FJ Springs and BFG MT's (Lots of Pics)

[BlairB]

BlairB, truck looks awesome! I plan to do the FJ springs as well in the spring/summer. Yeah CJ3Flyr gave me that idea last year. Just wondering, how hard was it to remove the front springs? I looked at how to take out the front shocks and springs without a spring compressor over at toyota120.com. Is that the way you did it or another method? I'm trying to figure out if there's another way to remove the springs. thanks.

I actually took them to a shop to have the front done, since it is somewhat difficult. I would have done it myself, but since I am at school I am both very busy and without a full set of tools. I debated trying the method that doesn't require a compressor, but in the end decided to let a shop do it.

 

[BlairB]

Just a little update, these tires were great off road today ( here are some pics ) but since they are narrower/more aggressive they definitely feel less stable at speeds on the highway, but its a tradeoff that I am willing to make- I needed to slow my driving down anyway.

These springs performed really well off road as well, they seem to do a lot better job than the stock 4runner springs.

I am also rubbing somewhere very lightly while off roading today, but have yet to figure out where. All the mud made it difficult to see.

 

[HB 4X4]

Just a little update, these tires were great off road today ( here are some pics ) but since they are narrower/more aggressive they definitely feel less stable at speeds on the highway, but its a tradeoff that I am willing to make- I needed to slow my driving down anyway.

These springs performed really well off road as well, they seem to do a lot better job than the stock 4runner springs.

I am also rubbing somewhere very lightly while off roading today, but have yet to figure out where. All the mud made it difficult to see.

Still couldn't outrun me though

But it definitely looks awesome now! :bigok:

 

[BlairB]

Still couldn't outrun me though

But it definitely looks awesome now! :bigok:

I might have tried a little harder if I didn't have a dog who spent about 25% of the time just standing in my back seat, rather than laying down and taking it easy

And thanks, I am finally happy with its looks, for now....

 

[HB 4X4]

I might have tried a little harder if I didn't have a dog who spent about 25% of the time just standing in my back seat, rather than laying down and taking it easy

And thanks, I am finally happy with its looks, for now....

Except the sliders right?

 

[Seatown]

Just a little update, these tires were great off road today ( here are some pics ) but since they are narrower/more aggressive they definitely feel less stable at speeds on the highway, but its a tradeoff that I am willing to make- I needed to slow my driving down anyway.

These springs performed really well off road as well, they seem to do a lot better job than the stock 4runner springs.

I am also rubbing somewhere very lightly while off roading today, but have yet to figure out where. All the mud made it difficult to see.

Blair, could you clarify your stability concerns with the 255/75/17's? did you feel the 4Runner was wandering more? At what speeds did you notice the changes?

I'm about to order these tires, so any feedback would be great; thanks!

 

[HB 4X4]

Blair, could you clarify your stability concerns with the 255/75/17's? did you feel the 4Runner was wandering more? At what speeds did you notice the changes?

I'm about to order these tires, so any feedback would be great; thanks!

At freeway speeds they wander, and tend to follow any groove or imperfection in the road. An example would be if there were a large crack or dent in your lane, the tires will pull you into it.

 

[Seatown]

Okay I see what you mean; my stock Dunlops do that right now too! Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[HB 4X4]

Okay I see what you mean; my stock Dunlops do that right now too! Thanks for sharing your experience!

That's not my experience, it's just what Blair told me and the general rule of thumb for narrower tires.

It's a compensation for being better offroad when compared to a wider tire in almost every situation.

 

[BlairB]

Blair, could you clarify your stability concerns with the 255/75/17's? did you feel the 4Runner was wandering more? At what speeds did you notice the changes?

I'm about to order these tires, so any feedback would be great; thanks!

Josh is right. They just feel less stable in general, which is no surprise with narrower tires, but it is just most noticeable at higher speeds.

That being said, I would not let this sway you from these tires. You are driving a 4runner, not a race car, so these tires should suffice on-road . Don't be surprised by increased road noise and a rougher ride though.

 

[BlairB]

Also, I did the extended rear dif breather mod tonight, I will make sure to get pics up tomorrow.

After doing it, I can really see where the potential problem lies with all the mud/dirt/debris that was stuck in that general area after off roading. All it takes is a few little pieces of dirt to get in the wrong place, cause the breather to stick and you are going to have some real issues.

 

[HB 4X4]

*cough* T4ROTM *cough*


:dancin:

 

[BlairB]

*cough* T4ROTM *cough*


:dancin:

That would much more likely be you, with the exception of this thread every other picture of my truck has yours right next to it, making mine look bad!

 

[BlairB]

Here are some pics of the dif breather extension install


New union where the breather used to be

The line that I ran from the union to the gas door

New breather location

 

[BlairB]

I, like many, decided to recycle my old breather as I did not like the design of the new one as much.

 

[HB 4X4]

You may want to zip-tie the exit pipe below the cap of the fuel tank so it doesn't ever pop back through the opening. I don't think it would, but it might not hurt.

 

[BlairB]

You may want to zip-tie the exit pipe below the cap of the fuel tank so it doesn't ever pop back through the opening. I don't think it would, but it might not hurt.

I thought about that, but it is wedged in their pretty tightly, to move it I have to wedge something in and pull the rubber away from it, plus getting the breather past the actual gas cap wouldnt be easy.

