Post your LIFTED pix here!

Thanks! I did consider 2.5 but I was concerned about the alignment being out of spec and the ride getting harsh. I do have just under 2" of rake still which is ok with me. The ride and handling seem to be better, especially on the dirt road I live on. It soaks up the little potholes and such much better. I feel more little bumps on pavement but I attribute that to the E load tires.

There is less body roll, nose dive, etc. the alignment numbers were still crap and I may take it back to have them try again. My caster is .5 or 1 which makes for a twitchy highway ride.

The Toyos are great. Pretty aggressive looking and zero road noise. They were also cheaper than BFGs and have a 50k warranty.

I'm on the south side in Locust Grove.
 
Nope, it came that way. Maybe part of the JBL upgrade?

I did buy it used so I guess it is possible the last guy swapped them.
 
Upgraded from 285's to 295's...

295/70/17 Nitto TG's fit...and look awesome - ride great as well. Slight rubbing at full lock when flexing, but minor trimming will fix that!
 

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Yes it is Bell Mtn. There are some more pics in my sig link.

http://rhino4runnersuspension.shutterfly.com/pictures/2377

Take 76 to Shake Rag Road. There was a little gas station there. Bunch of little trailer homes at the bottom, followed by $$$ expensive houses further up the mountain.

Route is first steep, narrow asphalt then steep, easy forest service road gravel, then finally a pretty gnarly V-ditch trail, followed by a rocky section.

The v-ditch section has a pass to the left and one to the right. The one to the right would be easy except that to get on it there is a steep entrance. The one to the left is okay and is what I took. It then crosses the main v-ditch and goes to the right. Used ATRAC across this.

The only place that I had a problem was when coming off the pass to the right and getting on the main V-ditch trail.

At the time, I had wife and two dogs in the truck and was trying to take it easy. Probably could have raced across with some momentum, but since I didn't, that got me going slow in a slippery, steep, and off camber section. It was not at all comfortable.

Truck could have slipped or flopped. I got out and hooked my winch line to a big tree up the trail. Got everyone out, kept the winch line tight, and was able to drive out of it. First time I've pulled cable in a real dangerous situation. From there is was easy to stay to the right of the V- ditch and then further up is an area that could be used to turn around before a rocky section.

In the rocky section it is easy except there was a big rock that jutted out and lifted the truck to the cliff side of the trail, followed by a good size tree root the other tire has to go over. That made me a bit cautious. I turned on my locker in this area. Not sure it was needed but I got up no problem.

On the way back down, to get from the main V-ditch trail to the bypass I used some speed and momentum. I am glad I did, it would be a nasty place to go slow and slide.

On the way down I was trying to figure my route across the V-ditch section. I met a young kid in a huge, ridiculously lifted F250 at the base and needed to know which way he was going. He was completely green. He couldn't initially get his truck into 4wd and was doing a lot of revving and one tire spinning on the trail at the very base. He was taking the most difficult route and had not walked any of the trail. It was pretty late in the day to head up too. I wonder how his day turned out???

There is a lot of graffiti at the top, so the local HS students make it up without a problem. Or maybe they walk because the difficult section is pretty short. There were several hikers on the trail with us.

I also met a guy there with a Kawasaki mule. He was at the base and just looking at the trail. He said that some time ago he had flipped his last side by side quad machine off the mountain and had got hurt pretty bad. I got the feeling that he occasionally (regularly??) goes to the base of the trail and stares at it.
 
[MENTION=73024]Mick1[/MENTION] would it have been possible to straddle the V-ditch and just let the sidewalls dig in? Could you have made it choosing another line and without using your winch line?

Some of the people over on Expo have been there lately but never really spoke of difficulty.
 
If it were dryer, yes, straddling would probably work.

The trail looked a lot more ragged in person than in an older you tube video I saw on the web. I think the recent rain must have tore it up some.

