Question About leveling

[RUN-4-LIFE]

Hello peeps,

I just got a 2007 Runner SR5 V-6 and I want to level out the front end, I hate the saggyness of the truck. I read over the sticky thread of leveling and lifts but have a few further question, it stated that leveling won't be good for off roading because it doesn't add travel, but I rarely leave the concrete just trails in the U.P. now and then. But my question comes now, how would leveling the truck with the Daystar Comfort Ride Leveling kit (2.5'' front leveling) effect towing of the truck? I would tow around anywhere from 500 to 4k depending on the weekend.

And Do I have to level both front and rear together or would just applying the front kit level out the truck? I want to do it right but I don't want a massive lift just enough to level out the truck.. That is it. When I leveled out my Avalanche it had torsion bars so that was easy, changed the torsion keys, put them where I wanted got an alignment and done, Didn't need to touch the rear suspension..

Also if I leveled the truck is there anything other than an alignment that I'd need to get to make sure it functions properly? And would it affect the ride quality/ handling drastically?

Thanks in advance for answers

 

[m85476585]

After leveling it will sag in the back when you tow or carry a load like cargo or passengers in the back. If you are driving at night your headlights will be aimed wrong, and you won't be able to see the road as well, and you will blind other drivers. If you re-aim your headlights when it's level you should be OK.

If you change anything on the front end you probably need an alignment.

 

[themuffinman619]

If you're gonna be tearing into the suspension, now would be a good time to get some new shocks as well. 2nd gen tacomas and fj cruisers share the same front setup. If you can find a set of the yellow and blue bilsteins, that would be even better. If you have the budget, you can go with bilstein 5100's all around.

For the front I just did a stock tacoma bilstein strut with moog fj coils and a 1" spacer. In the rear I picked up a set of stock fj coils and tacoma bilstein shocks. It sits SLIGHTLY higher in the front, but once the new moog coils settle, it should level out.

The ride is so much better now. After I did the swap, I found that the front driver and rear pax shocks were blown. Which explained the bottoming out just going over ms speed bumps.

 

[t-man]

^^^ What he said. If you go the 5100 route the ride is really nice! Can't speak for any others personally. It all depends on what you want to spend, but I would run the 5100's on your stock springs personally and lift the front .85 or 1.75 to get rid of a little rake.
Yes, get an alignment afterwords.

 

[tysauce]

I have the daystar 1" budget boost on my 2007 SE V8 - which provides 2 inches of front end lift. I did nothing to the rear. It leveled out the truck perfectly. I, like you, hated the front end sag of the truck and wanted a cheap/easy fix. Got an alignment afterwards and have not noticed any changes in handling or performance.

 

[boondoggle]

If you hook up a trailer after being leveled you'll get a saggy rear end. And that's never a good thing.

However you could put some airbags in the rear springs to help level it back out when necessary. Apparently they're easy to install and failry inexpensive.

 

[RUN-4-LIFE]

I know that I looked into that and budgeted air bags into that... but one inch life will be 2 inches for the front.. is that correct?

 

[brianhuntRVA]

I know that I looked into that and budgeted air bags into that... but one inch life will be 2 inches for the front.. is that correct?

Correct. If you're not going to do anything to the rear then don't go any higher that the budget boost 1" spacer up front. Otherwise it'll be nose high.

 

[RUN-4-LIFE]

Ok. Cool. Totally forgot to respond. Gonna order the parts and hopefully put them in this weekend. Got extra time off school for Easter break. Got it off amazon too, gotta love prime. Oh and will the stock shocks be fine?

 

[97hb]

I installed the cornfed 3/2 on since around 60k miles with stock suspension and it's been good to me ever since. Have done some off roading Big Bend national park and some Colorado trails. I even took it out to the moab in Utah but nothing extreme. Yes I had to reaim my headlights but was no big deal. In fact I'm still on the stock shocks with 330k+ and no it doesn't bounce around like a low rider lol. My rear end does sag a bit when towing.

 

[RUN-4-LIFE]

That's good to know. How hard was training the headlights?

 

[97hb]

That's good to know. How hard was training the headlights?

I made sure the fuel tank was full, tire pressure was to spec and had someone around my weight sit in the driver seat while adjusting. The top bolt is horizontal and the bottom is vertical adjustment.

 

[ebg18t]

That's good to know. How hard was training the headlights?

Training? The lights don't respond to verbal commands like a dog.

You will need to adjust them manually. There are 2 adjuster screws, 1 for horizontal and 1 for vertical. Just make sure you adjust the lights on level ground.

Here is a link with pictures: adjusting 4th gen headlights