KDSS lift advice
- Thread starter SATSTRAIL
- Start date
cdiset
New member
Check that, you don't want a body lift, you want a suspension lift. And take your time in deciding what you really want. I did a spacer, then went to 5100's, now I have Kings. Wish I had known how good the Kings were, I would have just went that way first. If its not in the budget, totally understandable.
Now as for height, yes more ground clearance is better. But 2-1/2" in the front is the sweet spot before you really have to do more mods. And with 2-1/2" lift, you can fit 285's with minimal trimming. Wheel offset will affect the amount of work needed also.
I ran 1.75" with the Bilsteins, and it was decent but I heard that it rides much more harsh at 2.5".
Just read all the forum posts, and drive your friends lifted trucks, before you go balls out on modifying.
Just my FWIW.
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Thought I read somewhere here on the forum that setting the front 5100’s at .85 leveled the rig. Bad info... or bad memory?
Thx S1
onepremiere
New member
Just something to keep in mind and this is specific to the 4Runner.
Your ride height differs from when your 4Runner is parked vs. driving. If you look at a stock 4Runner on the road, it will look nearly level. When it's parked- stinkbug. Few reasons for this 1. cargo carrying capability 2. towing 3. ride comfort. When the 4runner is parked it is sitting more than halfway through it's up travel or compression cycle in front. The rear however is sitting less than half way through its compression cycle. So when the 4Runner is in motion the suspension is even through its cycle front to rear. Giving you 50/50 up and down travel. Now when you level the 4Runner (as I did the first time), when it is in motion the 4Runner will squat or yaw, reducing the up travel in the rear, and reducing the down travel in the front. Add weight to the rear, and this condition is increased. Think of a boat when its moored vs. planing. Ultimately this reduces ride quality. Now keeping the rear end just 1/4" higher will allow the 4Runner to yaw the way it was designed. Once I propped the rear end, the 4Runner rode completely different. My settings Front: 6112 @ 6th Perch or 2.2" and Rear: T13 + OME 10mm Shim* I've done this because I've added a drawer system in the rear and added a rack which brought the rear end down a little bit. Bottom line, a little rake is good. Just my experience, thought it might help.
Oh and any KDSS lean as a result of lifting is easily corrected with a 10mm wrench. So don't sweat it. The lean is a result of an imbalance of hydraulic fluid between the rams and hydraulic actuator. Opening the valves allows the fluid to move past the actuator freely, allowing you to manipulate the rams and the amount of fluid between the actuator. Once you've eliminated the lean by either putting wood blocks under the tires opposite the lean or having someone sit inside on the opposite side of the lean and then close the valves, the fluid is locked, and you've got a even 4Runner.
Sorry rambling/
Your ride height differs from when your 4Runner is parked vs. driving. If you look at a stock 4Runner on the road, it will look nearly level. When it's parked- stinkbug. Few reasons for this 1. cargo carrying capability 2. towing 3. ride comfort. When the 4runner is parked it is sitting more than halfway through it's up travel or compression cycle in front. The rear however is sitting less than half way through its compression cycle. So when the 4Runner is in motion the suspension is even through its cycle front to rear. Giving you 50/50 up and down travel. Now when you level the 4Runner (as I did the first time), when it is in motion the 4Runner will squat or yaw, reducing the up travel in the rear, and reducing the down travel in the front. Add weight to the rear, and this condition is increased. Think of a boat when its moored vs. planing. Ultimately this reduces ride quality. Now keeping the rear end just 1/4" higher will allow the 4Runner to yaw the way it was designed. Once I propped the rear end, the 4Runner rode completely different. My settings Front: 6112 @ 6th Perch or 2.2" and Rear: T13 + OME 10mm Shim* I've done this because I've added a drawer system in the rear and added a rack which brought the rear end down a little bit. Bottom line, a little rake is good. Just my experience, thought it might help.
Oh and any KDSS lean as a result of lifting is easily corrected with a 10mm wrench. So don't sweat it. The lean is a result of an imbalance of hydraulic fluid between the rams and hydraulic actuator. Opening the valves allows the fluid to move past the actuator freely, allowing you to manipulate the rams and the amount of fluid between the actuator. Once you've eliminated the lean by either putting wood blocks under the tires opposite the lean or having someone sit inside on the opposite side of the lean and then close the valves, the fluid is locked, and you've got a even 4Runner.
Sorry rambling/
b407driver
New member
Yaw? That would be an axis perpendicular to squat. That makes no sense.
onepremiere
New member
Yaw can be movement 360 degree's on a vertical axis. Think of your 4Runner on a vertical pole, movement front to back, left to right. I don't know where the yaw sensor is in a 4Runner, but in a Tacoma it is located under the center console. Nearly the center of the vehicle.
DKFTPNYC
New member
IIRC, I've read, not just on this forum, that this method didn't work for long and the lean still eventually came back. Has this been the case with you? But if this definitely works long term, I'd much rather go this route and remove the spacer on my rear passenger side.
I've done it on mine when I just leveled out the front back then but whatever lean I might've had wasn't noticeable to begin with so I wasn't sure if it worked or not.
