Trying to avoid buying UCA's with lift

[Dirtrider216]

Gonna be lifting my 4runner at some point soon, I am torn between a toytec boss 3 inch lift With uca or piecing together a lift with ome springs and blistein shocks to be at 2" then adding a 1" body lift
I won't be doing overlanding for several years, until I finish college. But I do plan to do off-roading frequently and weekend camping trips
I'll more than likely have a low profile front bumper with a winch
And I'm considering a roof rack with a ladder. Which would be a better option?

 

[mwray8909]

The 3 inch lift with the 1 inch body lift

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Cymon]

Gonna be lifting my 4runner at some point soon, I am torn between a toytec boss 3 inch lift With uca or piecing together a lift with ome springs and blistein shocks to be at 2" then adding a 1" body lift
I won't be doing overlanding for several years, until I finish college. But I do plan to do off-roading frequently and weekend camping trips
I'll more than likely have a low profile front bumper with a winch
And I'm considering a roof rack with a ladder. Which would be a better option?

What obstacles/places have you encountered that you were unable to get to with the stock suspension and upgraded tires? If you're in college my suggestion is save your $ (for beer or other college extra curriculars), enjoy the camping trips with your $35-45k truck and then mod with what you find you need once you graduate and are in the full time work force. Most in college don't have $ to just blow on mods. If you do then more power to you, but if I were you and I was 15 years ago I would pay off my college loans first. I don't know your personal financial situation so take my advice with a grain of salt, but $2k that goes to your suspension now if saved or invested properly can be a good start to retirement in 35 years.

 

[CajunYota]

Gonna be lifting my 4runner at some point soon, I am torn between a toytec boss 3 inch lift With uca or piecing together a lift with ome springs and blistein shocks to be at 2" then adding a 1" body lift
I won't be doing overlanding for several years, until I finish college. But I do plan to do off-roading frequently and weekend camping trips
I'll more than likely have a low profile front bumper with a winch
And I'm considering a roof rack with a ladder. Which would be a better option?

At 2" suspension lift you will probably be ok without UCAs, but I would highly recommend saving your pennies and getting a set. I just lifted my 5th gen and it drives SOOOOOO much better than my 4th gen did because I didn't change the UCAs on the 4th gen.

If I may offer a different suggestion to improve your offroad capability: get a set of stock size (265/70) all terrain or mud tires. Unless ground clearance is really that much of concern (and it may be depending on what kind of terrain you're working with), the tires will help out much more than a lift, plus depending on which ones you go with, the sidewalls will be a lot tougher than the crappy stock rubber. Flat tires off road = sucks-ville, population you.

If it were me, I'd upgrade tires, then save for a nice coilover suspension (Fox, King, or Icon) with proper UCAs and not even bother with the body lift.

 

[Simpleman74]

just get better tires and save your money

 

[Bootleg]

Trying to avoid buying UCAs is like trying to avoid buying laces with new shoes. You can do it but you'll be a lot better off just going ahead and getting the installed at the same time as the lift. One install, one alignment and save a pile of money. Trust me on this. I read the exact same advice from several members when I purchased my lift and ignored them. Nine months later I shelled out an extra $350 to install and get an alignment. I also had to pay for alignments at two different shops trying to get numbers I was happy with, but never did prior to installing the UCAs.

I would also suggest JBA Offroad UCAs. The price is really good and the ball joints are replaceable with a chevy 1/2 ton ball joint which can be found anywhere in the US/CA for around $35 if shit goes sideways on a trip. I'm super pleased with mine. With a 3" lift I'm sitting pretty with 5* of caster.

 

[DeadMarshall]

I just put Bilstein 6112's on front and got 3 inches from previous ride height and didnt have to replace anything other than the shocks.

note my 3 inch gain was on an 07 sr5 4wd with original shocks on it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dirtrider216]

My main reasons for wanting to lift are that I'm coming off a lifted ford superduty and feel tiny and I also recently moved to northern Maine and don't want to be high centering in the snow all the time and to have more ground clearance in the event I end up in a ditch (I just moved from central Florida where I was born and raised) so that self recovery with floor mats and a winch and shovel is as easy as possible

 

[CajunYota]

I also recently moved to northern Maine and don't want to be high centering in the snow all the time and to have more ground clearance in the event I end up in a ditch (I just moved from central Florida where I was born and raised) so that self recovery with floor mats and a winch and shovel is as easy as possible

For all of the above, I would still recommend tires. Here's why:

Snow: Better tires are a MUST
High Centering: Lift helps, but not at your rear differential, and very little at the front diff.
Self Recovery: Tires>Lift


But it's your money and your truck, so do what makes YOU happy.

