who wants to go wheeling?

[cf_coder]

*NEWBIE QUESTION ALERT*
If I'm wanting to put a 2" lift on just for looks would spacers work? What would be the main benefit of going with an expensive ICON lift?

Well, you gotta understand what you are putting on your vehicle and more importantly, what you want your vehicle to be able to do.

Spacers will give you some lift at the expense of diminished range from your coilover. They don't do anything to increase travel and you're still stuck with the spongy and underwhelming struts and coils that come with the 4Runner.

As to full suspension lifts (coil overs, rear springs and struts) I would first ask how much off roading you plan on doing and how difficult will those trails be? 99% of 4Runner owners will never need the performance that an Icon strut and spring set will bring. Many that put them on because "they are the best" are also blissfully unaware of the amount of maintenance (rebuilding the shocks, replacing uniballs, etc, etc...) that go into having a high performance system like that. Figure on complete strut re-builds every 20-40K miles or so and uniball replacements at about the same interval.

For me, personally, my 4Runner is a daily driver, so while I do enjoy getting out and putting it through it's paces, I'm not going to take it places where damage is imminent (well maybe a little...). I lucked into a pretty sweet setup (Toytec Ultimate Lift) that was perfect for how I wheel and what I wanted to do. It's low maintenance and has a lifetime warranty on the struts. Adding a true suspension lift is nice, I'll admit. Gets rid of most of the nosedive when braking and seems to handle corners a bit more gingerly. And for offroading, it dramatically changes your approach and departure angles. I was dragging my trailer hitch all over the place before the lift...

Anyway, I would suggest you take a look at how you are going to use your truck and go from there.

_coder

 

[IceCold81]

[MENTION=111871]ccastonguay[/MENTION]

Hey dude you never know, hit that guy up on the side and see if he's willing to do it ;-)

 

[ceu13cali]

I'm not gonna be doing much off roaring at all. If anything I'll just take it on a simple trail or two. This is purely for looks. I definitely don't want anything high maintenance.

 

[IceCold81]

@coder

Man sounds like you and I look at our trucks very similarly. Daily driver, I avoid the Narly stuff in fear of damage, but enjoy getting off the pavement.

Hey the Toyotec lifts aren't they just kits with bilsteins stuff?

You guys think it's worth what I think I've decided on? I'm thinking of for sure doing the 6112/5160 combo with an Icon 2" spring in the back? If so I just gotta locate this money tree first :-/


.

 

[cf_coder]

I'm not gonna be doing much off roaring at all. If anything I'll just take it on a simple trail or two. This is purely for looks. I definitely don't want anything high maintenance.

If this is simply for looks, I would probably just recommend you look at putting 5100 bilsteins on all four corners. You can set the adjustable perch on the front shocks to 1.25 inches and use the stock coil-over spring and this will effectively level the truck. If you add a 1 inch spacer on the rear springs you'll maintain the factory rake. In total, you'll probably end up with a 1.5 - 2.0 inch lift (likely closer to 1.5 after everything settles in). You should be able to do this for under $600 if you do the install yourself and have a shop build the coil-overs from the factory ones. The bonus will be that the truck will handle better due to better struts on all four corners...

Blistein Shocks:
Bilstein Height adjustable front and matching 5100 Rear shocks

1" Rear Spacers:
10-11* Toyota 4Runner Cornfed Suspension Lift kits

Beer and bloody marys for the install... priceless...

_coder

 

[IceCold81]

If this is simply for looks, I would probably just recommend you look at putting 5100 bilsteins on all four corners. You can set the adjustable perch on the front shocks to 1.25 inches and use the stock coil-over spring and this will effectively level the truck. If you add a 1 inch spacer on the rear springs you'll maintain the factory rake. In total, you'll probably end up with a 1.5 - 2.0 inch lift (likely closer to 1.5 after everything settles in). You should be able to do this for under $600 if you do the install yourself and have a shop build the coil-overs from the factory ones. The bonus will be that the truck will handle better due to better struts on all four corners...

Blistein Shocks:
Bilstein Height adjustable front and matching 5100 Rear shocks

1" Rear Spacers:
10-11* Toyota 4Runner Cornfed Suspension Lift kits

Beer and bloody marys for the install... priceless...

_coder

Coder you gonna join the beer/bloody Mary install when I get my gear? ;-)

 

[cf_coder]

@coder

Man sounds like you and I look at our trucks very similarly. Daily driver, I avoid the Narly stuff in fear of damage, but enjoy getting off the pavement.

Hey the Toyotec lifts aren't they just kits with bilsteins stuff?

You guys think it's worth what I think I've decided on? I'm thinking of for sure doing the 6112/5160 combo with an Icon 2" spring in the back? If so I just gotta locate this money tree first :-/
.

