The $4000 Suspension Question

[mountain mike]

I spoke with King, they quoted $3,500 for what we see, minus the Total Chaos stuff of course.

Interesting. That is a lot cheaper that I would have thought. He also has some fab time in his, or I would as I don't weld. I agree it is about the sickest suspension I have seen on a 3rd gen and at $3500 for shocks it may be worth a discussion with my fabricator/shop

Before I got my new setup I thought that my 4Runner (Icon) and [MENTION=82154]GSPRunner[/MENTION]'s 4Runner (King) felt exactly the same. Pretty rough on any small bump in the road. Digressive, progressive, whatever. Once the bigger bumps came around it was in no way "soft", but much more controllable.

Now that I got the CDC Valves I have noticed that it's a whole lot smoother over the same bumps I drive everyday, but it's still not "soft" by any means. Even on the "soft" setting.

Honestly, I like the "Hard" setting the most so far. The speeds I was able to comfortably maintain this weekend on my way to my father's ranch were awesome. My tall, heavy, and front swaybarless 4Runner felt damn near sporty.

The "soft" setting I used once I hit the dirt was pretty awesome, but not as amazing. It did make the 10 mile ROUGH road a much faster experience.

Daily driving I roll 6 on the front and 7 in the rear. Seems a good balance for my application.

*edit* I just looked at your build thread and I don't see any mention of a body lift, but your 4Runner is TALL. Way taller than mine. What's your hub to fender measurement?

Also, when I had the BOSS kit I really liked it around town, but I had the 550lb coils. It was when I wanted to go fast on rough stuff offroad that I decided to step up to Icon.

Thank you for your response. It offers a lot of insight on what I was looking for but couldn't quantify. I appreciate it.

No body lift, just the Toytec and 285.70.17 MTR's. Hub to fender I am 23.5 in the front and 24 in the rear.

I think you are running LR UCA's too, correct? Do you feel it inhibits anything running a ball joint vs a uniball? I like the idea of a ball joint. They seem to be quieter and I like that they are more protected from the elements than a uniball. However I see the more serious built suspension all use a uniball.

 

[kolelt]

If I had $4,000 to spend on suspension, I would copy and paste PatioBurrito's setup. For $2,000, I would copy Masphx's setup, it's a VERY composed ride.

That's a sick set up !! Dual shocks upfront !! Very expensive set up !! Straight sleeper !!! But its not long travel , correct ?

 

[SnowLizard]

with some searching I found this thread... great read and I bet you can glean some info from it... not say'n it's what you'll do... but from experience from another 4runner

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/101758-**rickashays-ome-vs-trd-tundra-lc-review**.html

I think this might be my setup... along with mstudt's quick disconnects and rear arms... possibly LR front arms. I'm guessing (don't know rear arm prices yet) but I should be around 1800... and suspension should be 'done' for what I'm looking for. I hope.

700 for coils/shocks
200 for sway bar disconnects (might be delayed...)
400 for LR upper arms
guessing 600-700 for rear links... I'll find out when I get a price.

 

[A.Wilson013]

No body lift, just the Toytec and 285.70.17 MTR's. Hub to fender I am 23.5 in the front and 24 in the rear.

I think you are running LR UCA's too, correct? Do you feel it inhibits anything running a ball joint vs a uniball? I like the idea of a ball joint. They seem to be quieter and I like that they are more protected from the elements than a uniball. However I see the more serious built suspension all use a uniball.

23.5 is pretty big up front. Not crazy, but pretty big.

I run the LR UCAs, that's correct. If they're limiting anything, I'd be very surprised... I haven't noticed anything.

That said, if at the time of purchase I could have talked my wife into a few hundred dollars more, I'd have gotten the Icon UCAs for purely aesthetic reason.

One of the best additions to my front suspension, for ride quality, has been the wheelers superbumps... These things are awesome.

 

[mountain mike]

So I thought I would give an update on my suspension. Turns out, the Toytec kit is just fine. It was my dumb ass that had put the incorrect length of sway bar links on. The rear was WAY to long and the fronts looked to be too short. I must have misread something when I was researching sway bar links. I ended up ordering sway bar links from [MENTION=98153]MStudt[/MENTION] and it fixed my problem. The Runner drives a lot better. It is amazing the difference correct sway bar links made. So the Toytec stays.

 

[MStudt]

So I thought I would give an update on my suspension. Turns out, the Toytec kit is just fine. It was my dumb ass that had put the incorrect length of sway bar links on. The rear was WAY to long and the fronts looked to be too short. I must have misread something when I was researching sway bar links. I ended up ordering sway bar links from [MENTION=98153]MStudt[/MENTION] and it fixed my problem. The Runner drives a lot better. It is amazing the difference correct sway bar links made. So the Toytec stays.

Glad to hear they worked out for you.

You're not alone with mixing up the links. I get asked which go where all the time. Common sense would tell you the longer ones go in the rear, but not on 3rd Gen's.

 

[Chim]

So I thought I would give an update on my suspension. Turns out, the Toytec kit is just fine. It was my dumb ass that had put the incorrect length of sway bar links on. The rear was WAY to long and the fronts looked to be too short. I must have misread something when I was researching sway bar links. I ended up ordering sway bar links from [MENTION=98153]MStudt[/MENTION] and it fixed my problem. The Runner drives a lot better. It is amazing the difference correct sway bar links made. So the Toytec stays.

Awesome! That just saved you a crap ton of money for other upgrades

 

[kolelt]

I'm pretty sure icon offers more adjustability over king or fox. In other words, icon has 10 settings for adjusting the dampening. As far as quality, they are pretty much in line. King is little more money. But you can't go wrong with neither honestly. With hat said. I don't have the boss kit. But I have 5100 all around. And I to hate my ride. Every time it goes over a pot hole I feel like the front end is going to fall apart! To me it doesn't feel like it absorbs it that well. I have 650lbs up front. Armor all around ! And it still didn't make me think that the ride got softer. To each is own though ! Fact is , something well engineered will cost a lot. If you want adjustability and comfort and all around, King, fox, icon ..... I just recently purchased icon 2.5 CDC with 650lbs coil and valved at 5 as stock OEM ride vs the 4 that they come of the shelf. Still waiting for them to arrive. But I'll be ditching my bilsteins.... It is what it is.

 

[kolelt]

23.5 is pretty big up front. Not crazy, but pretty big.

I run the LR UCAs, that's correct. If they're limiting anything, I'd be very surprised... I haven't noticed anything.

That said, if at the time of purchase I could have talked my wife into a few hundred dollars more, I'd have gotten the Icon UCAs for purely aesthetic reason.

One of the best additions to my front suspension, for ride quality, has been the wheelers superbumps... These things are awesome.

Which bump stops are those ?