Need your opinion!

[mtnbiker]

Hey Doozi...I neglected to tell you that I had to do a bit of trimming and I moved the wheel well liner out a bit too. No big deal, took a dremel to it and it took me about 15 minutes to do everything. Can't even tell by looking at it. I got my coils from a guy over in fjcruiserforums.com and they were off a '09 FJ with about 500 mi. on them.

I went with the spidertraxx because they were hub centric and anodized. Ano blue would probably not be my first choice, but to be honest I don't even notice them anymore.

 

[Doozi]

OK, I pretty much have everything figured out, but have a couple of questions...

1> The Toytec 2" front spacer (TAC2) looks like it's the type that preloads the spring. I didn't think that was good, especially for that much lift. Will this negatively affect the ride quality of the FJ springs?

2> I see that some spacer lifts listed on various websites say, "will not fit XREAS" and some don't mention that. Is there some physical difference that allows some to work with XREAS and others to not?

All of this spacer anxiety is almost driving me toward buying a full suspension set-up! The OW Full 2.0 if you're wondering what I'm thinking about... it's just more than I'd like to spend right now.

Thanks,
~Doozi

 

[Presta24]

I say go with the 3/2 as well I just put the daystar 2.5/1.5 on mine with stock sized AT's and wish I would have gone bigger on lift, but any bigger on lift and you would have to go with a bigger tire size IMO

 

[asnatlas]

I say go with the 3/2 as well I just put the daystar 2.5/1.5 on mine with stock sized AT's and wish I would have gone bigger on lift, but any bigger on lift and you would have to go with a bigger tire size IMO

Presta24, you got pics ?? I have been debating on 2.5/1.5 vs 3/2. I will be going with 265/70/17 (DuraTrac's) and after looking over ALOT of pics it seems like the 3/2 might be too much of a lift unless you have 285s. I seemed to have liked the 2.5/1.5 lifts if they had 265/65 or 70s.

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

Doozi:
How much off roading do you do? Any plans to add a lot of extra weight (i.e. bumpers)? If you do a lot of off roading or are going to add a bumper, I think it'd be wise to reconsider your setup. Spacers are excellent for guys who spent the majority of their time on road and the occasional off road adventure. However, they're no comparison to a true coilover kit such as the OW. You're talking about two things that are about as different as they can be. If you look, most guys on this site have these rigs as their daily drivers and only do a little mild off roading, thus most here are happy with a simple spacer setup. However, if you look on the toyota120 site, those guys are much more into off roading, and hardly any of them are running a spacer setup. They've been down that road, and nearly every one of them will tell you to go all the way the first time so you don't have to do it over again.

The FJ springs and spacer are great, don't get me wrong. Most (good) spacers 2" and over are gonna use some amount of preload. Too much of a topout spacer can cause issues such as overextending the shocks. That's why most of the bigger companies offer it in a preload/topout combo. There are 2" and bigger topout spacers on ebay, but I wouldn't recommend those. I think you're looking in the right direction with the Toytec (or other name brand kits). It will affect the ride from what I hear, but I've never used one so I can't comment any further on that.

Try reading this thread to see if it helps you see which route to take, it explains the differences and options you have with various setups.

 

[Doozi]

I don't do a lot of off-roading... mostly camping/adventuring, but I do come across some pretty rough stuff occassionally. Nothing like rock crawling or anything, but a few times in the past I was VERY glad that my Gen3 had the OME set-up.

I honestly think that my biggest hang-up with this whole decision is my, probably unfounded, need to keep the XREAS. I feel that removing it will greatly decrease on-road performance... my Gen3 with OME was WAY better than stock in every aspect (on and off-road) and I think that the Gen4 "feels" more like my old Gen3 with OME than I expected.

Bottom line... after scouring through images on this site and others, I'd be quite happy with the look of the equivalent of the DS 2.5/1.5 or CF 3/2 with Spidertrax. I do feel that the stock springs are somewhat soft for load carrying/off-road so I felt that the discovery of the FJ spring option would provide a slight improvement at an affordable cost. Decent bang for the buck!

At some point in the distance future, I hope to do the aftermarket bumpers and stuff, but that's a ways off financially.

Thanks for listening,
~Doozi

 

[Doozi]

Well... I still can't decide on which spacers to get to go with my FJ coils! After hours and hours of on-line searching and looking at pictures, it seems that the FJ coil lift is a big guessing game. I've been using a floor jack to raise the front end to various heights while measuring floor-to-fender and front and rear points on the running boards. I've determined that I want the front up 1.5"... this puts the front of the side steps 1/2" lower than the rear of the steps.

