Fabtech 6" on 3rd gen 4runner (hawaii)

[munchk1nn]

I've been doing a lot of research on fabtech 6" lift on the 3rd Gen 4runners, everyone here says: NO DONT DO IT, IT WONT WORK, WHY GO SO HIGH, WHAT PURPOSE WILL IT DO, JUST GO WITH 3" SPACER OR COIL-OVER, GO WITH 3" BODY LIFT, GO WITH SPACER LIFT AND BODY, IT WONT BE GOOD IN WHEELING IT, IT'S CENTER GRAVITY WILL BE TOO HIGH, THERES NO PURPOSE IN GOING THAT HIGH.
-For people in hawaii or in other places that want to go higher then 4" in suspension lift, IT IS POSSIBLE, and its not that technical to do such a thing on such a truck.
-FAQ'S ON FABTECH 6" LIFT
FRONT SUSPENSION
--YES 95.5-04 TACOMA FABTECH 6" LIFT FRONT COMPONENTS FIT PERFECTLY FOLLOWING THE FABTECH INSTRUCTIONS.
-THE FRONT REAR LOWER SUB-FRAME DOES NEED TO BE CUT, ONCE CUT THERES NO GOING BACK TO STOCK.
- FOR THE FRONT EVERYTHING WORKS AND GOES IN AS THE INSTRUCTIONS SAYS,
REAR SUSPESION
--this is the only part that makes people think about going 6" high. The rear suspension in the 4runners are 4-linked and coil spring. there is two options for the rear.
-keeping the 4link or converting to lea spring
--For keeping the coil spring:
---ome 3"coils with coil spring spacers,
---For the 4link, you can either fab your own links and make them longer or look online for longer links.
---For the pan-hard drop bar, fab your own and make it longer, buy one off the internet, or dropping the bracket lower to make up for the angle. one example would be the pan-hard drop bar bracket used on the earlier 4runners 89-95.
--For leaf spring
---To convert to leaf spring, you can use either tacoma leafs, or pre-tacoma rear leafs. use the add-a-leaf from the kit and instead of using the 3"block from the kit, go get 2" angles or regular lift blocks.
---For the front hanger of the rear leaf's i just use the same mount that was used from the 4-link,
and for the rear hanger use the hangers from pre-tacomas or go to the dealer and get one,
-for the rear axle, you can torch off the 4-link mounts, and grind it clean or you can get one from a tacom from the junk yard.

 

[ryankmasuda]

If you want a mall crawler then go for it

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

you'll have the no clearance and it will look stupid

 

[Duhockey]

How long did FlexInc keep his Fabtech lift on there? not long... ended up going straight axle


I suggest you ask someone like FlexInc how it panned out for him before spending the money to do a dropbracket lift.

theres a reason why Fabtech makes money on those huge Tundra lifts and none on Tacos and 4runners and thats cuz those huge Tundras with the drop bracket lifts will never see dirt.


oh, and some other info... I have about 6" of lift in the back of mine (when not loaded down) and my panhard and links are all stock. Converting to leaf springs? to match a 6" fabtech lift up front? Unnecessary... get LC 9 wraps or OME 861 coils and you should be about 6" higher in the back if you dont load down too much.

 

[jmt2404]

Why are you yelling?

 

[NachoPitt]

As you noted, it is kind of a love it or leave it affair - when you don't like the fabtech (and chances are you won't) your only option will be SAS as the well designed, durable, well built front Toyota suspension will have been torched off during the Fabtech install.

The upside to the Fabtech is that they have some super awesome stickers. Unless you go aftermarket, Toyota OEM stickers don't hold a candle to those.

 

[Hepar]

Wait, is the point of this thread to tell us that a 6" Fabtech lift for a Tacoma will work on a 4Runner or are you planning on putting one on yours?

 

[PitbullRescuer]

Eh, to each his own. Different regions seem to be into different things. If OP or anyone else wants to go this route, more power to them. Kind of like motorcycles, in the south, everyone is air ride, custom paint, stretched, wide tire's out. It works, most of their roads are straight and flat. Up here, I went down from a 195 tire to a 185 tire on my R1 just so I could throw it around in the twisties that much more. Doesn't make one right over the other, just a matter of personal taste really. Can I still ride my narrow tire, front lifted R1 down south? Sure! Could one of those guys still ride his blinged out bike up here? Sure! To each his own.

 

[thorridder]

with the drop bracket thing pretty much the only real lift you get is from the bigger tires, its a body lift. the guys in big lifted pickups do them just to have a bigger truck, mall runners, never see mud or rocks or anything really. mostly a waist of money. you can do a lot better for less money and be able to really be used.

 

[munchk1nn]

no im not yelling and Yes this is a information page on people wo want to go with the Fabtech 6" lift, and it does see dirt, mud, hills, sand what ever you want, i know this cuz ive done it myself, people say it looks stupid but thats just how your stye is

 

[thorridder]

i have seen some on the bigger trucks that do look really good and do improve the clearance and overall make it better, but most go that rout just for show and have some else put it in for them.

