Unner's Build, 2001 T4R 4x4

[Unner]

Had some fun stuff show up today. These things are massive. I'll try and remember to get some comparison pictures between these and the Boss coilovers when I swap them. Maybe tomorrow if I want to brave the cold. If not it'll be Monday probably.
2018-01-12_07-40-41 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

 

[Black798]

Very jealous of those even though mine for the rear will be here in a matter of days. My front 5100s days are numbered though.

 

[BigFishAllDay]

These things are massive.

My thoughts exactly, the first time I held a pair of real coilovers. Pictures don't do justice to the beef.

 

[fourfive]

Had some fun stuff show up today. These things are massive. I'll try and remember to get some comparison pictures between these and the Boss coilovers when I swap them. Maybe tomorrow if I want to brave the cold. If not it'll be Monday probably.

Shiny, I like it! I've never handled the higher end coilovers before but are the bottom mounts on your kings a heim joint?

 

[Black798]

Shiny, I like it! I've never handled the higher end coilovers before but are the bottom mounts on your kings a heim joint?

King uses a uniball set up with a Teflon race for the eye mounts like the bottom of these coilovers.

 

[Unner]

Very jealous of those even though mine for the rear will be here in a matter of days. My front 5100s days are numbered though.

Nice, glad your stuff finally shipped! Looking forward to seeing how you mount them. I'll probably have a few questions for how you plan to do it shortly.

My thoughts exactly, the first time I held a pair of real coilovers. Pictures don't do justice to the beef.

They really don't. There are no questions of where the beef is with these.

Shiny, I like it! I've never handled the higher end coilovers before but are the bottom mounts on your kings a heim joint?

Yeah, they're very shiny. I like the blue too!

King uses a uniball set up with a Teflon race for the eye mounts like the bottom of these coilovers.

Exactly, spherical bearing is the common name for these.

 

[Unner]

I got the Kings installed on Monday. I got the passenger side put on, loosened the allen bolt but could barely turn the collar. I called DSM and they said not to adjust them on the truck because it is nearly impossible and can cause issues. Instead they said to install the coilovers, measure where you are at, and then pull the coilovers and put them in a spring compressor. Once the spring is compressed just a little bit you can turn the collar by hand instead. So I pulled the passenger side coilover, tightened the allen bolt because it was now inaccessible, and installed the driver side.

I'm sitting too high right now, but I wanted to give it a chance to settle before I pull them off and put them in a spring compressor.

With the Toytec's I was at:
Driver Front: 37 3/16" Ground to Fender, and 21 11/16" Hub to Fender
Passenger Front:36 15/16" Ground to Fender, and 21 5/8" Hub to Fender

After installing the Kings I was at:
38 3/8" Ground to Fender, and 22 15/16" Hub to Fender

Ground to fender is the most accurate way to compare measurements on the same vehicle with the same tires, so I gained around 1 1/4" on both sides, which is too much for me. My inner CV boots are touching now, and the rest of the geometry is probably out of whack.

This weekend I will pull the coilovers and bring them down 4-5 turns probably. According to King that's an inch of lift, which is about how much I want to go down. Right now I only have .5" of rake.

Here you can kinda see the size difference between the Kings and Toytecs. But in person it's really evident. The Toytecs look and feel like toys now...
20180115_122150 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

The difference in shaft size can be seen here kinda...
20180115_122200 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

20180115_160839 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

How it sits right now. Too high for me in the front.
20180115_160825 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

And then, we got snowed in! Probably only 1-1.5" of snow, but everything was closed yesterday and is still closed today...
20180116_172148 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

 

[JerkyDrewster]

I got the Kings installed on Monday. I got the passenger side put on, loosened the allen bolt but could barely turn the collar. I called DSM and they said not to adjust them on the truck because it is nearly impossible and can cause issues. Instead they said to install the coilovers, measure where you are at, and then pull the coilovers and put them in a spring compressor. Once the spring is compressed just a little bit you can turn the collar by hand instead. So I pulled the passenger side coilover, tightened the allen bolt because it was now inaccessible, and installed the driver side.

I had the same feeling when I swapped out the Toytecs. The Kings look great, and I'm glad you got them on so quickly!

I had some trouble adjusting the Icons with them on the truck as well, but was able to do it in the end with a lot of force. In hindsight, it is probably smarter to compress the springs and do it by hand; I just didn't want to keep installing them and taking them off.

 

[Unner]

I had the same feeling when I swapped out the Toytecs. The Kings look great, and I'm glad you got them on so quickly!

I had some trouble adjusting the Icons with them on the truck as well, but was able to do it in the end with a lot of force. In hindsight, it is probably smarter to compress the springs and do it by hand; I just didn't want to keep installing them and taking them off.

Thanks! I'm hoping it takes me longer to drive to the shop and back, than it takes to compress the springs spin the collar and decompress them. Since I came up 1 1/4" I think I might actually go down 6 turns. That should put me close to where I was, but maybe just a tad higher.

Forgot to post it in my initial post, but right now I've got 14 threads showing above the collar, about 1 7/16". Based on others measurements, and my "educated" guess I was planning to adjust them to around 8 threads showing before they even showed up so going down 6 threads is hopefully perfect.

 

[Road Bull]

Nice! It is a bit of trial and error to get the height dialed in. I will reassess my front end height the next time I service the front end, or rebuild the shocks. But I am happy with how they feel for sure. I would recommend this shock and spring combination to anyone running similar situation to our 4runners.

