Need Suspension help---insert dead horse here.

[Wuzzy]

I know you guys are going to say"did you search?" and yes I did. But the search kills me everytime. I either get no matches found or 20 pages of crap that has nothing to do with that Im looking for.
Anyway over the past few months my suspension has been droopping/rising. The front is drooping and the rear looks like it is getting higher. I have a 2004 Sport with the V8. I have the XREAS system. I just had to remove my mudflaps because the front tire were rubbing pretty bad over small bumps. I do not take it off road and by the looks of it it never went off road. I have owned it for about a year and a half and it has 150,000 miles. I took some measurements from the top outside edge of the tire and this is what I got.
left front - 3.25"
Right front - 4.25"
Left rear - 5.75"
Right rear - 6.5"
It rides nice and smooth and I dont have any issues other then it sits funny. I do have a set of FJ springs that I has going to toss in it but I just spent all my play money on another project then got laid off..again. Should I just try to throw a set of 2" spacers in the front and call it good ?

 

[TRDCal]

I know you guys are going to say"did you search?" and yes I did. But the search kills me everytime. I either get no matches found or 20 pages of crap that has nothing to do with that Im looking for.
Anyway over the past few months my suspension has been droopping/rising. The front is drooping and the rear looks like it is getting higher. I have a 2004 Sport with the V8. I have the XREAS system. I just had to remove my mudflaps because the front tire were rubbing pretty bad over small bumps. I do not take it off road and by the looks of it it never went off road. I have owned it for about a year and a half and it has 150,000 miles. I took some measurements from the top outside edge of the tire and this is what I got.
left front - 3.25"
Right front - 4.25"
Left rear - 5.75"
Right rear - 6.5"
It rides nice and smooth and I dont have any issues other then it sits funny. I do have a set of FJ springs that I has going to toss in it but I just spent all my play money on another project then got laid off..again. Should I just try to throw a set of 2" spacers in the front and call it good ?

Well a 2in spacer in the front would give you 4in of lift so I wouldn't do that...are you sure you searched?? LOL

From the suspension sticky:

It is important to note that you will gain double the spacer thickness in lift in the front ONLY. For example, a 1” thick spacer will provide 2” lift. A 1.5” rear spacer would net 1.5” lift.

What you should do depends on what you want. How much higher do you want it?? Do you want it 2 inchs higher in the front? Then get a 1 inch spacer.

 

[Wuzzy]

Sorry I ment a 2" lift spacer. I dont really want to lift it much. I have 2 small kids and a short wife. She likes the height it is now. My last vehicle was a Grand Cherokee with 9.5" of lift and one of the MANY reasons I got rid of it was because she hated crawling up into it.

 

[WXman]

Your tires are rubbing the mud flaps? What size are your tires? If they are stock size, then you have a big problem. If your coil springs have sagged that bad, then I recommend replacing the coils and shocks and do not use any spacers. A good set of Old Man Emu coils and any shocks you want will make the front end good to go again. You could also get new OME coils and any shocks you want for the rear also. Take that XREAS garbage out and throw it in a dumpster. You'll never miss it.

 

[Wuzzy]

Im running General Grabber AT2s 265/70/17. I would love to replace everything, but like I said I just got laid off again. I plan on doing the FJ/5100 swap as soon as I can justify spending the money. I already have the springs.

 

[gaterose]

Im running General Grabber AT2s 265/70/17. I would love to replace everything, but like I said I just got laid off again. I plan on doing the FJ/5100 swap as soon as I can justify spending the money. I already have the springs.

If you've already got the springs you can put those on the stock shocks until you can save up for 5100s. The FJ springs with a 1/2" lift spacer should make it sit level (and about the same as 2" spacers), FJ springs alone will get you close to level.

Either way, I'd use the springs alone or with some small spacer setup before spending more on 2" lift spacers.

 

[ebg18t]

5100's are available for about $300 a set now.

 

[oljedi11950]

rub

Man I wouldn't think you should be rubbing with those tires , only 1 up from stock ? Fj springs will help do those first (lots of diy on them) . Just doesn't sound like you would rub ?

 

[tyota]

If I were you I would buy a 1" thk DS budget boost spacer and install it with your FJ suspension. This is what I am running now. It looks and rides killer. It will clear 265/70/17s no problem. I had the 1/2" thk spacer and I felt it was too low in the front. With the 1" thk spacer it still sits 5/8" higher in the rear. Perfect imo. Plus the DS kit is only 38 bux and is ridiculously easy to install.

 

[Wuzzy]

I think the daystar 1"spacer is going to win for now. I FJ springs for all 4 corners, but I also have FJ front struts. Should I just install those also ? They have about 70,000 miles on them.

 

[zopperman]

I think the daystar 1"spacer is going to win for now. I FJ springs for all 4 corners, but I also have FJ front struts. Should I just install those also ? They have about 70,000 miles on them.

you can't do that with XREAS. It's either all of nothing. I'd just bite the bullet on the billies if you can afford it, it will save you money down the road. Or you can search for some FJ rear shocks on the cheap and make all 4 corners FJ

 

[fo'dilly]

+1 on trying to locate some cheap rear FJ shocks. It seems like the current state of your suspension is in need of a full replacement and why ride around on a half fixed problem when take you can take care of the whole thing at one time. Chances are it will save you money down the road, not to mention its a lot safer and should only help to improve the ride.

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

FYI: OEM Tokico rear struts are roughly $30 each at the online dealers (such as Partznet) IIRC.

With the FJ coils, the Daystar 1" spacer will likely put you nose high without a rear spacer. A 1" net lift spacer on the front with FJ coils will put you at ~1.5" lift in the front.

 

[Wuzzy]

Well It finally stopped raining for a few minutes when I can get away from the kids so I went out to look at what I had. I have the whole strut/coil assembly from a 2007 FJ. And it has what looks like a 1.25" spacer between the top plate and the spring. I know I will have to buy rear shocks but can I install the entire assembly and if so how likely is it that if I install the rear FJ coils it will sit somewhat level ?