 

[Hepar]

no im not yelling and Yes this is a information page on people wo want to go with the Fabtech 6" lift, and it does see dirt, mud, hills, sand what ever you want, i know this cuz ive done it myself, people say it looks stupid but thats just how your stye is

Cool. I was just curious. Do you have any pics of it on a 4Runner?

I don't think it's cool to say it's going to look stupid. You personally might think it's going to look stupid, but what does saying it really accomplish? That is also making the assumption that everyone is going to like every single thing you've done to your ride. I love everything I've done to mine. It's my ride, I get to make the choice. Does that mean everyone is going to love it? Nope. Some people wouldn't have chosen a tube bumper or black wheels etc etc. That's fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. How boring would this world be if we all likes the exact same things?

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

Drop bracket lifts are useless. They have nothing to do with "style" unless you're a preppy loser who knows nothing about trucks. They're for people with small you-know-whats.

A 3" suspension lift would increase your actual clearance by 3". Drop brackets move everything down, while still using stock geometry, therefor no increased clearance. The lower control arms are still at the same angles. No actual lift, no point other than looking like a douchebag, and no balls. You'll have the same clearance from ground to cross member as when you started wasting your money, and you still won't be able to wheel it.

Thank god that FlexINC came to his senses and removed that piece of crap Fagtech lift and SAS'd his truck. The only reason he could wheel was because he had 37" tires to compensate for the lack of actual suspension lift, at which point, he'd wasted hundreds THOUSANDS of dollars to get that setup working.

So in order to have more ground clearance than someone with a 3" lift running 33s, you would need to have gotten all of your ground clearance using the tires, meaning you would have to be running 39's.

So, with no actual performance, this lift is dubbed USELESS AND STUPID, Just like anyone who wants to run one!

Any further defense for this type of lift can only mean that you're a troll. GTFO, get a real lift, or have fun parking at the H2's and Tahoes at the mall. This thread is So Gay









/end thread.

 

[Hepar]

Drop bracket lifts are useless. They have nothing to do with "style" unless you're a preppy loser who knows nothing about trucks. They're for people with small you-know-whats.

A 3" suspension lift would increase your actual clearance by 3". Drop brackets move everything down, while still using stock geometry, therefor no increased clearance. The lower control arms are still at the same angles. No actual lift, no point other than looking like a douchebag, and no balls. You'll have the same clearance from ground to cross member as when you started wasting your money, and you still won't be able to wheel it.

Thank god that FlexINC came to his senses and removed that piece of crap Fagtech lift and SAS'd his truck. The only reason he could wheel was because he had 37" tires to compensate for the lack of actual suspension lift, at which point, he'd wasted hundreds THOUSANDS of dollars to get that setup working.



So, with no actual performance, this lift is dubbed USELESS AND STUPID, Just like anyone who wants to run one!

Any further defense for this type of lift can only mean that you're a troll. GTFO, get a real lift, or have fun parking at the H2's and Tahoes at the mall. This thread is So Gay









/end thread.

This person didn't make this thread to say that it was the single greatest way to lift your 4Runner or that everyone should do it. It was simply made to say that it CAN be done for those who want to do it.

Get off your high horse man.

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

This person didn't make this thread to say that it was the single greatest way to lift your 4Runner or that everyone should do it. It was simply made to say that it CAN be done for those who want to do it.

Get off your high horse man.

My horsey rides like the winddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd!

No high horse, I just think anyone defending this type of lift is a loser. Anyone who would want to run this type of lift for off road use is clearly uneducated and I don't want to sit around and let them infest our wonderful T4R.ORG.

We have enough stupid threads on here, I don't want a poor guy looking for a good lift for his 4Runner coming across this waste of a lift option and thinking that T4R owners are a bunch of bro-wanna-be-drop-bracketeers.

And if you read the last few posts, they were clearly discussing clearance and offroad ability with said waste of a lift.

 

[Hepar]

I just think anyone defending this type of lift is a loser.

I have no issues defending this type of lift. This is a site for people who love their 4Runners. It's not a site where you need to send in pics and stats on your vehicle and then wait for approval for membership.

OP, sorry for cluttering up your thread with this tangent. Say the word and I'll delete all my posts that don't really pertain to the original topic.

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

I have no issues defending this type of lift. This is a site for people who love their 4Runners. It's not a site where you need to send in pics and stats on your vehicle and then wait for approval for membership.

OP, sorry for cluttering up your thread with this tangent. Say the word and I'll delete all my posts that don't really pertain to the original topic.

I didn't mean you, don't think that I hate you, man, because you know damn well that couldn't be further from the truth.

Yes, this is a site for people who love their 4Runners. I love the **** out of mine.

