Small lift ideas

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Backwoods166

New member
I've been lurking for a bit, love the forum and have a few questions.

I have an 02 SR5 w/locking rear dif and I wanted to do a small lift and run 265/75/16s Duratracs. I was sorta sold on the 99 t4r Highlander springs but I have heard people say they have rear sag issues even with brand new 99 springs. Has anyone had experience with this? I am not interested in purchasing spacers, I would rather just buy decent springs. Although, I am having troubling finding many options for a 1-2" suspension lift. I know I could get adjustable but that seems like overkill for what I want. So any help with this would be much apreciated.
 
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Backwoods166 said:
I've been lurking for a bit, love the forum and have a few questions.

I have an 02 SR5 w/locking rear dif and I wanted to do a small lift and run 265/75/16s Duratracs. I was sorta sold on the 99 t4r Highlander springs but I have heard people say they have rear sag issues even with brand new 99 springs. Has anyone had experience with this? I am not interested in purchasing spacers, I would rather just buy decent springs. Although, I am having troubling finding many options for a 1-2" suspension lift. I know I could get adjustable but that seems like overkill for what I want. So any help with this would be much apreciated.
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Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless you've retrofitted an e-locker into that 4runner of yours, you don't have a locking rear diff. The last year rear lockers came as an option in the 4runner was 2000. What you have is most likely a center locking diff, which locks the differential in the transfer case so that the front axle and rear axle share a 50/50 power split while in 4 wheel drive. While still a useful feature, it's very different than a locking rear diff.

As for your question, I'm about the pull the trigger on the following setup:

OME 881's for the front coils (1.75" lift)
OME 906's for the rear coils (around 2")

I'm also going to go with 265/75/16's (Probably MTR's)

I haven't decided on what shocks yet.
 
Does your 02 have an aftermarket rear locker? Cause if not you have the center locker like me. (01 SR5) Don't let that button on the left of fool you. It is not a rear locker, I forgot the exact name but a lot of dealership will claim it is a rear locker when in fact they don't know their own a$$ from a hole in the ground.

The fact of the matter is, any coil will have sag issues over time. You should be able to get a decent amount of life out of them anyways. The only other cheap cure would be to get a leveling kit but that does use spacers. If you are looking to just get that 1-2 inches out I would go for the Highlander coils. They will give you a near factory look and ride just the same. If you haven't already done so it would be a good time to change your shocks too. Much easier to do them both at once.
 
Sonoran Steel 7.2

I went with the SS 7.2 and 265/75/16 BFG's.

If you wanted milder, you could go with their 3.0.

There is a fair gap, but not too terribly bad. The front will likely come down slightly more once the Shrockworks bumper is installed. Here are 2 angles showing what it looks like.
 

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Thanks for the responses guys, great info! I had no idea on the locking rear. It is no big deal to me because this t4r is more of a tar baby :driving:. Building a true toy will come next. I will look into these lift ideas, much apreciated!

Edit: Will 265/75/16 generally fit at stock hight? they look larger than expected on your rig Obkook! I was under the impression they would have minimal if any rubbing at stock.
 
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Backwoods166 said:
Thanks for the responses guys, great info! I had no idea on the locking rear. It is no big deal to me because this t4r is more of a tar baby :driving:. Building a true toy will come next. I will look into these lift ideas, much apreciated!

Edit: Will 265/75/16 generally fit at stock hight? they look larger than expected on your rig Obkook! I was under the impression they would have minimal if any rubbing at stock.
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What size tire do you have on there now?
Are you planning on getting an ARB or heavy front bumper or just keep it stock?
 
cj80cruiser said:
What size tire do you have on there now?
Are you planning on getting an ARB or heavy front bumper or just keep it stock?
Click to expand...

I have worn out 265/70/16s and they seem to have plenty of spare room. I have no plans to do an aftermarket bumper. The 265/75's should only be 1.3" taller I believe. i don't mind a little BFH'in anyway.

I am really liking the OME 1.7-2.0" lift. Is this big enough to warrent extended break lines or any other modes besides shocks? Again, this thing may see dirt roads but it won't be plowing into 2' of mud.
 
Backwoods166 said:
I have worn out 265/70/16s and they seem to have plenty of spare room. I have no plans to do an aftermarket bumper. The 265/75's should only be 1.3" taller I believe. i don't mind a little BFH'in anyway.

I am really liking the OME 1.7-2.0" lift. Is this big enough to warrent extended break lines or any other modes besides shocks? Again, this thing may see dirt roads but it won't be plowing into 2' of mud.
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I don't want to steer you in the wrong direction but afaik you will be fine with the larger tire and won't have to extend your brake lines. You do have some of the lowest lift stock springs comming from that year but I still think you will be fine. Maybe someone else can chime in to confirm this to be 100% true.
 
