Lift or just level?

shawn719

shawn719

New member
NOVICE ALERT - NOVICE ALERT
I have been reading up on the variety of options many have used for their Gen5's as it pertains to lifting and/or leveling.
Love the look and functionality -
I have looked at a ReadyLift kit 695060 that lifts front 3" and back 2" but I worry that the "mushy" feel of my 4R suspension will remain.
I am also looking at the "Ultimate 3" Lift package" from Toytec as an option as well.

Is there an inbetween? Or am I wasting money?
Ultimatley, I want to lift about 2" (rear), level out, and tighten suspension (w/occasional off roading - nothing extreme)

Any help from the gallery would be great
 
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shawn719 said:
NOVICE ALERT - NOVICE ALERT
I have been reading up on the variety of options many have used for their Gen5's as it pertains to lifting and/or leveling.
Love the look and functionality -
I have looked at a ReadyLift kit 695060 that lifts front 3" and back 2" but I worry that the "mushy" feel of my 4R suspension will remain.
I am also looking at the "Ultimate 3" Lift package" from Toytec as an option as well.

Is there an inbetween? Or am I wasting money?
Ultimatley, I want to lift about 2" (rear), level out, and tighten suspension (w/occasional off roading - nothing extreme)

Any help from the gallery would be great
Click to expand...

Personally, I wouldnt lift the front more than 2 inches without UCAs. 3/2 lifts look good, but you need to seriously beef up the tires. I'm at 1.75/.75 and anything smaller than a 285 looks a little small (though some tires look bigger than their spec).
 
robotkiller said:
Personally, I wouldnt lift the front more than 2 inches without UCAs. 3/2 lifts look good, but you need to seriously beef up the tires. I'm at 1.75/.75 and anything smaller than a 285 looks a little small (though some tires look bigger than their spec).
Click to expand...

Roger, UCA's - check.
 
There is seemingly a metric a** ton of lift options and a relatively small amount of credible information available to differentiate between the options. :confused: I read about internet stuff for probably a year total including the stuff I read before I owned the 4runner. At one point I had spreadsheets with all the lingo and prices to figure it all out.

What you buy will depend on your budget and goals.

I started leaning toward toytec, but my eventual conclusion was to buy once-cry once. :cry:

Overland warehouse, Icon, and Old Man Emu options got serious consideration. I didn't like how high the OME, Overland options sat.

I installed Icon front coil-overs, Light Racing Upper control arms, icon rear shocks, Sway away rear springs. Very impressed with the Light Racing UCA. Overall happy with my set-up. This stuff was $1,845, other parts and tools was an additional $130 or so. Lifetime alignment an additional $190.

Modifying cars can be rewarding, but can be just as disappointing and costly. caveat emptor
 
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Mick offers sound advice.

I "leveled" my '06 4R using Daystars and haven't had a problem with them.
But once bitten by the "mod" bug, there is no turning back.
Had to then put on SpiderTrax wheel spacers and larger tires.....was a matter of time before the front wheel bearings failed.
AND THEY WILL EVENTUALLY!
Doesn't take a PHD to see where the wheel load is to the bearings.

So removed the spacers and went back to OEM size tires, replaced myself the wheel bearings/both sides (unless you have a press, can't do it PROPERLY) and getting the truck ready for my daughter to take possession of.

Not talking you out of a lift or leveling but stop there, that is DO NOT add spacers to your hubs!
 
Go for the 3/2 lift with toytech, overland or icon, UCA and tires and wheels down the road. You'll love it.
 
shawn719 said:
That is a great route - but, will the mushy suspension still remain? I suspect so - maybe upgrading the shocks would help?
Thanks for the input - DayStar is on the list!:boink:
Click to expand...

Mine wasn't bad. If I had to do it again I would have gone with the OME the first time around.
 
For a really basic setup 1.5 - 2" spring kit OME 883/895e with all factory shocks. I think would help your nose dive issue and stiffen it up just enough so its still a good daily driver
 
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Ok, taking in all the knowledge - thank you all for helping out.
What I am thinking is buying Toytec Front adjustable coil over kit with Bilstein 5100's, and Rear OME 895E Rear Coils with Bilstein 5100's.
The fronts are adjustable 1-3" and the rear springs give me 1.5 lift.
I am thinking this will control the the nose and control while giving a nomial lift to the4R. (for about $1000.00 before install and align)
...Wait, what about all the other stuff? Sway bar relocates, Front diff drop kit, and junk?? :wtf:
:shrug: Heck, hard to say. :ybrick:
Otherwise, I can always go with the Toytec Ultimate lift package with new UCA's. (This will run 1630.00 before install and align)
...man, this is crazy.
I am thinking just a package and go with it. I am fair too novice to be parting together a kit...
Man, I really should have taken auto shop in school - or even helped the ol' man out when he was working on the old station wagon...
Ill call Toytec tomorrow. Maybe I can get a discount from them...heck, cant hurt to ask.
S
 
I got a good price and pretty good service from metal tech.

Metal Tech 4x4 Toyota Off Road Specialists

look at the coupon in the middle of the page, $1650 for icon stage 1. you can sawp to 1.5" SAW springs if you want

I was thinking of going OME for northern winter durability, but the inability to adjust height was a neg for me.