With the amount of force currently that would be required to pull it through the opening, I doubt a zip tie would do much to stop it from happening, but you are right it wouldn't hurt. I will look tomorrow.

 

[Thai]

I thought about that, but it is wedged in their pretty tightly, to move it I have to wedge something in and pull the rubber away from it, plus getting the breather past the actual gas cap wouldnt be easy.

With the amount of force currently that would be required to pull it through the opening, I doubt a zip tie would do much to stop it from happening, but you are right it wouldn't hurt. I will look tomorrow.

Not sure about the 4th gen 4runner, but on my 3rd gen, i routed the breather line to the back of the vehicle, inside the rear bumper, and into the taillight housing. I know that there is nothing wrong with your location now (since a million people have done it that way), but gasoline and breather tube just don't seem to go together in my head.

 

[BlackDrake]

Just a little update, these tires were great off road today ( here are some pics ) but since they are narrower/more aggressive they definitely feel less stable at speeds on the highway, but its a tradeoff that I am willing to make- I needed to slow my driving down anyway.

These springs performed really well off road as well, they seem to do a lot better job than the stock 4runner springs.

I am also rubbing somewhere very lightly while off roading today, but have yet to figure out where. All the mud made it difficult to see.

Great looking pictures!

I just picked up my 2006 4Runner 4x4 Sport Edition V6 with X-REAS last night. I've spent hours and hours searching this forum, reading posts and looking at pictures of everyone's rides. I would start a new thread, but this one seemed most related to my questions. The lift I'm leaning toward would be the 3/1 Cornfed lift and retain the stock 4Runner springs, for now. You're the only guy here that I found who had this 3/1 setup, even though it looks like you've moved on. Also, you happen to have run the tire size I'm interested in: 255/75/17. I've read your posts, but I hope you can clarify a couple of points for me.

Did you do the FJC springs at the same time as the 3/1 lift? If there was any time you had only the 3/1 and the stock springs, were you running the 255/75/17 at that same time? Did you have rubbing issues?

I've run a MT on a old beater Nissan 2WD pickup and loved them, but they are noisy, wear quickly and aren't fun at high speeds on the freeway. I'm currently looking to go back to an AT tire and the Silent Armor is at the top of my list. The biggest drawback with that tire for me is that it might not look aggressive enough. I understand that's part of the trade-off between an AT and a MT. One last note, I used to have a modded Audi A4 with wide street-legal slicks and those things tramlined like crazy until you went high speed into the twisties. It was worse than trying to walk a 1/2 dozen puppies with ADD. They were distracted by everything on the road. I guess what I'm saying is that I've experienced the wider tires to wander more than a narrower tire. Could be because you're talking about a MT?

Sorry for the longer post, but I've developed a lot of questions while sifting through all of the great information on this forum.

 

[BlairB]

Great looking pictures!

I just picked up my 2006 4Runner 4x4 Sport Edition V6 with X-REAS last night. I've spent hours and hours searching this forum, reading posts and looking at pictures of everyone's rides. I would start a new thread, but this one seemed most related to my questions. The lift I'm leaning toward would be the 3/1 Cornfed lift and retain the stock 4Runner springs, for now. You're the only guy here that I found who had this 3/1 setup, even though it looks like you've moved on. Also, you happen to have run the tire size I'm interested in: 255/75/17. I've read your posts, but I hope you can clarify a couple of points for me.

Did you do the FJC springs at the same time as the 3/1 lift? If there was any time you had only the 3/1 and the stock springs, were you running the 255/75/17 at that same time? Did you have rubbing issues?

I've run a MT on a old beater Nissan 2WD pickup and loved them, but they are noisy, wear quickly and aren't fun at high speeds on the freeway. I'm currently looking to go back to an AT tire and the Silent Armor is at the top of my list. The biggest drawback with that tire for me is that it might not look aggressive enough. I understand that's part of the trade-off between an AT and a MT. One last note, I used to have a modded Audi A4 with wide street-legal slicks and those things tramlined like crazy until you went high speed into the twisties. It was worse than trying to walk a 1/2 dozen puppies with ADD. They were distracted by everything on the road. I guess what I'm saying is that I've experienced the wider tires to wander more than a narrower tire. Could be because you're talking about a MT?

Sorry for the longer post, but I've developed a lot of questions while sifting through all of the great information on this forum.

First of all congrats on the new purchase and welcome to the forum!

I never had my 3/1 without FJ springs, but you should be fine with just the 3/1 and 4Runner springs. Even with my 3/1 and FJ springs I had rubbing, so you will probably have some as well, but it only takes a few minutes to relocate your inner fender and trim the needed things to solve that problem. Guys have fit 255/75/17 on stock height rigs. Also, depending on your wheels/if you have spider trax you may get more or less rubbing. What I got with those tires was nothing compared to what I get with my current ones, I went from a 32" to a 33.5" so the rubbing has gone up quite a bit, and in areas that are not simple fixes (frame, body mount, pinch winch on the firewall).

As for the wandering, its inherent to a lifted truck, especially with aggressive tires with lots of sidewall. It just seems to wander a bit more than stock, its honestly not bad at all even now with taller tires that are the same width and about 2 more inches of lift than I had with this setup.

Let me know if you have any other questions, and my build thread also has different stages of my truck if you wanted any other ideas.