denverbikeguy

First off, just would like to say hey to the group here as I just joined. I've had my '97 'runner for a little over a year now and in researching stuff like the suspension issue and potential upgrades, came across this forum ... WOW, the wealth of information here is great!

As for my rig ... just wondering what you all thought were good upgrades to do. Right now I'm planning this:
- Deckplate mod, plus intake silencer mod
- Maybe more on this. I'm big on intake enhancements with bikes (have experimented with my VTR a lot and increased the power considerably), so we'll see what happens on the runner.
- Going to get the Toyota suspension fix anyway, but I'd like a modest lift, like perhaps the OME 2-2.5"... Do you guys like this one?
- The injector upgrade (305cc plus other stuff) sounds tasty, if not pricey. Maybe I'll save that for later.
- Exhaust. More in = more out. Is it worth getting a Borla and some other headers or something, or should I just drop the $700 (well, less, I get discounts at Toyota) and go for the TRD system which looks pretty damn good to me? I read the report of the TRD chrome tip rusting out, however I also live in Colorado where it's dry for the most part - at 81k on the truck I barely have corrosion on the underside bolts, let alone vehicle rust. How do people like the TRD?
- Cup holder fix. Holy cr@p, I am sooooo glad someone figured this out, I am about to stab these things. My father is on his 4th 4runner now so I'm quite familiar with the issue and knew what I was getting into, but that fix is a godsend.
- Lots of other stuff as funds and time permit.

Other than what I mentioned, what do you all recommend? I'm looking for a balance of performance (both power and handling), and moderate off road capability. I'm not looking to build Truckzilla here, but adding power is always fun. And I plan to make good use of that locker, so having the rest of the truck be able to deal with the trails while still having good in-town ability is what I'm after...

This was kind of a long winded post, sorry... (I do that sometimes) However this looks like an awesome board, and I'm looking forward to learning a great deal here.

Cheers!

Darren

Welcome neighbor!

I'm ignorant on the performance side, but as for the lift aspect, 2-2.5" is the norm. As for the OME stuff, should you choose to do that up front (in addition to the rear), a spacer will usually be necessary to level it out with the rear setup and to combat sagging. Their front springs have given very insonsistent results for many. If you are going to go with OME, I think most, including myself, would suggest the heavy duty springs.

The other popular option is the Downey spring and Bilstein shock combo. Or, running only spacers is also an option depending on what you're looking for. I'm sure others will chime in to follow, but do some searches if you haven't already for "suspension" or "lift" and the above manufacturers as most of what there is to say on this has been said.

RTdawgs

2.5" spacers for front and OME 890 coils and comfort shocks for the rear.

265/75 ATs, if you want speed, dont get 285s.

deckplate and intake silencer are good.

supercharger will boost you, best performance mod, hands down.

dont waste your money on an exhaust system, not worth the $$$. a dynomax or magnaflow (the latter is louder) would be fine for deeper tone.

headers are decent, again, $$$.

save all the money you would spend on deckplate, new filter, Dr Z, exhaust, etc....GET A SUPERCHARGER!

for handling, Addco swaybar are nice, but suck off-road. swaybar disconnects would help, but good luck getting ahold of Nuke.

my 2 pennies...

nags

What exactly do the sway bars help with?? I'm driving a tacoma.. how would they help?

denverbikeguy

Hi! That pic of your 'Runner looks familiar, I think I've seen that driving around before. I'm not too far from Aurora either so that's possible.

I dunno about the Downey stuff ... I'm also a cruiserhead (just sold a 1974 FJ40 a few months ago for the cash as I was laid off from work for a while - hoooray dot-coms) and the general consensus around that group is that Downey sucks. Personally I don't mind spacers much, I do want a real suspension lift (i.e. not just spacers, but if I need them in the front, ok), and have heard that OME is the way to go if you have the bucks. I don't really have the bucks yet, but I'm keeping my eyes out for a used kit.

Not sure how I feel about the Bilstiens either, I had those on my Tundra (also sold, the 4runner had cheaper payments, and worked out to be better for this stuff anyway) and blew them out offroad. Granted I sorta accidentally jumped the truck, but still... :rolleyes: That V8 was just too much fun.

We'll have to hit the trails once I get this built a bit more, though aside from some new tires it should be fine. I've driven brand new 'Runners up the sides of mountains before so I'm not too worried about it's stock abilities. Of course I want more than that.

denverbikeguy

Yeah, gonna stick with the 265 tire size, it works well. And I love the BFG AT's so that's easy. I'm not sure how much a set of MT's would annoy me on-highway, however that's a consideration I'm keeping in the back of my head as well since off road they are the shiznit.

Supercharger - yeah, I drool over the one in the Toy shop every time I go in there for something. Mega $$ though. I'll do the deckplate/Dr Z in the meantime since those are super cheap and good for some HP all around from the sounds of it. Finding used superchargers is almost impossible it seems...

As for exhaust, well, I'd like better tone (I miss my V8) but I also want power. Headers would definitely improve the power, maybe the rest of the system is ok, we'll see I guess. That's not as high on my list, but of course the more you shove in the intake, the more you push out the exhaust, so giving that more room to play is always good.