TIA
This method works for the 3 minutes that you spend while jumping up on the truck and then once you close the valves and go for a test drive, the lean reappears. In my case, the lean came back as soon as I turned out of [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION]'s driveway. We tested to see if we could jump up and down with the valves CLOSED and the truck actually turned level... before giving way to the lean again once we hit it for a test drive. I'm not so sure the valves are "locking" the fluid or not. Alas, I am left with spacer options/get adjustable coilovers to adjust my front/rear passenger side to level with the drivers side.
hwell:
DesertCanyons
New member
ICON lift and KDSS lean
I think the main reason to lift a vehicle is to be able to install larger tires. Larger tires are the best way to get more ground clearance, especially under the rear differential.
I finished installing the ICON Tubular Stage 7 lift a few days ago. I got about 3" of lift out of it and it drives really well. The front coil over shocks are adjustable when they are installed on the vehicle, unlike some other shocks, but you do have to lift the weight off of the suspension before turning the cam over the spring. The shocks come from ICON set at 1&1/2" of thread above the cam. I set mine to within 1/8" to 3/16" of the recommended maximum of 2&1/8".
If you have access to a vehicle lift in your shop then you'll have a much easier time than I did, working on my garage floor with a floor jack, cylinder jacks and jack stands.
I had a significant KDSS lean when I got done. The whole vehicle was an inch higher on the passenger side than on the driver's side. Before the lift it was already 1/2" higher so no big surprise that it was worse after the lift. The lean was due to either a higher right rear at the coil spring or right side front coil over or the KDSS system. One side of the sway bar is connected by a solid strut that doesn't change even though the truck was lifted 3". The front sway bar is fixed to the LCA so it may affect the lean?
Yesterday I leveled my KDSS. After searching for solutions and asking here I realized I could lower the compression (raise the ring to lower the lift) on the front right coil over, open the KDSS valves and let it equalize (possibly a temporary fix), add a spacer to the left rear coil spring or a combination of all 3 of these. I got a tip here to add an OME 10 mm spacer to one of the back springs. That did the trick! The two sides are within 1/4" of each other, front and back.
Today I'm having the truck aligned.
I think the main reason to lift a vehicle is to be able to install larger tires. Larger tires are the best way to get more ground clearance, especially under the rear differential.
I finished installing the ICON Tubular Stage 7 lift a few days ago. I got about 3" of lift out of it and it drives really well. The front coil over shocks are adjustable when they are installed on the vehicle, unlike some other shocks, but you do have to lift the weight off of the suspension before turning the cam over the spring. The shocks come from ICON set at 1&1/2" of thread above the cam. I set mine to within 1/8" to 3/16" of the recommended maximum of 2&1/8".
If you have access to a vehicle lift in your shop then you'll have a much easier time than I did, working on my garage floor with a floor jack, cylinder jacks and jack stands.
I had a significant KDSS lean when I got done. The whole vehicle was an inch higher on the passenger side than on the driver's side. Before the lift it was already 1/2" higher so no big surprise that it was worse after the lift. The lean was due to either a higher right rear at the coil spring or right side front coil over or the KDSS system. One side of the sway bar is connected by a solid strut that doesn't change even though the truck was lifted 3". The front sway bar is fixed to the LCA so it may affect the lean?
Yesterday I leveled my KDSS. After searching for solutions and asking here I realized I could lower the compression (raise the ring to lower the lift) on the front right coil over, open the KDSS valves and let it equalize (possibly a temporary fix), add a spacer to the left rear coil spring or a combination of all 3 of these. I got a tip here to add an OME 10 mm spacer to one of the back springs. That did the trick! The two sides are within 1/4" of each other, front and back.
Today I'm having the truck aligned.
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tral
New member
I first started my lift on my 14’ KDSS with bilsteins set at 2.5 and a 1.5 spacer in the rear on stock springs. I thought the ride and the “look” was great. Fast forward to this winter and I upgraded the springs to Toytec front and back with Dobinson’s UCAs and trim spacer. The ride is so much better.
I always had a little lean and with my measurements after settling, it is still there with the spacer (this I don’t get). I am adding a full Budbuilt skid package so the gas tank skid hopefully will even this out a little more even.
Measurements
Driver
Before/ After
37.5 / 38.5
Passenger
Before/ After
37.25 / 38.5
Driver Rear
Before/ After
38.5 / 39.75
Passenger Rear
Before/ After
38 / 39.25
I always had a little lean and with my measurements after settling, it is still there with the spacer (this I don’t get). I am adding a full Budbuilt skid package so the gas tank skid hopefully will even this out a little more even.
Measurements
Driver
Before/ After
37.5 / 38.5
Passenger
Before/ After
37.25 / 38.5
Driver Rear
Before/ After
38.5 / 39.75
Passenger Rear
Before/ After
38 / 39.25
FloridaFeMan
New member
Any chance you could post a picture of your 4Runner post leveling with the 5100s?
fgeorge097
Banned
Newbie questions, thank you!
How does the KDSS system affect towing capability in the 4R?
Does it reduce rear squatting?
Also, can you still install airbags with the KDSS system also installed?
How does the KDSS system affect towing capability in the 4R?
Does it reduce rear squatting?
Also, can you still install airbags with the KDSS system also installed?