I wonder if yours will settle a bit. I think mine did a little, but I have 600# coils, and had a steel cable winch up front.

 

[fourfive]

I got the Kings installed on Monday. I got the passenger side put on, loosened the allen bolt but could barely turn the collar. I called DSM and they said not to adjust them on the truck because it is nearly impossible and can cause issues. Instead they said to install the coilovers, measure where you are at, and then pull the coilovers and put them in a spring compressor. Once the spring is compressed just a little bit you can turn the collar by hand instead. So I pulled the passenger side coilover, tightened the allen bolt because it was now inaccessible, and installed the driver side.

They do look noticeably bigger. Nice comparison pics. I didn't know it was that difficult to adjust those coilovers. Did DSM say if the difficulty had to do with the higher spring rate, 650 vs 600, or if that's just how it is?

 

[Unner]

Nice! It is a bit of trial and error to get the height dialed in. I will reassess my front end height the next time I service the front end, or rebuild the shocks. But I am happy with how they feel for sure. I would recommend this shock and spring combination to anyone running similar situation to our 4runners.

I wonder if yours will settle a bit. I think mine did a little, but I have 600# coils, and had a steel cable winch up front.

Yeah I'm hoping it isn't too much trial and error. Hopefully I get it close on my first try, but if not the second try I should be good. As long as it's about an inch lower than I currently am and my inner cv boots aren't rubbing I'll be happy and schedule an alignment for next week.

They do look noticeably bigger. Nice comparison pics. I didn't know it was that difficult to adjust those coilovers. Did DSM say if the difficulty had to do with the higher spring rate, 650 vs 600, or if that's just how it is?

They are a lot bigger in person, especially weight wise. I didn't even mention the spring or vehicle when I called, so I'm thinking that's just how it is with the King coilovers. Several people with second gen Tacomas have said the same thing about it being difficult on the truck, and much easier with a spring compressor.

 

[Rockdawg84]

just so you know, if you adjusting your kings lower then it is easy to do on the truck. Take the weight off the suspension and just adjust. I sprayed a little wd40 on the shock body and it was easy to take preload out.

 

[Unner]

I got the Kings pulled and adjusted on Friday. I put them in a wall mount spring compressor (upside down because the tophat didn't clear the upper part of the compressor) and cranked them down just enough to where I could turn the collar. I could turn it with my hands super easy. The driver side went down 6 turns, and the passenger side went down 6.5 turns since I adjusted it down half a turn on the truck last weekend.

Now it sits perfect, 37 3/8" in the front. I lost exactly an inch in height which is what I wanted. Tomorrow I will call and schedule an alignment for Wednesday morning.

I'm pretty happy with how they ride. They're smooth around town, absorb big potholes, dips and such well. I haven't gotten them on a dirt road yet, but that's where I think they'll shine.

Today was a good day with my Eagles blowing out the Vikings and punching their ticket to the Superbowl. I hope we can avenge the loss in 2005 to the Patriots with a win this year. What a season it's been for the Eagles. Philly Philly!

 

[Road Bull]

I got the Kings pulled and adjusted on Friday. I put them in a wall mount spring compressor (upside down because the tophat didn't clear the upper part of the compressor) and cranked them down just enough to where I could turn the collar. I could turn it with my hands super easy. The driver side went down 6 turns, and the passenger side went down 6.5 turns since I adjusted it down half a turn on the truck last weekend.

Now it sits perfect, 37 3/8" in the front. I lost exactly an inch in height which is what I wanted. Tomorrow I will call and schedule an alignment for Wednesday morning.

I'm pretty happy with how they ride. They're smooth around town, absorb big potholes, dips and such well. I haven't gotten them on a dirt road yet, but that's where I think they'll shine.

Today was a good day with my Eagles blowing out the Vikings and punching their ticket to the Superbowl. I hope we can avenge the loss in 2005 to the Patriots with a win this year. What a season it's been for the Eagles. Philly Philly!

*cough... ahem* Where are the pic maaaaan?

Glad you got it sorted. Oh! And congrats on the Eagles going to the Superbowl! Beat the Patriots!

 

[Unner]

*cough... ahem* Where are the pic maaaaan?

Glad you got it sorted. Oh! And congrats on the Eagles going to the Superbowl! Beat the Patriots!

I didn't post the only 2 I've taken since they look almost identical to the ones a couple posts above, but since you asked, you shall receive.


20180119_154728 by Unner Unner, on Flickr
20180119_154740 by Unner Unner, on Flickr

I've been aiming for potholes, hitting speedbumps as fast as I safely can, and trying to work the suspension as much as I can on pavement. It feels really good up front I think. Very controlled and smooth.

 

[Road Bull]

I didn't post the only 2 I've taken since they look almost identical to the ones a couple posts above, but since you asked, you shall receive.


I've been aiming for potholes, hitting speedbumps as fast as I safely can, and trying to work the suspension as much as I can on pavement. It feels really good up front I think. Very controlled and smooth.

Looks good man! I always have a hard time comparing lift and tire size because I seem to be one of the few without any fender flares. And I think your tires might be a hair taller with the 255s vs. my 285s. Someone is selling a WM rack here. I was tempted, but they want a cool $600. And, I don't really have much to put up there. Hahaha.

Sounds like you are digging them so far.

 

[Unner]

Canada pictures coming on next page.

 

[Unner]

Two more.

 

[Unner]

One more.