Curious about suspension mods

[baby#yota]

Hi all, I just Installed a 2” spacer lift on my 05 4runner. Totally seamless process and I love the look. I have leveled the front out so both fenders have the exact same height from the ground and eliminated the “rake”. I’ve seen some posts talking about when you go over 2” you start getting into issues with the UCAs and brake lines. Just out it curiousness if I was to go to a 3” in the front and bring the back up 1” would this start effecting my geometry badly? I’m going in for an alignment tomorrow for the 2” kit and so far even without the alignment I can go 80 mph down the highway with no drive-ability issues at all, no shake or pulling. Im just fishing around the forums to see how much I can mess with the stock suspension before I start really effecting my ride quality. The truck is so clean that it’s very easy to work on so I will be doing UCAs and proper 5100s in the front at some point but for the time being I’m just doing the redneck spacer lift.

Just looking for experience from other owners.

 

[iamatt]

I just put a 3 inch spacer on mine so I can run taller tires for the beach. Didnt want to spend too much on this thing since it wont last more than a few years on the beach every weekend.

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[bob3dsf]

Hi all, I just Installed a 2” spacer lift on my 05 4runner. Totally seamless process and I love the look. I have leveled the front out so both fenders have the exact same height from the ground and eliminated the “rake”. I’ve seen some posts talking about when you go over 2” you start getting into issues with the UCAs and brake lines. Just out it curiousness if I was to go to a 3” in the front and bring the back up 1” would this start effecting my geometry badly? I’m going in for an alignment tomorrow for the 2” kit and so far even without the alignment I can go 80 mph down the highway with no drive-ability issues at all, no shake or pulling. Im just fishing around the forums to see how much I can mess with the stock suspension before I start really effecting my ride quality. The truck is so clean that it’s very easy to work on so I will be doing UCAs and proper 5100s in the front at some point but for the time being I’m just doing the redneck spacer lift.

Just looking for experience from other owners.

The issue with lifting and alignment isn't about shaking or pulling. The main issue is loss of caster angle. our trucks need about 4 degrees positive caster for the steering to be stable. As you lift the front, you lose caster and moves toward zero degree caster. This causes the steering to feel very sensitive and feels like it wants to wander. This is especially evident at highway speeds. This is separate from any pulling due to misalignments in the toe or camber. Now, I'm by no means a suspension expert. This is just my understanding from reading threads on the forum here and other sources. I can say that I lifted mine with bilstein 5100's and I set the front spring seat at the 1.75 setting (3rd from bottom). I can definitely feel a difference in the steering. I can drive it fine, but it feels less settled. My local shop typically can get the alignment in the 2 degree range. But, I'll need new UCA's to get back to OEM spec. I plan on going with JBA's.