The other vendor I looked at a lot was wheelers offroad

By the way I have sway bar relocate brackets I could sell. I did not use them since I have KDSS.
 
shawn719 said:
Ok, taking in all the knowledge - thank you all for helping out.
What I am thinking is buying Toytec Front adjustable coil over kit with Bilstein 5100's, and Rear OME 895E Rear Coils with Bilstein 5100's.
The fronts are adjustable 1-3" and the rear springs give me 1.5 lift.
I am thinking this will control the the nose and control while giving a nomial lift to the4R. (for about $1000.00 before install and align)
...Wait, what about all the other stuff? Sway bar relocates, Front diff drop kit, and junk?? :wtf:
:shrug: Heck, hard to say. :ybrick:
Otherwise, I can always go with the Toytec Ultimate lift package with new UCA's. (This will run 1630.00 before install and align)
...man, this is crazy.
I am thinking just a package and go with it. I am fair too novice to be parting together a kit...
Man, I really should have taken auto shop in school - or even helped the ol' man out when he was working on the old station wagon...
Ill call Toytec tomorrow. Maybe I can get a discount from them...heck, cant hurt to ask.
S
Click to expand...
Sway bar relocates are not needed, nor is the diff drop.

If you do not need adjustable, seriously look into an OME kit. I was on the fence and almost pulled the trigger on the OW 2.0, but realized I would never adjust ride height. Grabbed the OME kit for almost half the price, and could not be happier. Ride is great, articulation is great, height is great.

I would recommend working with Jeff @ ToyTec, he took great care of me and had no issues answering my 500 questions while I made my decision. He is extension 107 and ToyTec's number is 3032554959. His sn here on t4r is sn0wrunner IIRC.
 
I recently upgraded the wheels and tires. Still have stock suspension. My verdict is the "mushiness" is 90% due to the crap tires the put on at the factory. Switch to 18x9 wheels with better tires and you will feel a world of difference, and may not have to take such drastic measures on the suspension.
 
shawn719 said:
NOVICE ALERT - NOVICE ALERT
I have been reading up on the variety of options many have used for their Gen5's as it pertains to lifting and/or leveling.
Love the look and functionality -
I have looked at a ReadyLift kit 695060 that lifts front 3" and back 2" but I worry that the "mushy" feel of my 4R suspension will remain.
I am also looking at the "Ultimate 3" Lift package" from Toytec as an option as well.

Is there an inbetween? Or am I wasting money?
Ultimatley, I want to lift about 2" (rear), level out, and tighten suspension (w/occasional off roading - nothing extreme)

Any help from the gallery would be great
Click to expand...

As a novice, I advise you to do this in baby steps. The more you mod the higher the potential for mechanical "challenges" and since you profess to know next to nothing about suspension and have never wrenched much this is what I would do:

1. Buy good all terrain tires. This is the most important and best mod you can do. If you want you can bump up a size to 275 without any rubbing on a stock setup. Drive it that way for several weeks and determine if you like that feel.

2. If you want to level or even take it up an inch or so, then buy Bilstein 5100 adjustable shocks for the front, Bilstein 5100 regular shocks for the rear and spacers for the rear so you can level it out. Drive it for a few weeks and see how you like it.

At this point you have done nothing but put new tires and good shocks on it. No real mods that you would not have had to do eventually anyway due to wear. You have added spacers to the rear to level but they are nothing but spacers. At this point you will have accomplished your goals of getting rid of mushy feeling and levelled it and lifted it a little.You have done nothing major.

Going the way others here have suggested is fine, and you might not ever have any problems. Unfortunately if you do, as a novice then you are lost and will have to depend on a mechanic at a shop or people on the internet for advice. The way I outlined above even a novice can figure it out. Let me give you an example:

"You get new tires, replace coilovers, shocks, UCA's and everything else at once. You drive away and you have a slight vibration. What are you going to do? Is it the tires? Is it alignment? Is it a defective UCA? Is it a loose bolt? Did the shop screw up the sway bar bracket and install them backwards? You don't know and will have to depend on others for help and it will cost you a lot of time and money."

Another example:
"You get new good new tires. You drive it away and you have a slight vibration. Guess what...it has to be the tires. Take it back and have the tire guy fix it. Several weeks later you get the Bilsteins. You drive it away. You have a slight thump. It has to be the shocks. You take it back and have the guy fix the shock."

This way, you know what is happening and if any problems arise even you can troubleshoot it. You do everything at once and all bets are off. My advice.

Good luck!
 
^ good advice. All that should be standard practice but often we get overzelous.

Reminds me of a joke.

Two bulls are at the top of a hill. A young bull and an old bull.

The young bull looks down into the valley and sees three cows grazing by a tree.

He turns to the old bull and says "hey we should run down there and **** one of those cows!"

The old bull replys "no"

Clearly disappointed, the young bull asks "why not"

The old bull says. "We'll walk down and **** them all."

Took me some time to implement this in my life and it is still difficult sometimes.
 
I disagree. If he lifts and then decides he wants 285s, now he has to repurchase tires. I took advice like yours, ended up lifting, wanting 285s and had to buy tires twice. :cry:
 
brockeverly said:
I disagree. If he lifts and then decides he wants 285s, now he has to repurchase tires. I took advice like yours, ended up lifting, wanting 285s and had to buy tires twice. :cry:
Click to expand...

Whatever. Please explain your logic and advantages in doing everything at once. Oh, and please don't leave out what happens when (not if) something is wrong, especially to a self proclaimed novice.
 
1engineer said:
Whatever. Please explain your logic and advantages in doing everything at once. Oh, and please don't leave out what happens when (not if) something is wrong, especially to a self proclaimed novice.
Click to expand...

He was not asking about TIRES was he? You made that recommendation, I disagreed from my personal experience in buying tires twice. I never said "do everything at once", I recommended a lift. You sure do get bent out of shape when someone disagrees with you, don't you? :rockthrow:
 
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