Hello all, we have a 98 4runner with 180K and am interested in a Toytec "ultimate lift kit" which is 3.", we would install new lower ball joints also at the time of the install. Are these kits good and is this a bad idea,waste of effort due to mileage on a semi daily driver that will be used for exploration in the deserts kinda thing,no hard beating on rocks etc. Will we have drive line vibes with this do you think,and how will the IFS,and steering parts such as R&P,tierods etc hold up?
Thanks all.

 

i have this lift on my daily driver, not quite as many miles, but none the less I love this lift. The ride is very smooth and it handles well, the sagging rear end is no longer an issue. making sure the rest of your front suspension component are in good working order i wouldnt hesitate to use the lift regardless of the mileage.

 

Good solid kit. Sold bunches of Toytec stuff.

 

I believe that the only stated issue is any thing over 2.5" is going to possibly stress the front drive axles if it is a 4 wheel drive... 3" I have read mixed opinions about but mostly guys that have them said they had little or no issues with it....

 

no your truck will explode before you get out of your driveway........

there's A LOT of people that have ran this lift, just search around a little

about the only thing i have heard people having problems with are the CV's

 

Exactly..thats why we asked. Not a problem close to home,500 miles away from anything in the middle of death valley or Baja in summer might be a bad. So on a scale of 1 to 10,1 being stock whats the increased likelyhood of losing a CV with 3" of lift under the same circumstances while wheeling in deep sand and some rocks? we better off leaving it alone?
BTW, how big of box should we bring for the dead parts when it explodes

 

lol ya im running that lift and i think its great though the shocks are rougher but if u plan to take it off pavement that shouldnt bother u too much. i have not had any problems that i can tell from my cv's though im only a 2wd but i am running 882/891s.

 

i lifted mine with that exact lift at about 190k. i did not use the front top spacer because i was worried about my cv's but i eventually went to longer OME shocks so i ended up with a similar droop cv angle to stock shocks and the top plate.

i did not have any issues with the lift other then a torn cv boot after 5k. i just barly removed that lift to lift higher with 883/LC coils, but thats because of all the weight ive added.

IMO the upper ball joint gets beat up the worst from this lift. if you install yourself you will see that you need to use a jack to press the suspension down to install the longer shocks. that means its your upper ball joint that halts travel every time you droop. while everything is apart i would replace anything that worn from 190k. not cheap but middle of nowhere repairs arnt cheap or easy

p.s cv's get killed from wheels turned with throttle applied. if you avoid that and wheel hop your not likely to break one ever.

oh and i went everywhere desert exploring stock and went 75% of the wheeling trails i do now with just the addition of M/T tires. lift if you need to clearance rocks or tires or plan to have that need soon.

 

the issue entailed as far as i see it is more likely to tear a cv boot there are cv's created to handle this.. the fact is that usually is that they wear out faster not as sudden so I feel that it would not be too bad however if you as troyboy said leave the spacer out there will be less likely to be an issue... scale 1-10 is like 3 vs. higher lift = 10

 

Your CVs are fine because you don't have any on a 2WD.

Yamagirl, I love my OME suspension and highly recommend, but it will turn your runner into a truck so don't expect a smooth SUV ride. If you do a diff drop, it'll significantly lower the stress and chance of breaking/tearing/leaking CVs. My CVs are fine w/ my lift and I wheel more often than the average guy (or girl).

troyboy (and anyone else),
Using a jack to press down on the upper control arm to get the struts in is one way, but I've found (thanks to a suggestion by Elton) that taking the 4 bolts out of each lower ball joint allows the whole assembly to hang and gives you more than enough room. You don't have to separate the lower ball joint or press it back in, so don't worry about having to do that, although you do have to press the uppers in (but only if you're replacing them). I've done it both ways (the jack way and removing the 4 bolts way) and I can say the ladder is much easier.

Yamagirl,
I also suggest doing the lower ball joints too because they are very easy and if you end up having to do it later in the future, you'll have to realign it all over again. My LBJs went out about a year after my first lift. Same thing goes for tie rod ends.

Good luck and let us know what you do!

 

ok thnx brian for clearing that up... like when i read up on the lift a while back i was afraid to get it for my 4runner but now that u tell me i dont have'em, thats less for me to worry bout. i think u just made my day! haha now i fel kinda retarded bc i occasionally looked under to check if anything was leaking/squirting oil out.

 

Cool, one less thing to worry about is always nice!!

 

I recently installed this lift on mine no problems as of yet. I installed the diff drop with mine to decrease cv angle, also changed the upper control arms to allow the camber and caster to be set to specs on alignment. Would also recommend changing lower bjs and tie rod ends at same time. Just to make sure I don't get broke down on trail I carry extra cv's can buy new at autozone with no core charge