Will this help with onroad as well as off-road performance?

[MeefZah]

No. Do a search. The diff drop won't give you anything if your lift is less than 3".

I agree, that's why I make that exact statement in an above post.

My impression is that at / over 3" you start getting into the area where it is useful. Below 3" front, not needed.

 

[SierraMare]

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/2294052-post9.html

Though listed in the 3rd gen forum, this post shows pix of a 3" lift CV angles with and without a diff drop installed on a 5th gen 2016 TE, indicating no significant difference in CV angle is achieved by installing the DD. I agree with the earlier post about spending the $30 on beer.

Since the OP has changed his thinking on any 3" lift plans for something milder, may I suggest a Bilstein 5100 shock swap with the fronts set to 1.75" lift - many members seem to like it and it's a mild mod which has a reasonable cost. Ultimately, though, whether you lift and how much you lift depends upon your end goals. Good luck.

 

[Simpleman74]

The more I think about it the less I really want a lift. Maybe 1.5 " or something, max. I don't want to screw around with fuel economy since I commute 45 miles to work each way 5 days a week.

lift doesn't equate to mpg loss.... the bigger tires do. I lifted 2.5" and 275 E rated tires and maybe lost 1mpg

 

[e60ral]

lift absolutely hurts gas mileage, just not nearly as much as heavier tires, the amount it hurts will vary by your speed (where drag is related to the velocity squared)

while heavier tires may drop you ~1mpg, i'd imagine a mild lift is probably small enough to be within your normal mpg variation but on long trips at highway speeds its probably enough to notice.

 

[gm350reratliff]

No. Do a search. The diff drop won't give you anything if your lift is less than 3".

OP the 4Runner with KDSS in its stock form will give you the best possible performance for both on and off road. Any mods you do with the exception of tires will improve either on road or off road but not both.[/QUOTE]

Maybe this is true with the KDSS models but at least for both of my 4runners with the standard suspension, there was improvement both on and off-road. If there were any negative impacts it would have to be that we lost maybe 1-2 mpg but I'd be willing to bet most of that is due to different tires, which were a significant upgrade over the OEM tires as well, both on and off road.