison. The ride isn't bad, just stiffer than I would like. It's a personal preference.

Also, FYI, if you set the SS 1.2 at the 3rd perch on the strut, which is what most people consider the "highest setting" that you would want to go, they do ride stiffer than at the 2nd perch (2nd perch is what Steve at SS recommends unless you have dual batteries, winch, bumper, etc).

 

[Atrox Caeda]

As far as the tundra springs being on the stiff side, seems a few people are saying that kit was softer and more "comfortable than there OME lifts... Also have you ever rode in a 3rd gen 4runner with the toytech coilovers to know which one is stiffer (1.2 kit vs. toytech coilover)?

As far as the ride goes I've ridden in a vehicle with the SS kit, but it didn't seem any less stiff than a coilover adjusted properly. If you want a softer ride the UCA upgrade would be a good choice. You honestly don't need some of the stuff in the SS kit, but it is really nice to have. I pieced my lift together for far less than any of the kits sold. If you have time you can save a lot of money doing it that way and upgrading your UCAs to have a really nice ride regardless of the springs you run. OME springs are not comparable to either... they ride super hard.

 

[Atrox Caeda]

Good to here thanks!

So when you adjust the coilover for the 2.5" of lift or even maxed out at 3.5" Does the front suspension travel change at all? Like do you sacrifice any bump/droop when cranking up the coilover all the way?

The travel will change, when you add height you take away the lower end travel of your front end. You tend to put more stress on the UCA's and CV boots. With UCA upgrade you can gain some more of that travel back... but you are changing it still. And that is regardless of the lift you get you will be changing the geometry of the front end. Some people will use spacers to gain some width back. Also you will absolutely have to get a front end alignment done. If not you will have mad camber inward.

 

[paddlenbike]

I've had my SS 7.1 lift (similar to what you're looking at only shorter OME 890 coils in the rear vs LC coils) installed since 2006 and can't say enough good things about it. It's true that the front end is adjustable only by re-compressing the coils and moving the retaining clip, but in the past 7 years I have done that exactly zero times. I use mine in all kinds of terrain--rocks, desert, fireroads, etc., and it's my daily driver, it works as if it were factory.

I can't comment on the Toytec because I haven't used it, but I can fully recommend the SS kits.

 

[rideexileex]

SS 1.2, with 861 rear coils, and a panhard drop bracket instead of the adjustable bar (both if you have mad money though to get it perfectly dialed), would be my ideal setup. I've been very pleased with the kit. The next step I would consider taking is an Icon front coilover, but thats a whole new level of its own.

In all honesty though, most people are going to say they like the kit they have... I don't think a coil over adds much more than the strut assembly other than the adjustable spring rates, but the tundra springs are pretty dialed in. I've wheeled with several people with the toytec kit, and either way, you're going to get a good quality kit.

 

[tre9er]

With the Toytec coilovers you can choose your spring rate for your application. Harshness isn't necessarily a factor. IMO 600# springs will ride fine with no added weight.

If it were me, I'd go with the Toytec ultimate. The selling point being the coilovers.

Ah, see when I read it it seemed like they were saying the 600lb. springs were what you get period. I agree, the coilovers are fully adjustable, whereas the Bilstein 5100 struts in the SS kit are partially adjustable (5 settings, if they're Tundra's, which I think they are).

 

[Atrox Caeda]

Plus 1 on the Icon Coilovers.

 

[SCRunner12]

I had the SS1.2 front end (pieced it together myself for $200) and now Icon's. I really didn't like the amount of body roll I experienced with the Tundra's and was on the 2nd perch. I just don't like that you have to pull your entire suspension apart to adjust if you aren't happy with the height. Once you start adding skids, bumpers and a winch (if you go that route) it sucks you can't dial in the suspension exactly where you want. Plus I'm not sold on the LC coils in the back. Some people swear by them and others replace them pretty quick. I'd rather go with Superflex coils that come with the Toytec package. Plus you can get some LC shocks and LC coils for $200 easily. No need to pay a surplus for new LC coils as they all seem to do the same thing.

Really it's your money and all those extra's aren't really necessary. I've been running the stock panhard bar and location for the past 2 years and fine with it. No diff drop for me either and no issues besides on torn cv boot, but that happens to just about everyone diff drop or not.

 

[white_n_slow]

Ah, see when I read it it seemed like they were saying the 600lb. springs were what you get period. I agree, the coilovers are fully adjustable, whereas the Bilstein 5100 struts in the SS kit are partially adjustable (5 settings, if they're Tundra's, which I think they are).

There are 5 settings on the strut, but you can really only use 3 of them on a 4runner. The 4th and 5th perch cause interference and binding with other suspension parts.

Not saying you need more than 3, or even two. Basically your choices are: bottom perch (near stock ride hight) 2nd perch (about 2" lift) and 3rd perch (about 3" lift).

 

[tre9er]

Both kits are about the same price and what i'm willing to spend.

Then I'd get the Toytec kit. Full adjustability without disassembly. I had coilovers on my lowered 2001 Nissan Sentra and I adjusted them 3 or 4 times by just jacking one corner (or whole front end) and putting the spanner on, turn, turn, tighten locker, done. As mentioned, the bilstein SS front setup requires compression of the spring in order to adjust the perch, and that can be hard/impossible depending on what's at your disposal.

The rears aren't going to be adjustable with either kit and you can pretty much do whatever you want back there. There are a host of springs, spacers, and shocks that will work depending on the lift you want. Most people seem very pleased with their LC FJ80 setups. I've read more complaints about the harshness of an OME setup (with OME shocks, some without) than I have the LC setup by far.

 

[tre9er]

There are 5 settings on the strut, but you can really only use 3 of them on a 4runner. The 4th and 5th perch cause interference and binding with other suspension parts.

Not saying you need more than 3, or even two. Basically your choices are: bottom perch (near stock ride hight) 2nd perch (about 2" lift) and 3rd perch (about 3" lift).

Right, you're talking with Tundra springs. The 4th/5th perches can be used with OEM 4R springs, though.