I didn't take any pictures of that section. :dizzy:
 
Ironman 4X4 (what?) 2" lift

I found out that my 4Runner's driver side rear shock was leaking and my passenger side front strut was leaking at 40K miles. My driver side front was completely blown but was replaced while it was still under warranty.

Instead of replacing it with OEM parts and suffering potential leaks down the road, I decided to call MetalTech 4X4 and explained the situation. I don't do any hardcore offroading. I take the 4Runner on some difficult terrain in Big Bend National Park but nothing that will raise the hair on the back of your neck (mainly to get to a remote trail head). We decided on the Ironman TOY0BKG (struts, shocks and springs); the cost was a very reasonable $510 (a bargain in my book). Ironman is a Australian company and that make quality susupenion pieces. It system will fit either the FJ or the 4Runner and give it a 2" lift. It's the nitrogas system. The offroad shop said the install was very straight forward with no issues. The alignment came out fine (don't have the final specs on me at the moment). It's just a hair under 38" to the front fender and a hair under 39.5" to the rear fender from the ground.

I put on 1000 miles on the new suspension (all on road) and the ride is stiff but still comfortable (I believe someone on the FJ forum stated that it was 20% stiffer than OEM). The nose dive has improved tremendously and the corning is much sharper (no wallowing) even though the center of gravity is higher. I finally installed my rims (Granite Alloy GA09's) and 265/70/17 Nitto Terra Grapplers. Overall I am very pleased with the new look. I lost 1MPG but it's well worth it.
 

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I found out that my 4Runner's driver side rear shock was leaking and my passenger side front strut was leaking at 40K miles. My driver side front was completely blown but was replaced while it was still under warranty.

Instead of replacing it with OEM parts and suffering potential leaks down the road, I decided to call MetalTech 4X4 and explained the situation. I don't do any hardcore offroading. I take the 4Runner on some difficult terrain in Big Bend National Park but nothing that will raise the hair on the back of your neck (mainly to get to a remote trail head). We decided on the Ironman TOY0BKG (struts, shocks and springs); the cost was a very reasonable $510 (a bargain in my book). Ironman is a Australian company and that make quality susupenion pieces. It system will fit either the FJ or the 4Runner and give it a 2" lift. It's the nitrogas system. The offroad shop said the install was very straight forward with no issues. The alignment came out fine (don't have the final specs on me at the moment). It's just a hair under 38" to the front fender and a hair under 39.5" to the rear fender from the ground.

I put on 1000 miles on the new suspension (all on road) and the ride is stiff but still comfortable (I believe someone on the FJ forum stated that it was 20% stiffer than OEM). The nose dive has improved tremendously and the corning is much sharper (no wallowing) even though the center of gravity is higher. I finally installed my rims (Granite Alloy GA09's) and 265/70/17 Nitto Terra Grapplers. Overall I am very pleased with the new look. I lost 1MPG but it's well worth it.

I'm digging the look with the 2" lift and it's more for what I was looking to do with mine. Thanks for the info, looking forward to see longer term review, since I don't think I've seen anyone else running that setup.
 
What springs front and rear do you have?

Wow, that looks really good! Which OME kit did you buy? Details please!

Sorry about the delay. I've been away from the computer for a few days. The OME lift consists of 2885 Front Coils/90010 Front Nitro Struts and 2895 Rear Coils/60080 Nitro Shocks. I'm very pleased with it other than the rear end is squeaking very badly with every bump. I'm going to give it some time to settle before running it back to the dealer to check it. Thanks for the compliments!

Clay
 
Finally

I didn't Think I would ever get to post in the thread...After almost 1 year of ownership:

Before...
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After....
DSC_0087.jpg

Bilstein 5100 on all 4 corners. Front set at the highest 2.5" setting and 1.5" Daystar spacers in the rear. Final ground to fender measurements are 38" on both sides up front and about 38-1/2 on the passenger rear and 38-1/4 on the rear driver.
 

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