Going to need upper control arms

[patkelly4370]

Up an atom. Fed horses, now the front coilovers and upper control arms.
Unsettled rear heights went from 38¼" to 38¾" on the right and 37¾" to 38⅜" on the left. Left rear got a ½" spacer on top of the coil (front will get ¼" spacer). Old rear spacers were 1" on top of OEM springs.

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[patkelly4370]

All OEM skid plates off.
New Eibach Pro truck coilovers are the same overall length as the OEM + 1½" spacer. Spring is shorter.
JBL upper control arms appear to have more clearance than OEM. And that increased caster that started this.
Left side is done, taking a break. I'm feeling too old for this stuff anymore (just turned 63). Paying the price for an active youth.

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[Pedro367]

May have missed it, but did you paint the JBA arms black yourself?

 

[patkelly4370]

May have missed it, but did you paint the JBA arms black yourself?

Yes.
The rest of the 4runner is blacked out. Bright red control arms would bother me, lol. The aluminum skid plates were painted black too.
All done. Had interference issues with the front skid plate and my aftermarket front recovery brackets. Had to decide whether to remove the brackets or whittle away a bit of the front corners of the skid plate. Ended up removing the brackets. I will probably use the plastic filler piece as a template and make one out of sheet metal to fill the void.
Initially the truck is taller than before. It came with 1½" spacers on front and 1" in the rear. Eibach Pro Truck suspension coilovers and rear springs are the same length as the OEM with the spacers.
Before/after:
LF, 37⅝"/39¼"
RF, 38"/39½"
LR, 37¾"/38⅜"
RR, 38¼"/38¾"
Looks like the height adjustable front coilovers will be useful in bringing down the front a bit. I'll see if it settles in a bit and adjust the front as needed.
Rides nice. Exercised the suspension a bit getting to the highway. On the highway there were no surprises.
Next is an alignment and tires.

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[patkelly4370]

May have missed it, but did you paint the JBA arms black yourself?

Before & after

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[patkelly4370]

After driving it a bit, 100 miles or so, city/highway/washboard dirt roads, the front has "settled".
Immediately after the install the front was about 1" higher than the rear. Now the front is ½" lower than the rear.
Despite the shims on the left side, the left is still slightly lower than the right side.
Tomorrow is new Toyo Open Country AT3 to replace the ATzeros (1st gen). Then the alignment.
Already I've noticed it being more 'stable at highway speeds on bumpy curves, thanks to the JBL ucas.

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[patkelly4370]

Four months and a few thousand miles later, I'm extremely pleased with the ride and handling.
Had a trip to Idaho for a family reunion. Next weekend going to S Lake Tahoe for oldest sons' wedding. Possibility of this being my first time with the 4runner in snow. I've only done snow in an 18-wheeler.

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[rdruss]

"I've only done snow in an 18-wheeler". I only did that once, as a passenger in a Coors truck coming out of Golden and up over Loveland, 1972, June. Was nice, warm and sunny when we left, before top of Loveland had to stop and put on chains. Riding passenger I could look out and see about 4 feet of road and then blue sky! Little scary!

 

[patkelly4370]

Did the Tahoe wedding, there was snow. The 4runner didn't even notice. Son driving our Grand Cherokee didn't fair so well.
They (our son & daughter) spun out. Their first time driving in snow/ice. They were fine. Scared, but fine.
Several miles/hours later the front axle seized. Had it towed the final 200 miles home. Pinion seal stopped sealing and gear lube flung everywhere. Picked up another one, used, and swapped them (after inspection and new seals).
4runner keeps rolling along.

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