Backwoods166 said:
I have worn out 265/70/16s and they seem to have plenty of spare room. I have no plans to do an aftermarket bumper. The 265/75's should only be 1.3" taller I believe. i don't mind a little BFH'in anyway.

I am really liking the OME 1.7-2.0" lift. Is this big enough to warrent extended break lines or any other modes besides shocks? Again, this thing may see dirt roads but it won't be plowing into 2' of mud.
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I think the OME 881/906s will be the best choice for your needs. No extended brake lines or anything needed. You can even run your stock shocks with those coils, but since they are 8 years old, now would be a good time to do coils and shocks. You could squeeze on 265/75s without a lift, but most '02s will rub since they are the lowest sitting year of the 3rd gens.
 
I'd go with Brian2sun's suggestion. He's been on here a while and has his stuff in order. I would suggest the Ironman front lift but not many people that I know of have it and I haven't installed mine yet so I'm waiting to see how much lift comes from just the front. The rear Ironman would be a no go for sure since its rated for 660lbs and will lift the rear really high if you don't have that kinda weight back there. I'm partial to ironman and an OME hater :biggrin2:
 
X2 for Brian2sun recommendation of the Old Man Emu 881/906 combo if you do want a small lift. (warning: a lot of people want a bigger lift after a year or two)

I'm 90% sure that you won't have much if any rubbing without a lift and 265/75-16 tires. Some brands run bigger than others.

I'm running Yokohama AT/S 265/75-16, these run bigger than most. I have 2.75" of front lift and 3.5" of rear lift. I have very minor rubbing when I'm totally flexed out. I would have the same rubbing even with stock suspension since I haven't changed my bumpstops and fully compress my suspension to the stops when flexed.
 
or to go in a totally different direction....

You might be amazed how impressed you would be with a simpler and less expensive 1 inch body lift. An inch sounds like so little but it's amazing what it does to the stance of a 3rd gen Runner. And you can go inch and a half or two or three... it just gets a bit more complicated at each height.

Toytec and 4Crawler.com sell them, and I would steer you to 4Crawler. Mr Roger Brown is a genius on all things Runner related-all Toyota trucks actually.


Once you get into suspension lifting there are a lot- repeat- a lot of choices to consider. The amount of info out there is overwhelming. A good place to read up is the Sonoran Steel website and I have yet to ever read one negative comment about a Sonoran supplied lift for 3rd gens. Mr Steve Schaefer (check my spelling here) has run almost every kind of lift imaginable for 3rd gen Runners and details pros and cons of almost all of them.

As for the tire size you may encounter rubbing of the front mudflaps if you go to the 265/75/16 tire size. Or you may not-but I want you to be aware of it. It tends to happen at full lock turns or backing and under compression of the front shocks. Some do not care about this whatsoever...
 
265/75/r16

I ran 265/75/r16 on my 2001 4runner 4x4 with no rubbing. I know yours is a 2002 but just thought I'd give you my experience.

Now I have a suspension lift, body lift, 285/75/r16s, steel bumper... etc. The guys are right, once you start doing stuff to your truck it can become endless.

Good luck with your truck, take care.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. I'm sold on the OME 881/906's. I do plan on picking out some new shocks to go with them but I can do some forum searching for that.

Gerdo: I know how that goes I used to be a Jeep guy. "just one more inch and it will be perfect!"

If I planned on taking this vehicle wheeling in the next 5 years I would be doing things differently. This is more of a stylish commuter car ;)

I can't wait to grab a 24 pack and a couple buddies and have a late one in the garage installing the lift. It will be like highschool! Haha, I'm never growing up...
 
Hey all.

My friend has an 01 on 265 Duratracs and I'm helping him put together a small lift like this. Does anyone see a problem running OME 880s in the front with a 1.5" Daystar spacer in the rear with Trekmasters all around?

Full OME would probably be best, but I'm exploring options. This is a DD/ranch truck for him, not necessarily a wheeler. I have a set of front Trekmasters that I ended up not using that could go to his cause, hence their inclusion in this theory.
 
narhwal said:
Hey all.

My friend has an 01 on 265 Duratracs and I'm helping him put together a small lift like this. Does anyone see a problem running OME 880s in the front with a 1.5" Daystar spacer in the rear with Trekmasters all around?

Full OME would probably be best, but I'm exploring options. This is a DD/ranch truck for him, not necessarily a wheeler. I have a set of front Trekmasters that I ended up not using that could go to his cause, hence their inclusion in this theory.
Click to expand...

880s will probably give ~1" of lift so using that with a 1.5" spacer in the rear would work. It won't ride as good as a full OME kit, but it won't be bad.
 
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