Looking to put a lift my 98 SR5

[CarolinaCowboy]

So I have had my 1998 T4R for about 5 years now and have loved every minute of it. I'm graduating college here soon and am looking to upgrade with a lift and tires with the extra cash I'll have from my job. Unfortunately I'm a newbie to most of it and only know the basics so bear with me if I don't understand some stuff. BUT with that said I think I'd like to put on a 2"-3" lift(not sure body or suspension) to make room for 33" tires. It's entirely stock right now. I'd like to be able to do some moderate off-roading/trail riding as well as beach cruising when I'm down at the outer banks fishing off the surf. This will still be my full time ride as well so on & off-road ride is important. I'm also looking to be cost effective where possible. Just throw me some ideas if you have any or questions as well. I'll try to post a pic of what I'm working with. Thanks guys... Look forward to being a part of the forum!

P.S. I've checked out ToyTec lifts, Daystar lifts, and 4crawler lifts... let me know your opinion of these or if you have any experience with them.

 

[quicksilvr]

Do a real suspension lift. Which is new lift springs and shocks. A spacer lift is a "suspension" lift, but just adds spacers on top of your current coil springs. A body lift doesn't change the suspension at all, instead just lifts the body off the frame with spacers. A body lift is usually comes after a suspension lift if you find you still don't have enough clearance for whatever you're attempting to do.

That said, if you want the best, and plan on keeping your Runner for quite a while, do yourself a favor and go ahead and spend the extra $200-$300 to get a Sonoran Steel 1.2 or 7.2 lift system.

I personally would go with the 1.2, cause I like the LC (Land Cruiser) rear coils.

Sonoran Steel, Sonoran Steel Custom Metal Fabrication L.L.C. Custom Toyota Truck Parts

 

[driffter33]

Toytech I run there OME 881 front/ 890 rear springs very happy with the ride and performance and for the price hard to beat IMO. 3" of lift with this set up I would recommend 1" body lift to fit 33's they will fit without but if you go off roading they will rub under articulation.

 

[quicksilvr]

The setup driffter33 just mentioned would be a good one as well. OME 881 front and 890 rear springs with OME comfort shocks. It's also only about $700-$800 total, compared to $1200 for the SS lift kits.

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

Toytech I run there OME 881 front/ 890 rear springs very happy with the ride and performance and for the price hard to beat IMO. 3" of lift with this set up I would recommend 1" body lift to fit 33's they will fit without but if you go off roading they will rub under articulation.

I'm assuming with this lift I would need the 1" differential drop?

Also, quicksilvr mentioned the OME comfort shocks... are these necessary or would my standard shocks work? I don't think I want to drop $1200 on my first lift project seeing as the wheeling I will be doing won't be extreme... hunting trails, some off-roading, and beach driving. So $420 for the OME front/rear springs & diff drop is much more attractive to me if it can get the job done. And if needed I could probably add the 1" body lift at a later date if needed for not significantly more.

 

[brian2sun]

To get a level 3" lift with the 881/890 setup, you'll need the top spacers for the front and your stock shocks will limit the travel so you really should get the shocks too. If the rest of your truck is stock (bumpers, no armor, etc..), the 881 w/spacers and 890s is the way to go if you choose OME. I also recommend that you pay them (toytec) the $100 to have them pre-assemble the front strut assemblies, but that's up to you.

Whatever suspension lift you're considering, you should do the diff drop.

 

[fightman80]

The setup driffter33 just mentioned would be a good one as well. OME 881 front and 890 rear springs with OME comfort shocks. It's also only about $700-$800 total, compared to $1200 for the SS lift kits.

I would agree with Quicksilvr. I bought the Toytec lift which includes only the rear coils, and front spacers with the diff drop. I ended up adding some longer shocks for the rear, and now wish I would have spent the extra to buy some new coils and struts for the front! A 1" body lift will also be needed if you do any wheeling, because you'll get a ton of rubbing when the rig articulates. I also had to trim my lower plastic bumper valance, and take off the mudflaps in the front, just so I could drive it.

Hope this helps!

 

[ToyTec Lifts]

PM sent.

 

[brian2sun]

Fot the record, I cleared my 285s before the body lift at full stuff and full copmpression. I got the BL so the sag wouldn't be such a problem once I got armor, rear off road bumper, sliders, etc.. and the possibility of even going to larger tires. With minor trimming on the front fenders and removal of the rear mud flaps, the 1" BL is not necessary.

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

To get a level 3" lift with the 881/890 setup, you'll need the top spacers for the front and your stock shocks will limit the travel so you really should get the shocks too. If the rest of your truck is stock (bumpers, no armor, etc..), the 881 w/spacers and 890s is the way to go if you choose OME. I also recommend that you pay them (toytec) the $100 to have them pre-assemble the front strut assemblies, but that's up to you.

Whatever suspension lift you're considering, you should do the diff drop.

What do you mean when you say the stock shocks will limit the travel?

And just so everyone knows, the rest of the truck is completely stock... no bumpers, armor, etc so nothing stronger than the 881s/890s would be needed if I were to go for that setup. What I'm gathering from everyone though is that in the long run it's worth the extra money to go with coilovers and struts... Is this simply because it will do better off-road? Or will my on-road driving benefit from this too?