What people seem to always forget: This IS a discussion forum! I'm not going to baby up my response for a drop bracket lift. It's simply something that should never have been released for the 3rd gen 4Runner (though it's technically a Tacoma lift). It's a bad product, and I'll be damned if anyone is going to tell me that I can't share my deep opinion on how poor of a suspension choice this particular type of lift is.

A true 4Runner enthusiast would not install (and thoroughly prefer) a Fabtech drop bracket lift on their trucks.

If you're not looking to wheel, not looking to even touch dirt, but plan on parking it up at the mall, drop brackets are STILL a bad choice. They are expensive, damaging to the vehicle as they are not reversible, and quite literally useless. A suspension lift would be cheaper and more cost effective, regardless of terrain.

Let's be honest here with ourselves... through all of the idiots who've tried stupid things with their stock trucks, you know that there's going to be someone who thinks a 6" drop bracket will "own" a 3" lift... it's double, right?

It'd be inevitable for that same person to try wheeling his truck, at which point, he'd realize he can't do anything that he couldn't do stock. Then what? It's sell the truck, SAS, or long travel.

IMO, If you want a drop bracket, you need one of these trucks:

 

[Hepar]

What people seem to always forget: This IS a discussion forum! I'm not going to baby up my response for a drop bracket lift. It's simply something that should never have been released for the 3rd gen 4Runner (though it's technically a Tacoma lift). It's a bad product, and I'll be damned if anyone is going to tell me that I can't share my deep opinion on how poor of a suspension choice this particular type of lift is.

I would understand if they had made a thread asking what we all thought of putting a 6" Fabtech lift onto their 4Runner. I would probably chime in and say I think it's a dumb idea because that's exactly what they would be asking for. Opinions. This wasn't that type of thread. Of course you have the right to give your opinion whenever you want. My only point was why give it if it's not that constructive? Saying, "it will look stupid" really doesn't accomplish anything.

And who says they have to wheel it? I went to Hawaii a long time ago and ran into a local (in a mall parking lot) driving a ridiculously lifted '89 Toyota Xtra cab. I stopped and chatted him up. I asked him why he would want to lift it so high and how it performed off-road. He told me that he never takes it off-road and that he has another rig for that. He then showed me pics of one sick exo-caged 1st gen 4Runner going through all sorts of crazy stuff. In addition, he showed me pics of his buddies. All of them had their daily "show" rigs and then their dedicated off-road rigs.

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

I would understand if they had made a thread asking what we all thought of putting a 6" Fabtech lift onto their 4Runner. I would probably chime in and say I think it's a dumb idea because that's exactly what they would be asking for. Opinions. This wasn't that type of thread. Of course you have the right to give your opinion whenever you want, my only point was why give it if it's not that constructive? Saying, "it will look stupid" really doesn't accomplish anything.

And who says they have to wheel it? I went to Hawaii a long time ago and ran into a local (in a mall parking lot) driving a ridiculously lifted '89 Toyota Xtra cab. I stopped and chatted him up. I asked him why he would want to lift it so high and how it performed off-road. He told me that he never takes it off-road and that he has another rig for that. He then showed me pics of one sick exo-caged 1st gen 4Runner going through all sorts of crazy stuff. In addition, he showed me pics of his buddies. All of them had their daily "show" rigs and then their dedicated off-road rigs.

And who says they have to wheel it?

I did mention:

If you're not looking to wheel, not looking to even touch dirt, but plan on parking it up at the mall, drop brackets are STILL a bad choice. They are expensive, damaging to the vehicle as they are not reversible, and quite literally useless. A suspension lift would be cheaper and more cost effective, regardless of terrain.

Even if you're a mallcrawler, DB lifts still ruin center of gravity and on road performance. 4Runners are already tippy vehicles.

The whole point of a DB lift is just to make room for bigger tires, but it defeats the purpose when you cancel out the ground clearance gained from those bigger tires. In other words, I have more ground clearance (and a much lower center of gravity) with 33s and a 3" coil/shock lift than someone with 35s and a 6" DB lift.

Funny thing is, my 4Runner doesn't even fit in the mall parking garage, and it's lifted only 3".

Function over form, always. Dumping money into something like this for looks is absolutely a waste of time and money... if someone wants a huge pointless lift, they should buy a Silverado or F250, it'll cover their small penis better.

 

[Hepar]

Even if you're a mallcrawler, DB lifts still ruin center of gravity and on road performance. 4Runners are already tippy vehicles.

I don't think anyone was planning on running the Autobahn with one on. Remember, OP said Hawaii. Most folks don't need to travel too far from their homes on a day to day basis.

Function over form, always. Dumping money into something like this for looks is absolutely a waste of time and money...

Again, your opinion. Like I said in my last post. If I had my current 4Runner, went to Hawaii, saw the truck I saw and assumed because I lifted mine "right" that I knew way more about off-roading that him, I would have been dead wrong.