Sway bars - Nuke? Is that a company or a member here who fabricates stuff like that? The on-road handling isn't horrible at the moment, I mean it isn't a sports car but it's better than some SUV's I've driven. Of course with a 2.5" lift that may change. And I agree quick-disconnects are the way to go there... Hmm. I thought I remembered seeing some for 4runners in a catalog or website a while back, I'll have to go digging.

Thanks for all the input guys!

BajaTaco

"Nuke" is a fellow that used to make really nice disconnects for Tacos and Runners. Last I heard, he stopped production and is negotiating a deal to have them commercially produced. That was about a month or so ago - not sure what the latest up-to-date word on it is though.

Darren

Definitely. There's a couple locals who post on this board, but quite a slew from 4x4 Wire that get together somewhat regularly. We just had a dinner get-together a few weeks back. I am impressed by all the locals who I have met as they are all great. You're exactly right on the tires. The only thing I had for all of last summer were the MT/R's. 4Runners can do quite a bit with tires being the only mod.


Could I interest you in my set of MT/R's?! Actually, you stated you're running low on the currency department, so I guess not. I only offered because I'm wanting to move up. If you haven't been in an MT/R equipped ride, I bet you would be amazed to know how quiet these ride. They are not loud by any stretch of the imagination. Let me know if you want to take a test drive.

As for Nuke, he is a private individual who had made some disconnects on the side. Everyone who has them loves them. I would like to obtain them as well, but we'll have to wait just a little longer as Baja gave the latest news.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Baja, here is an update.

denverbikeguy

Darren,

Actually, a test drive would be great! That's the best way to decide I think. Also, what were you wanting to get for them? Condition? Miles? I'm on a budget, but it's about time for some new rubber on the truck, and if these are used it'd be a lot less than if I payed for new ones. Besides I ride the bike in the summertime as much as possible, so these would likely last a while.

If there is a local group from here or another board that meets up I'd definitely be interested in hitting some trails with them. Is it a formal club or anything? Or just a "group"?

Thanks!

Darren

Here's a post I have on 4x4 Wire. I had the same one on here but it must get removed after a given amount of time. I was asking $450 for all 5, the spare being new. I'll probably come down a little more. It has been a couple months since I posted that and I'm due for another rotate this week, so I'll get another official tread measurement then. It may have lost 1 or 2/32 since then. They still look like they do in those pictures.

As for the 4x4 Wire board, it's the same deal as this one. That link I posted in my earlier post is the 4Runner section over there. No formalities. Just some guys and their Runners!

Go ahead and send me a private msg to let me know what you think.

Later

tomus1000

Great to see another motorcycle enthusiast here. Welcome to the best forum on the web.

denverbikeguy

Tomus, what do you ride?

HaveBlue

Welcome, fellow Coloradan!

I'll start off by saying, I have the TRD exhaust and I love it. I don't have massive corrosion on the tip, but there are some "spots." I think some rubbing compound will help my situation.

If you don't have a supercharger, you don't need the larger injectors.


I'm swaying away from topic here, but, we should have another Colorado get-together. I wasn't able to attend the last one.
Anyone up for this? I'd be willing to set it up for, say, March?

denverbikeguy

Greets! I'm still thinking about exhaust. Tires are the first thing to go on there, and whatever cheap mods I can get away with.

Yeah, I realized that about the injectors yesterday - and after some further reading, am wondering if I need them out here at all. It seems the SC just brings me up to normally-aspirated HP at this altitude (ick!), which stock injectors and fuel pump should be able to handle.

Also I'm up for a meet with other ppl from the area, I will just watch the board and see what you all decide...

loosehead

Welcome to the forum!


Well, I'm gonna have to disagree a little with Ryan here. I think there really is something to be said for adding a free-flowing muffler to these trucks.

My first mod was the deckplate and adding an Amsoil Air filter. Then, I did the ISR(Dr Z) mod, and a few weeks later, I had a new high flow muffler put on. With each of the first two mods I could feel a slight increase in throttle response, but when I added the new muff, I could really tell a difference, especially at highway speeds, cruising around the mountains down here. I really think the combination of these three mods is really hard to beat, especially for the cost. I spent right at $200 for these mods and I am really happy with them. Headers would help out even more, but at more cost, obviously. The exhaust on the 4Runners is pretty good, its 2 1/4 inch diamter already, but the muffler is the bottle-neck. I say the perfomance gains are noticable. I am actually a little higher than you, I'm at 7000 ft, so any little boost helps, right?

As far as suspension, like others have said, continue to search and read old posts, as this comes up alot.

Hope this helps!

midiwall

Be sure to keep an eye on this thread over here. Dr. Z found a new toy for fairly low $$$ that looks like it's about to pan out into a nice performance mod.

He's hoping to have some first hand info later this week, and if it's positive, I think some folks may approach a dealer about a group purchase.

SLC Punk

One thing about the intake mod, keep the parts if you plan on supercharging it. I tried out the mod and all it did was make my intake whistle. No increase in performance (which is understandable since it didn't increase my boost).

For a lift I have the PP 1 inch springs. In the end (after they settled) i got 1.5 inches on all four corners. They help out with on-road cornering and are pretty comfortable. They will handle off-road driving, but not as well as the OME springs will.