I have a stock 89 runner and the ride is unbearable, it bashes over bumps that barely jar my cousins 98 accord. The ride doesnt feel bouncy, it just feels like i crash over everything. I'm not a major offroader, i just want stock ride height and a better ride... the last thing i need is the ride to be any harder.

It currently has very rusty old rancho shocks, which i intend to replace with bilstiens as recomended by the nice gents on this site. The tires are general grabbers, 31x10.5 on stock rims... but they are over 10 years old (plenty of tread left, oddly enough) but they cant be helping my ride out.

From what i can see it appears that my suspension has sagged quite a bit. I'm looking at zuk modding my rear springs, I just hope that that wont make the ride harder...

My question is for the front, im looking at adjusting my torsion bars just to achieve stock ride height. Any recomendations on how high it should be for the front?


Also any other suggestions to improve the ride are welcome, these are just what i found from searching here.

 

Definately adding some type of helper springs would help out with your sagging in the rear.

 

Souds like your stock springs are BEAT. Helper spring and the zukmod are just a band-aids.

Id look into replacing the springs completely. Lots of people have had good success with OldManEmu.

With the front. Measure from the top of the rim (assuming you have 15" rims) to the bottom of the fender. I think stock is 12-13 inches? Someone should correct me on that one.

 

It's a 1/2 ton 4WD truck chassis, so don't expect much. It ain't ever gonna ride like a 98 Accord.

You measure the front ride height/chassis ground clearance from the center of the bolts holding the lower control arms on(see pic below). Download the 88 FSM here http://ncttora.com/fsm/87-4Runner/to...4runner_88.pdf , then use your model code to figure out the stock ride height/chassis ground clearances for it. The pages are actually A-32 & A-33(pages 1390 & 1391 of the .pdf), that's a misprint.

 

Maybe the accord was a bit much to hope for, but i know my friends t-100 4x4 rides infinitely smoother.

I measured the ground clearence, and it was right in the range where it should be, within 3-4mm +or - and i measured on a slight slope.I cant get an exact measurement out of the fsm because my truck is an 89, my fsm along with the one you linked is for an 88 my trucks model number doesnt show up. The measurements in the were meant for 225/75 r15 tires.

BUT

I searched for the diameter of a tire this size on tire rack got that it should be 28.3 inches, my tires i measured close to 29 inches, they should be 30.5 inches

If my math and unit converters are right this makes my tires radius (using the 29 inches i measured) close to 9 mm higher off the ground, not to meantion my surface was on a tilt and not exactly lab grade level.

So by rough estimate this means my suspension may have sagged at most 5mm, doesnt sound like alot to me. What do you guys think?

The rear definiatly looks sagged, but i guess thats the fender wells messing with me. Looks like its time to just replace the shocks and see what happens.

 

Well i just read that the stock rolling diameter of 225/75 tires is 27.5 inches, and that starts to change things, that makes estimated 15mm sag. Can anyone conferm or deny,

My numbers were close to 432mm in the rear and close to 280mm in the front

 

Replaced the shocks all the way around, front rides much better, the rear is still pretty hard.

I'm still looking at the zukmod, would it be nescessary to raise the front aswell?
I have never like lifts due to the extra strain on other parts like driveline and tire wear issues, would zukmod suffer from these?

 

to bring it back to stock hight in the rear,a 100lb 12inch spring should get you there,maybe an inch higher,as far as the front..you can play with cranking the TBs a little at a time and see if you like it.if ya dont ...undo em!! also,check this out for info,my 89 runner is in there before and after,http://api.viglink.com/api/click?for...13273916111501

 

it is not designed to ride like a car.

Throw a half a ton in the back it will ride much better if your looking for a smooth ride.

A longer wheel base will ride better.

 

when your leafs are bad ,it bottoms out on a curb...very hard.