As for your original question, you can run a full 3" lift on stock UCAs, but your caster will be out of spec and it will drive a tad squirrely. Not completely unmanageable, mind you, but you will notice it.

 

[Bootleg]

My main reasons for wanting to lift are that I'm coming off a lifted ford superduty and feel tiny and I also recently moved to northern Maine and don't want to be high centering in the snow all the time and to have more ground clearance in the event I end up in a ditch (I just moved from central Florida where I was born and raised) so that self recovery with floor mats and a winch and shovel is as easy as possible

Body lift won't do anything for ground clearance, so you can forget that. Also, you can save yourself a lot of money by slowing down and learning to drive in the snow. Based on what you said here I agree that you need tire more than a lift.

 

[nb rob]

I've lived and played in Northern Maine.

A lift is not going to help you in the allagash. It's not going to help you in the snow. Winter tires, and a matching full size spare is how I'd gear up for northern Maine. As well as a portable compressor and getting good at airing down while covered in blackflies, mosquitos and horseflies.

Wanting a lift is pure cosmetics, let's be honest.
You can get away without aftermarket UCAs, but you're going to have to settle for a shitty alignment, and you're going to feel very twitchy steering on the highway. It's not worth it. Long drives are needlessly exhausting.

 

[uplusd]

How difficult is a UCA install? I have a friend who did some recently and said they were a PITA, but I've read elsewhere that it's fairly easy

 

[CajunYota]

How difficult is a UCA install? I have a friend who did some recently and said they were a PITA, but I've read elsewhere that it's fairly easy

It's not bad. Check out Youtube, there are a few videos on it.

In my buddies Tacoma, we had to use pliers to bend the inner fender out of the way so that we could slide the bolt out, but other than that it wasn't difficult.

In my 4runner no bending was necessary and the bolt slid right out with very little effort, and went back in the same way.

 

[Raptor008v2]

It's not bad. Check out Youtube, there are a few videos on it.

In my buddies Tacoma, we had to use pliers to bend the inner fender out of the way so that we could slide the bolt out, but other than that it wasn't difficult.

In my 4runner no bending was necessary and the bolt slid right out with very little effort, and went back in the same way.

I can also confirm that on my 2017 4Runner no bending was required to get the bolt out for UCA installation.

 

[Dirtrider216]

What would be a good on/off-road snow tire

 

[08runnertjb]

A good tire would be any AT tire more aggressive than the stock dunlops. Depending on type of snow, mud terrains aren't necessarily the best bet, especially in the slushy, or light accumulated wet snow. You'll actually have less traction in those conditions. BFG KO2s, Cooper AT3s, Toyo AT 2s. Those are all great for what I've driven in with them ranging from Northern Kansas winters, to Lake Erie Lake effect snow, to where I live now in the Northern MD area. If you have such deep snow then airing down is better than more aggressive tread.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[08runnertjb]

Just my experience. But experiences are like ....... [emoji90] . Everyone has them.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[Seattle206]

Get the Ko2's. They are the # 1 go-to tires in the entire 5th gen forum. 4/5 photos you see here will have the Ko2's mounted...with black rims, most likely gonna be the TRD rims.

 

[Broso]

Quality lift, you don't even have to go all out (Toytec, Ome, Fox, Icon, King, etc.), UCA's, and good AT tires (BFG KO2) is the only way to go. If your going to do it, do it right and be done. I skimped on the UCA's originally when doing my FJ and all it caused was problems.

Toytec makes a simple kit for around 900$ throw in some uca's 500$ and tires 1200$ or so and your good to go.

 

[TonedeafBard]

If you're firm on not wanting to swap out UCAs, then the maximum lift will be around 2" to maintain good alignment numbers. I just installed OME Nitrochargers on all corners, OME 2883 coils up front (2"), and Wheelers T-13 coils in the rear (1.5"). Everything came from Wheelers, around $900 shipped. I'm running 265 BFG KO2s, and everything feels great... multitudes better than the floating stock suspension. I'm in Tennessee, so serious rock crawling is mostly out of my realm, but I do use it for camping and light service road/trail riding.