 

[brian2sun]

The stock shocks will limit the travel because they aren't long enough to let the new coils fully decompress. The OME shocks are extended so the have a longer range of travel. Everything will benefit from having new shocks and coils, on and off road.

 

[quicksilvr]

What do you mean when you say the stock shocks will limit the travel?

And just so everyone knows, the rest of the truck is completely stock... no bumpers, armor, etc so nothing stronger than the 881s/890s would be needed if I were to go for that setup. What I'm gathering from everyone though is that in the long run it's worth the extra money to go with coilovers and struts... Is this simply because it will do better off-road? Or will my on-road driving benefit from this too?

There are two main ways to do your front suspension. You can use standard style struts with a fixed spring perch (Some Bilsteins have 3-5 position movable spring perches) OR you can use threaded body "coilover" style units.

Standard struts and springs you just have to make sure you match the spring to the correct strut if you're mixing and matching. You don't want to use lift springs with stock struts. They won't work nearly as well, and they will usually blow out pretty quick, especially if the stock struts you re-used were aged at all. And if you're buying new struts, there's no sense in buying stock ones if you've got lift springs.

Threaded body coilovers are infinitely adjustable within their adjustment range and are great performers since they are designed as a unit. BUT. If you live anywhere where corrosion is an issue, I would stay far away from coilovers. You'd have to treat them literally every 2 weeks with some kind of protection and keep them clean all winter long if you want to be able to adjust them after 2-3 years of driving. If you live in the south or the west, this is usually not a problem. Myself where I live, I will never buy coilovers, cause it's not worth the pain of keeping them clean and lubed up all winter long, every winter.

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

Standard struts and springs you just have to make sure you match the spring to the correct strut if you're mixing and matching. You don't want to use lift springs with stock struts.

So would it work if I replaced the shocks front and back with something like OME, ProComp, or Bilstein shocks and just left the stock springs as is?

 

[ToyTec Lifts]

The shocks don't offer any kind of lift. (except the 5100 Bilsteins)
The spring coil does the lifting.

If you can't afford 4 coils and 4 shocks, I would do yourself a favor and save for it.

 

[UARandy3]

The shocks don't offer any kind of lift. (except the 5100 Bilsteins)
The spring coil does the lifting.

If you can't afford 4 coils and 4 shocks, I would do yourself a favor and save for it.

I agree with this. I ordered my kit from Toytec a couple weeks ago and love it so far. I went with the complete OME kit w/ shocks and decided to go with the 881s w/ top plate spacer and 890s to fit my 285/75 duratracs. It's definitely stiffer than stock (thankfully) but not bad at all......my wife and the people that ride w/ me often haven't complained at all. My old coils were so tired and were making contact with the bumpstops far too often, and my shocks were pretty much shot as well. I had considered going a cheaper route at first by just going with some Daystar spacers, especially since mine is 2wd. But every time I'm in my truck now, I'm thankful that I saved up enough to do it right the first time.

:cheers:

 

[fightman80]

I agree with this. I ordered my kit from Toytec a couple weeks ago and love it so far. I went with the complete OME kit w/ shocks and decided to go with the 881s w/ top plate spacer and 890s to fit my 285/75 duratracs. It's definitely stiffer than stock (thankfully) but not bad at all......my wife and the people that ride w/ me often haven't complained at all. My old coils were so tired and were making contact with the bumpstops far too often, and my shocks were pretty much shot as well. I had considered going a cheaper route at first by just going with some Daystar spacers, especially since mine is 2wd. But every time I'm in my truck now, I'm thankful that I saved up enough to do it right the first time.

:cheers:

2X on the above!

 

[CarolinaCowboy]

So after hearing all of the opinions I'll probably save up my money and get a full suspension lift. So now what are recommendations on the best combination of price and quality for these lifts? Most of what I've heard about and seen online is the Complete OME suspension and the Toytec Ultimate Lift. Are there any other full suspension recommendations?

 

[Elton H]

since i like to post this pic heres mine with ome 882s and top out spacer over kill cv's dont like me but im not a fan of huge rake rear is 94 lc coils and skyjacker ext shocks and a ss panhard bar and diff drop also a 19'' rear brake line

 

[UARandy3]

So after hearing all of the opinions I'll probably save up my money and get a full suspension lift. So now what are recommendations on the best combination of price and quality for these lifts? Most of what I've heard about and seen online is the Complete OME suspension and the Toytec Ultimate Lift. Are there any other full suspension recommendations?

Yeah, I would hold out and save up for a full suspension kit and shocks bc at 12 years old, it could probably use it.

The kits that you mentioned that Toytec sells seem to be really popular because of varying kits and price levels to choose from based on your needs. Sonoran Steel also has some really sweet set ups that some people on here are running, but they're significantly more expensive (but worth it, depending on your needs). Or you could even try to piece together a kit like EltonH showed above w/ the LC coils.
There's plenty of options out there to choose from. Might be helpful to search or look at the 3rd gen picture gallery sticky and find something you like the look of and then go from there. I'm sure others will chime in too.

Hope that helps some!

 

[Rock Hardson]

Sonoran Steel 1.2 lift is no more expensive than an OME lift from someone, because it comes with more items to do your lift right.

New bump stops, stainless steel braided extended brake lines, adjustable panhard bar, etc. So instead of doing it half way for $800, you are doing it complete for $1200. Compare for yourself.