SandSman783

Hey what's up fellas? I am finally purchasing a '99 4runner here in another 2 weeks. I am new to this forum but not new to forums in general. I currently own (for sale) a '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9L Limited and have been involved with Jeepsunlimited.com and it's amazing how identical the two forums are. So I had two things I wanted to say. First is hello to everyone here and I'm really looking forward to emptying my wallet again. But my question involves a lift for the runner. I have been using the search function a lot trying to learn as much as i can about 4runners. I found that lifts are very different between jeeps and 4runners. The grand cherokee lifts are 100% complete (shocks, springs, long arms, brake lines, drive shafts, ect) and can be had up to an 8" lift. But the 4runners have a much more limited selection of lift components. The main reason for wanting the lift is to fit 285/75/16's. I would much rather do a suspension lift rather than a body lift. I also plan on doing about 95% of my driving on the street. After doing the lift though, I don't want vibrations (i realize i'll have to get an alignment) nor do I want to have to take off the running boards to cure the tires from rubing. A little trimming is maybe one thing, but I do not want to start taking things off. I also noticed that most of the lifts tend to lift the rear a little more than the front. If the best way to resolve this problem is to add a spacer in the front, then I'd be willing to do that. I'm up for suggestions from anyone who has one on what I should do. Like I said though most of my driving will be on the street (not offroading), so I'll be looking for somewhat of a softer shock. If you could suggest a website, part numbers and price that would be awesome. I guess that's about it, and sorry for making this so long. I look forward to reading your responses. Thanks and it's nice to be on the forum...Talk to ya soon -Keven

CTB

Try a search on lifts here on the forum. It will reveal a ton of information - more than you probably want.

WT

Check out my PICS I did what your doing now I did some reading here on the forum to find inputs and other things and decided to go Revtek 3" and just got new 285 with wheels this last week. Its a fairly cheap way to lift and allow for larger tires. So check it out PM me if you like some more information
http://community.webshots.com/user/wtconsulting

95FourRunner

What was your username on JU?

I used to kick around that board for a friend of mine. Trust me, these boards are very different. For one, you can ask a question here and not be called and A$$clown or "shut up noob", blah blah blah.

There is some goofing off here, but not a bunch of childish stupidity like Jeeps Unlimited. Glad you finally crossed the line to the 4runners

Faded

An out-of-spec alignment will not cause a vibration. It could, however, cause uneven tire wire that could eventually lead to a vibration problem. Regardless, check the alignment after performing a suspension lift.

SandSman783

Hey thanks WT, i was looking at your pictures and your truck looks great dude. I was looking more along the lines of a suspension lift though rather than a body lift.


Hey 95FourRunner, my name on JU was FastSlate5.9 and you are right about the people on there. They were of little or no help and were very quick to critisize anyone who tries something other than what they have on their own truck. Thanks for the welcome and I'm looking forward to modding the new 4runner. Later... -Keven

Darren

Welcome Keven.

The best would be Sway-A-Way (SAW being the frequently used acronym) coil-overs (~$700) or King coil-overs (~$900?) up front with the the Sway-A-Ways being very popular. Both are adjustable.

For the rear, either Old Man Emu (OME) springs and shocks ($255) or Downey springs and Bilstein shocks (I'm not sure what those run).

Can't go as high as you could with your Jeep, only 2.5" max in the front. I originally had my front SAW's set to 2.75" and could feel small but tight vibrations at highway speeds. That went away at 2.5" but that is still going to push it as far as an accelerated wear rate on the CV's.

calrockx

i got a 2.5 inch suspension lift. i have downey coils in the back and cornfed spacers up front. you can check out my website for pictures. i think it's a good setup, and not too expensive. also, check out this page: suspension roundup

SandSman783

Thanks for the great response darren! I think that's going to be the way to go (doing the SAW up front and the OME in the rear). I did have one question for you though. I was looking at your website (you have one of the nicest 4runners i think i have ever seen by the way) and you said you got 3.5" in the rear from the ome setup but have to dial down the saw's to only 2.5". I realize why you only have the front that high, but isn't there a full inch difference from front to rear now? Thanks and talk to ya soon. -Keven

Darren

Your welcome, and thanks! It looks even better as of yesterday as sliders are installed as you may have seen. Pics will be up tonight (server was down last night).

Yeah, sorry. I forgot to address that last part. Yes, the rear sits up higher than the front, but it really isn't too bad. Even 1/4" makes a significant difference in how it looks. That's primarily why I'm as high as I am in the front. I will be installing a diff drop when one of azrain's (forum member) skid plates come out. I hope to go up to 3" in the front at that point which will look awesome.

You could also do Off-Road Solution's manual hub conversion to allow the front to be higher, but is costly as well: $1,000.

The OME springs provide more lift than any Downey springs that I've seen, thus the reason I went that route. Having the gas tank further away from big and tasty rocks is a good thing!

Congratulations on the '99. All indications are that they have the best ground clearance of any other year of the 3rd Generation 4Runner. Did it come with the rear locker? You may consider removing the running boards providing you run trails that would warrant that.

Hope that helps. I'll be happy to answer any other questions.

RTdawgs

sandsman, here are my pennies:

get SAWs for front with diff drop spacers to help the CVs.

for rear, get OME coils. either MED (890) if you dont tow or carry weight in the rear, or HD (891) if you frequently tow and carry heavy loads.

with the SAW and OME890 setup, you will get about 2.5" front and 2.75" rear. when you combine the rear OME coils with the rear OME shocks (standard or comfort), you will achieve maximum articulation possible without modifying the driveshaft/gas tank issue.

check my site for more info and www.xtremeoff-road.com for parts.

heres a teaser:

Robinhood150

Welcome,
the thing about the bigger lifts for the jeeps is that because the 4runners are so much higher stock, you don't really need a big lift. For instance, my friend has 2 GCs, both are lifted 3-4 inches. Only now, is he just as high as my truck and I only have 1.5inch lift in the rear and nothing in the front. Granted, the 3rd gens are lower than the 2nd gens, but once they are lifted, they are slightly higher than mine.

Also, the higher butt really isn't too bad looking. It's not that noticable and you'll probably be the only one to notice it.

Oh, and I don't think anybody has vibration problems because the lifts aren't that high, unlike the jeep lifts.

steve

WT

[QUOTE]Originally posted by SandSman783
[B]Hey thanks WT, i was looking at your pictures and your truck looks great dude. I was looking more along the lines of a suspension lift though rather than a body lift.


Actually its a spacer lift setup not a bodylift. It come complete with diff drops too @$295. its not a bad price to get 3" for larger tires
yeah be sure to get diff drops if you do go with a lift you will end up like most here and get some leaking of the CV boots a simple fix for this is just use hose clamps after cutting off the factory ones they just don't seal real well after doing the lift. Just a note get some rubber tire patch or something to line the bottom of the clamps to be sure it doesn't rip your boot and not to tight either.
but if you do have the extra cash go with the sway aways and longer coils in the rear, I was being cheap.. for now

Also welcome aboard I know I have learned lots here before I did my lift.

prolax13

My $.02 would be for you to get:
- Sway-A-Way Racerunners ($675.00)
- Bilstein HD Rear Shocks ($64.95 each)
- Downey 3" Rear Springs ($169.95)
These are the prices that I was quoted from Xtreme Offroad & Performance and I believe Mike discounts the SAWs to all Yotatech members. Someone please correct me if Im wrong.