I guess that this is going to be a multi-stage operation... putting the FJ coils in, seeing where I sit, then adding the necessary spacers to correct the stance.

~Doozi

 

[Bundles09]

Id say go with the 1/2 toytec front spacer (yields 1''). With the Fj springs this should net 1.5.

Hope that helps. Ill post up my ride with I get min on!

 

[Doozi]

Thanks Bundles! That would work if I knew that I was going to net 1/2" up front from the coils, but I've read everything from 1/2" to 1.5" just from the coils. Then there's the rear FJ coils... I've read anything from under 1/4" to 1".

The good news is that the Cornfed front spacers are a combination of preload and top-out so I can do the rears first (coils only), see where that sits, then do the fronts and add either preload, top-out, or both depending on how much the front coils lift. Sounds like a long weekend in the garage!

~Doozi

 

[Doozi]

OK... I'm finished over-analyzing this... time to purchase!

My list includes:
> Toytec 1/2" front spacers (1" lift)
> Spidertrax wheel spacers (1.25")

I'll be happy if I end up with a 1" difference between front and rear... like +1.5" in the front and +0.5" in the rear. Anything greater than that up to about 1.75" would make it even better.

Any last comments before I whip out the credit card?

Thanks for all of the guidance to date,
~Doozi

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

Just from what I've seen that'll get you about two inches in the front. The 1/4"spacer is recommended for the v6. Several have done this, 8086bruce comes to mind so you may look at his if you want. The 1/2"spacer will make fender gap even but running boards and roof line will be higher in the front and if your loaded it'll definitely be high in the front. Check out the chart in the link in my sig, it'll show what others with a 4wd v6 have gotten.

 

[Doozi]

I've compared everything from engine/drivetrain to whatever "before" measurements I could find.

When I raise the front of my 4Runner 1.5", the front of the tube steps is 0.5" lower than the rear of the tube steps. So, anticipating about a 0.5" greater front lift from the FJ coils, the stance would be similar to this with a 1" front spacer lift. About 0.5" taller overall though. Maybe I'm missing something.

Stock stance...

Simulated 1.5" front lift...

~Doozi

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

We all have different measurements, so it is likely that your's will be different. I'd count on an inch of lift in the front, you'll definitely get more than .5" from the FJ springs. Looking at the pics, the 1/2" thick spacer may be a better route to take. I've seen quite a few going with the 1/4" thick spacer and having good results, but yours may require bigger.

 

[Doozi]

Ark... I see what you're saying and I think that even if I ended up with 2" up front (1" coils + 1" spacer) and 0" lift in the rear, I'd still be ok. A touch less than 1" up front from the coils and a touch more than 0" out back would be even better!

I hope to be riding higher within a month!

Thanks again for all of the guidance and information you put together!

~Doozi

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

Based on the measurements you provided, I agree. You'll get get some lift in the rear so it should work out well. The only thing is if you're loaded or towing it may sag some, but even then it shouldn't be bad. That's the thing about using the jack, you can get a feel for the various setups and find a range that suits you.

 

[Toy4R4Me]

If you want a noticeable lift go with the 2/1. IMO the FJ springs with the 1'' spacer (on a 4x4 V8) make the truck look like it should have coming from the factory and the 2/1 makes it look like it's lifted. Personally, I think the FJ springs with the cornfed 2/1 is aesthetically the best setup. See PharmSCRunner's build for pictures.

Also, if you want the wheel spacers to look right you're going to need a higher lift than just the FJ springs and 1'' spacer. I put spidertrax on mine with just the FJ springs and it looked like one of those lowrider minitrucks with the 14'' wheels sticking out.

 

[Doozi]

I think that my 4Runner at almost 2" higher in the front and around 0.5" higher in the rear will be plenty for me... noticeable yet subtle. Just going to the 265/70's was noticeable to me! If I end up a little nose-high, I'll just add the appropriate rear spacer.

One of my main inspirations was Matt's (gaterose) 4Runner... FJ coils with Bilsteins set at 0.85" up front and wheel spacers. <thanks for the info Matt> Looks great! Mine won't look as good as his due to my '06 fenders and less aggressive AT tires, but I think that I'll be happy with it. If I wanted more, I'd have to go with a solid axle conversion!!