Decision time: street or off-road look?

[DJK-West]

I'm finally getting around to fixing up my 2nd gen 4Runner (4WD). It needed a lot of major work and I'm pretty much at the last part, suspension and wheels/tires. The suspension in my rig is totally shot. So basically, I'm gonna need to decide whether I should just replace the stock suspension components or upgrade. Then comes the wheels/tires depending on what suspension configuration I decide to go with.

So I need all your help. Show me pix of your suspension and wheels/tires set-up on your 4Runner. If its not too much trouble, specify what brand of shocks/springs, lifted or stock, brand of lift kit used if lifted, wheel brand/size/offset, tire brand and size.

Thanks.

 

[n8buddy]

I was in the same situation as you about a year ago. I went with Old Man Emu shocks and springs and SDORI ball joint spacers, found here . It gave about 1.5" to 2" of lift. The wheels and tires are 265/75/R16 Toyo Open Country MT on Eagle Alloys series 185. Specifically with 4" of backspacing. I did alot of research on backspacing needed with ball joint spacers(with stock backspacing the tire will be too close to the upper control arm), and these worked perfectly.
If you want more pics just let me know.

 

[DJK-West]

Thanks for the reply. This kit looks good. A couple of questions:

1) What makes the lift in this kit, is it the longer springs or shocks?

2) I noticed that the kit doesn't contain springs for the front. How was the lift achieved in the front?

3) What are the balljoint spacers for?

4) Why did you go with 16" wheels? I would like to stick with 15".

5) I would like to go with slightly more negative offset to get the tires to stick out just a tad bit for more aggressive stance. If I do this, do you think the tires would rub when turning?

Thanks.

I was in the same situation as you about a year ago. I went with Old Man Emu shocks and springs and SDORI ball joint spacers, found here . It gave about 1.5" to 2" of lift. The wheels and tires are 265/75/R16 Toyo Open Country MT on Eagle Alloys series 185. Specifically with 4" of backspacing. I did alot of research on backspacing needed with ball joint spacers(with stock backspacing the tire will be too close to the upper control arm), and these worked perfectly.
If you want more pics just let me know.

 

[the_dingman]

Didn't think I'd ever say this about a 2nd gen, but that is one sexy lookin' truck :

 

[n8buddy]

1-3) The lift is achieved by longer "heavy duty" coils in the rear (with longer shocks) and in the front it is the ball joint spacers (also longer shocks). ball joint spacers go between your upper ball joint and your upper control arm (UCA). it is essentially pushing your tires/suspension down. I will post pictures to try to show the difference.

2) I went with 16" wheels for 3 reasons:
- My choices for wheels was somewhat limited due to the need for specifically 4" of backspacing, and the rim i decided on only came in 16" or larger.
- The toyo MT's do not come in 15", and i knew i wanted these tires before i decided on what rims to get.
- The stock 15" rims place the tire within a finger width of the UCA, meaning if the tire bulged even a little bit it would rub, or even puncture on the UCA.
I also found there aren't as many choices in tires or rims in 15", 16" is alot more common.

3) The 4" of backspacing I have is the same and -11mm offset, so they do stick out further)


Okay pics:
1) Stock(full droop)
#1=Upper control arm
#2=upper ball joint

2)Lift & Tires
#1=Ball joint spacer.

3)Stock rear end (including rust )

4)Lifted rear end

5)stock profile

6)lifted profile

 

[n8buddy]

pic 2

 

[n8buddy]

pic 3

 

[n8buddy]

pic 4

 

[n8buddy]

pic 5

 

[n8buddy]

finally, pic 6. Hope this helps!!

 

[DJK-West]

I love the way the lift levelled and lifted your rig! I appreciate the pix you've posted. It made it a lot easier for me to understand how this lift is setup. I'm definitely getting this setup. Did you install the kit yourself and how hard was it? Also, how wide are your wheels? And would 305/75/16 rub given the 4" backspace? Oh and one more thing, did you use oem springs up front or did you get a stiffer one?

1-3) The lift is achieved by longer "heavy duty" coils in the rear (with longer shocks) and in the front it is the ball joint spacers (also longer shocks). ball joint spacers go between your upper ball joint and your upper control arm (UCA). it is essentially pushing your tires/suspension down. I will post pictures to try to show the difference.

2) I went with 16" wheels for 3 reasons:
- My choices for wheels was somewhat limited due to the need for specifically 4" of backspacing, and the rim i decided on only came in 16" or larger.
- The toyo MT's do not come in 15", and i knew i wanted these tires before i decided on what rims to get.
- The stock 15" rims place the tire within a finger width of the UCA, meaning if the tire bulged even a little bit it would rub, or even puncture on the UCA.
I also found there aren't as many choices in tires or rims in 15", 16" is alot more common.

3) The 4" of backspacing I have is the same and -11mm offset, so they do stick out further)


Okay pics:
1) Stock(full droop)
#1=Upper control arm
#2=upper ball joint

2)Lift & Tires
#1=Ball joint spacer.

3)Stock rear end (including rust )

4)Lifted rear end

5)stock profile

6)lifted profile

 

[n8buddy]

I tried to install the kit myself, but everything was too rusted for a guy with no mechanical experience. I got it to the mech shop and he even said it was tough. If your truck isnt too rusted it might not be too bad, but he also said the coils were a pain to get in, b/c they have to be compressed to fit, which can be dangerous.
wheels are 8" wide
i would have to say that 305/75/16 would rub. My tire are approx 32x10.5 inches, and they rub my driver side wheel well liner when hard turned left. 305/74 are approx 34x12 inches, so yes they would rub. I have heard that a stock 2nd gen can fit skinny 33's with some rubbing, but the wheel offset could throw that off.
the springs up front (torsion bars) i did keep stock, but i hope to get an ARB bumper someday, and then i would upgrade to stiffer bars.

 

[DJK-West]

Looks like I'll get the lift installed first, then try to see what wheel/tire combo will fit. My goal is to have enough negative offset so that the tire would stick out, not too much, but just enough to give it a more aggressive stance.

I live in California and I'm the 1st and only owner of this 4Runner. Gladly, I don't have no problems with rust on the suspension components. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you spend on installation?

 

[gotmud?13]

Didn't think I'd ever say this about a 2nd gen, but that is one sexy lookin' truck :

ahhah i totally agree!!! that is the best 2nd gen i have ever seen. so what exaclty are the year ranges for the generation? i know generally, but as i am getting more hardcore into yotas, its a good thing to know...
sweet truck, and good job and congrats on the upgrades..

 

[n8buddy]

Thanks for the positive comments!!! 2nd gen include years 1990-1995, but there where some minor changes in between. 1992 is when they went to a flush headlight i believe, which i don't like as much.

Looks like I'll get the lift installed first, then try to see what wheel/tire combo will fit.

Thats great thet you are thinking of getting this kit, i for one am quite pleased with it. One thing I have to stress though is you should decide on rims and tires before going ahead with the lift (or at least have a good idea). With the ball joint spacers on and stock rims, there is less than 1/2 and inch between the UCA and tire, and on long trips you could shred the tire. This is because the ball joint spacer changes your alignment, making it extremely toe in i believe

The price was this: $500 for parts from www.trdparts4u.com, plus about $100 shipping from texas to BC. 2 shocks were actually stolen from the package en route, but trdparts4u replaced them with no charge to me.

$1300 for installation. 2 things to take into account are:
1) this was a mechanic shop not an off road shop, so they dont do many suspension lifts
2)they also replaced 2 tie rod boots, right CV shaft and both upper ball joint.

$2500 for 5 rims and tires (i think, i cnt find the receipt). Those toyo's aren't cheap.