Control arms

[baddkarmaracing]

What lift height do yall suggest changing the uppers? Lowers? Rear links? My gf just bought a 15 TE and now I'm looking at buying one once my jeep is paid for, because I like hers so much so I am trying to figure out a build path for me, she wants a leveling kit and that's it on hers

 

[Jeremy556]

Uppers: any lift, if you want to have decent alignment
Lowers: long travel
Rear lower links: when you start damaging the stock ones on rocks, or offset ones to go with long travel

 

[baddkarmaracing]

who makes a good long travel kit? that's something im interested in. and what defines long travel on a 4runner?

 

[Jetboy]

Long travel means the lower a-arm is longer, so the tire can travel further. There's really only two ways of doing long travel. One is making the front track width wider (maybe you can use a different front wheel to narrow it back up??). The other would be a custom setup by narrowing the a-arm mounts. In an unlimited $ world, that's the best solution, but it's not very practical for most of us.

All-Pro makes a kit:
https://www.allprooffroad.com/fjfrontsuspension/fjlongtravel

So toes Total Chaos
Total Chaos 10+ FJ & 4Runner +2" Long Travel Kit :: Kartek Off Road Parts & Accessories

Keep in mind these are geared toward desert racing. If you want to rock crawl or do more technical offroad, a sold front axle is going to be much better. It will have a lot more travel and articulation, but not have the same dampening ability for high speed desert type use. Very different applications.

 

[toyohtadude]

My understanding is 2.5" and under for the front is fine and can be aligned without aftermarket UCAs. From 2.5" to 3" lift in the front, the alignment adjustments are at max and likely not properly aligned. Over 3" requires new UCAs to align properly. This information came from both OME and Toytec technicians that I spoke with.

Both said to install your suspension and find a place to flex it to the max if you can prior to bringing it in for an alignment but not to drive it far on roads before the alignment (unless you have a crap set of tires you don't care about or will be replacing after the lift).

YMMV - I have the Toytec 3" kit but have not installed it yet. I do not want to chance the alignment so I am holding out until I can get the UCAs.

 

[wfo9]

You probably already know this but 4 runners have a solid rear axle and IFS up front.

For the rear long travel is pretty darn easy, Just throw on appropriate springs, shocks, and extended brake lines, bump stops, and you can get about 28" of wheel travel pretty cheap.

The front is a completely different story. Like stated above. The only way to get much more travel out of the front is to put on longer control arms, CV axles..... It is very expensive and you get a wide track width. Fenders get in the way.... It has been extremely rare to see a 5th gen setup this way. Maybe one on here so far. Probably more to come as they age...


For a typical lift, you need to replace the front upper control arms to get the caster set correctly.

 

[Jetboy]

You probably already know this but 4 runners have a solid rear axle and IFS up front.

For the rear long travel is pretty darn easy, Just throw on appropriate springs, shocks, and extended brake lines, bump stops, and you can get about 28" of wheel travel pretty cheap.

The front is a completely different story. Like stated above. The only way to get much more travel out of the front is to put on longer control arms, CV axles..... It is very expensive and you get a wide track width. Fenders get in the way.... It has been extremely rare to see a 5th gen setup this way. Maybe one on here so far. Probably more to come as they age...

I didn't read carefully. I'm pretty sure you're right and he was asking about long travel rear.

 

[baddkarmaracing]

i guess i worded my question wrong, what i meant is what travel numbers would be considered long travel on a 4runner? actually i don't even know what kind of travel numbers they have in stock form.

as for a rock crawler my jeep is slowly getting to that point, by the end of the year it will be long arm'd and stretched to around a 100" wheel base and with in the next year or so it should have 1 tons under it so the rocks are covered by that.

i was thinking a 4runner would be a good all around vehicle for road trips, camping, and stuff like that. i would like to have enough wheel travel to be able to run the local beaches at high speeds like i used to do with my raptor also. so i just want something that will kind of do it all. i guess i just need to figure out more about the 4runner than what i currently know about it.

 

[Jetboy]

For that type of use - any of the suspension upgrades should be good to go. Anywhere from the Billstein 6112/5160 set to fox 2.5s or ICONs, they'll all do that function very well with the only change being new upper control arms for additional alignment adjustment if you lift more than 1-2 inches.

I've never really measured the travel on mine. Can't really help there.

 

[baddkarmaracing]

Any one have travel number ideas in stock form or even a regular (non long travel) kit??

 

[marshal]

I don't have definitive numbers, but stock travel is about 7.5" vertical travel in the front and rear. They're quite capable but they're not long travel. Long travel is going to net you about 13-16" vertical in the front and 12-14" vertical in the rear. Different manufacturers have different LT specs, so that would be up to you.

As others have stated long travel front increases the front track width overall 7" which is undesirable for some people. Your fenders also need to be modified substantially to be able to use the available up travel from the kit. That's also not to mention the front long travel alone STARTS AT $5500 and can get as high as $8000 depending on options. Your rear LT is going to be about $1500, but your rear axle will also be 7" narrower. So if you're OCD like the rest of us you'll need to factor in another $5000 or so for a new rear housing and 3rd member.

Basically a full LT conversion assuming you do all the labor yourself and widen the rear axle is nearly $12000 to get started with.

In other words, the stock travel truck is more than capable to traverse all off-road conditions. It's no raptor, but it it will hold its own