You probably avoid the gnarly stuff more because you don't know, yet, what your vehicle is capable of. I guarantee you that your pucker factor is far greater than what your vehicle, completely stock, can do. It's even more capable with a lift and some good tires.

Some of the Toytec kits use Bilstein shocks, but I think they are moving away from that with their latest offerings. It appears they are having their own branded shocks manufactured (they call them BOSS shocks).

What are you planning on using for the front coil-over spring? The stock ones are kinda mushy and that will contribute to scraping as you're coming down off of obstacles... Otherwise, that combo will work fine. It's probably overkill to be honest...

_coder

 

[cf_coder]

Coder you gonna join the beer/bloody Mary install when I get my gear? ;-)

Sure! I'm really effective at pointing at things and telling you you're doing it wrong.

_coder

 

[Zonie Taco]

I'm heading up to Colorado Friday night for the long weekend. Not sure what to expect Just bringing a tent, a yeti cooler and a book on Southwestern trails. If the weather sucks I'm going to Moab.

 

[AZ4Running]

So is anyone up for a day of wheeling on sunday or what? I need some dirt....and some people to roll with that know a cool place to wheel.

 

[cf_coder]

I'm heading up to Colorado Friday night for the long weekend. Not sure what to expect Just bringing a tent, a yeti cooler and a book on Southwestern trails. If the weather sucks I'm going to Moab.

Sounds fun! Looks like rain on Saturday, fun on Sunday and Monday no matter which location you choose.

_coder

 

[cf_coder]

So is anyone up for a day of wheeling on sunday or what? I need some dirt....and some people to roll with that know a cool place to wheel.

[MENTION=112004]lofreqjeff[/MENTION] was saying there might be a Crown King run this weekend.

For me it's looking more and more that I won't be able to go anywhere this weekend. The wifey picked up a shift on sunday and I'm going to have a house full of kids that need adult supervision. Maybe on Monday, but I was planning on a dove hunt that morning.

_coder

 

[AZBub]

Might go putz around box canyon early Monday morning and do some shooting before it gets hot.

 

[AZPartsGuy]

Thinking about going somewhere this weekend, not sure where though.

Table Mesa will probably be popular because 3 day weekend but I was thinking about driving out to.. Tip Top Mine I think it is?

 

[cf_coder]

My weekend is pretty much shot. Kiddos to watch, parties to go to, and I am going dove hunting on Monday morning. It's killed me that we're 5 days into hunting season and I haven't got off a single shot yet...

 

[AZBub]

game and fish was out nailing people hunting off ironwood the other day

 

[cf_coder]

We typically head out to a spot that's about halfway between Casa Grande and Coolidge. Decent enough dove activity, but not the "skies were dark with dove" scenarios you get around feedlots and such. Never had an issue with G&F down there.

_coder

 

[AZBub]

Just in case anyone sees this [MENTION=100116]D Farms[/MENTION] and I are planning on going out to Sycamore creek tomorrow around 4. anyone else game?

 

[IceCold81]

Yea I don't discount a single thing you said about the runner's capability, I think the only issue I seriously have with getting to aggressive offroad is banging up the body or undercarriage on anything narly. In fear of messing something up bad along the drivetrain somewhere. I do plan to get the sliders soon, but even with the lift and sliders I'd still be a little hesitant crawling over anything that drastic due to fear of banging the undercarriage on something

Hey In fear of my ignorance being exposed lol, am I missing something as far as the fronts with the 6112's I thought it came with the coilover? This is what I was thinking for the fronts, with the 5160's and the ICON spring in the back.

http:// shop.totalautomotiveperformance.net/bilstein-6112/6112-series-shocks/46227294/i-2110478.aspx

You probably avoid the gnarly stuff more because you don't know, yet, what your vehicle is capable of. I guarantee you that your pucker factor is far greater than what your vehicle, completely stock, can do. It's even more capable with a lift and some good tires.

Some of the Toytec kits use Bilstein shocks, but I think they are moving away from that with their latest offerings. It appears they are having their own branded shocks manufactured (they call them BOSS shocks).

What are you planning on using for the front coil-over spring? The stock ones are kinda mushy and that will contribute to scraping as you're coming down off of obstacles... Otherwise, that combo will work fine. It's probably overkill to be honest...

_coder

 

[cf_coder]

Yeah, I forgot about that. They should come with the coilover spring. I forget what brand it is... You're install just got way more complicated as you will need to remove the current shock, leaving the top hat and bushings and then install with the new shock and coil. There are two ways to do this, 1) remove complete stock coilover and have a shop swap out the coil and strut, or 2) loosen the lower control arm and drop it down completely and do an in-place replace of the parts. You'll need an extra floor jack to do this. There are a couple of vids out there showing the process...

_coder