Lift / Suspension Question...

[XJ2SR5]

First off - yes, I have read through the lifts thread; so much that it made my brain hurt. Looking for those who have experience with the lifts and who can comment and give advice on what I'm looking to do.

'99 SR5, auto, 4wd (no locker), 3.4. I live out in the Mojave desert and play mostly in the desert and SE Sierra Nevadas. My main "wheeling" is washboards / desert speed, mud and fire roads that have been washed out. I'm not interested in rock climbing, hills and even less interested in off camber. Some flex is necessary to deal with washouts, but mainly looking for something to smooth out the washboards and maintain some good mph in the dirt.

She's currently sitting at 21 1/4" from mid center cap to bottom flare(thin chrome SR5 flares)up front and at 20 3/4" out back. This is on 265/70/16's. I'm not looking for much lift, as I'm 5'6" and still need to get into the damn thing.

Looking to replace more than just coils / shocks as she did spend the first 11 years of her life in OH, so she has some good rust underneath. I'd be looking to do small lift and replacing basic complementary components with OEM.

My first inclination is to go with OME as I had that on my Jeep and loved it, but it did not do great on washboards. I'm really interested in the Absalom builds : http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/197591-absaloms-cookie-cutter-4runner-builds.html

but I'd kind of like to see better(more visible) result for the amount of $$ being spent there, especially if I'm shelling out for all OEM stuff.

Also, what thoughts on tire size to go along with a very small lift and the type of playing I do (washboards / desert speed, mud and rutted fire roads)? She is also my DD at 100 miles daily, RT. 255? 245? What aspect ratio?

Thanks in advance for advice, thoughts, feedback and your experiences. This is why we're here, right?

 

[turbo8]

What's your budget?

If you're looking to do high speed stuff, get some 2.5" reservoir shocks. You have a lot of choices: fox, king, icon, saw, etc.

The fronts come with about 2.5" of lift from the factory, you can raise them up or down though as they are adjustable.

I'm not sure how much lift you want, but look into the factory 99 tall springs, I believe these will lift about an inch. OME has 2" lift springs as well.

My 4runner handles everything quite well with my setup.

 

[XJ2SR5]

About $2500 and really only looking to go 1" - 2" higher than where stock '99 talls put me. Trying to replace as many important suspension pieces (LBJs, UCAs, bushings, etc)and get a quality lift for that price...

 

[psraff]

We're totally 180* apart build wise, but I'll try a bit of input. I love my 255/85x16 tires, but you mentioned desert speed (I'm guessing sand) and mud so you would want a wider tire. Fire trails, hard earth, things like that the 255/85s are perfect for many reasons.

Here's always a good read to learn what tire you need for what you're building your rig for:
Expeditions West: Tire Selection for Expedition Travel

I 2X the option for the 2.5" front setup for your type of driving... Sounds like they'll get a good workout. Good thing is, there's a lot of guys on here who likes that country so they should have some good input.

As for the rear, again, we're totally different. I've got 861s and LC Shocks back there, and I swear by them. But that sounds like it's too much height for you at this time. I wouldn't even pretend to know what I'm talking about to tell you what you need back there since I'm not sure what you carry weight wise.

Something I've noticed when I upgraded my rear to Bilstein shocks (before I went with the LCs), was the heat. I got them from Toytec and they were what a lot of people used, but I seemed to be the only one who felt they got hot. Like almost too hot to grab and hold on to. For me, that's meaning they're getting overworked. And they felt a bit too bouncy for my liking.

So something to mention is what's your plans in the next one to three years for armor and cargo area? Weight is a huge factor on suspension.

 

[XJ2SR5]

OK - going with a SS 1.2 setup with the 2.5" Radflos w/ reservoirs up front. Any recommendations on UCAs (without spending a grand). Will be replacing lower ball joints and control arm bushings; anything else I should be looking to add to this?

 

[electroCrunch]

OK - going with a SS 1.2 setup with the 2.5" Radflos w/ reservoirs up front. Any recommendations on UCAs (without spending a grand). Will be replacing lower ball joints and control arm bushings; anything else I should be looking to add to this?

SPC upper control arms come in at a reasonable cost, and allow for adjustability to get back to a good alignment. There are other options, but SPC is a good price to performance from what I found. They also offer a sealed upper ball joint, that's grease-able.