triptech

Ive got a 1996 4runner and am gunna lift it but ive been warned about going higher than 3in with 31in tires cuz it would make it a rollbucket. Ive also heard how the 3rd gen are alot more stable than the 2nd gen. Im not lookin rock crawl i still wanna make it my daily driver, and advise?

Nuthuts96

iTrader: (1)

before you get told to search- which you will....actually, SEARCH! haha, anyway, a lot of discussion on this in previous threads. that said, 3" lift with 33" tires have been done a bit on this forum. of course, for crawling, you want to keep the center of gravity down, so lifting for crawling (to a point) is pointless. with 3" of lift, you have to keep in mind what additional mods go along with it (depending on the type of lift: suspension vs. body). few different options, but search is indeed your friend. i'm sure others will give you some actual real world advise, as i only plan on 1" body and 1" suspension lift in the future... less additional (but necessary) mods to worry about

Tacoclimber

Just keep it under 60 around the corners, and you'll be fine.

Going higher than 3" with 31's is gonna look silly, IMHO...
I'd stay where you're at, unless you're gonna get bigger tires.

Kaleb

Lift for looks...hmmm...

The 3rd Gens weight less then the 2nd gens. IIRC the 3rd gen frames are not fully boxed in. Where as the 2nd gen is. I guess this could make it more "stable".

All i got to say is if you are going to lift it more then 3 inches, then you should put a bigger tire on, or it is going to look goofy. Since you are going for looks and not practicality. You might as well install a body lift, since it will not raise your COG as high as a suspension lift would. Therefore it will be more "stable".

Tacoclimber

Oh yeah................................... SEARCH.

neliconcept

with any maneuver (sp?) you pull to avoid something, with a 3 inch you are pretty much putting yourself in danger of a rollover, however Ive put my truck on 2 wheels around corners and i know how to drive it, i have a total of about 5 inchs including my bodylift. and ppl tell me (dude you almost rolled) nope not even close.

even with the truck stock, if you have to swing that biatch around with some idiot in front of you without any driving skills, you could even roll it then. just depends on the conditions.

my VSC has saved my butt many a time, but i still havent been close to rolling it, ive had it on 3 wheels way too many times just for playing around, (right front wheel comes off the ground or left front depending on turning direction)

hope that doesnt scare you off, if you go bigger with lift, get bigger tires too, 31s and 3" is sorta small, 32s would be a better fit or 33s.

triptech

its not for looks, its gunna be my hunting rig, but my daily driver, i have talked to all the guys at shops in my area, and each one has their own opinion, usually conflicting what the last guy said. I dont wanna have my 4cyl be pushin around some tall tires and trash my milage, dont wanna regear.

Tacoclimber

In that case, I'd stick with 32's so you don't have to regear. Stay at 3", and get some body armor. If you're gonna be taking the thing offroad, there are other things that you could get that would be a better use of the money than just "more lift". Just a thought.

pius222

Is it a 4WD or 2WD? Keep it a stock daily driver if it's a "not for look 4 cylinder 2WD", that way you won't have to worry about rolling and keep the mileage and power.

Man4God

Not to flame you but I don't think this information is right. Can someone chime in with correct info here? I have been told that 3rd Gens are Fully Boxed and my gut tells me that they are heavier than 2nd Gens.

stormin94

Correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe that the 3rd gen 4runner has coil springs front, and back, which means, if you wanna lift for looks, you can probably get some 2.5 inch coil spacers, and 33's with some trimming. Or run a body lift and 33's. I think the body lift would be a little safer from rollovers, because most of the really heavy stuff(motor, tranny, frame, transfer case, and i THINK gas tank) are all in near stock location, thus you have a lower center of gravity than with an equivalent suspension lift.

nix4x4

Don't waste your money on a suspension lift. Get a 2" body lift, add-a-leaf in the rear, balljoint spacer in the front, and go on with life. I have a suspension lift on my '92, like the height difference it made, but it killed my gruond clearence. ALso, get some 33's or at least 32's if your gonna lift it. Those trucks look the best with a really stuffed wheelwell, IMO.

bob200587

96 4runner does not have Leaf springs or torsion bars so and AAL or BJ spacers do not go on it.

If you're not gonna get bigger tires, don't lift it. And since you aren't going to regear you shouldn't get 33's or even 32's in my opinion....especially if you have a 4cly. So....why lift it?

AxleIke

Holy missinformation bat man!

Silly suspension info, warped weight estimates!



Don't give the guy a hard time. Nothing wrong with that at all. Nearly all of the SWAPPED trucks here were done for looks, this guys just putting on some lift.

triptech

thank you. Im not lifting for looks, im trying to get a little extra ground clearence for bank climbing when i go hunting or camping, but yet it is still my daily driver so im trying to be conservative and find out how high i can go without seriously compromising my stability. and yet everyone has found many ways to tell me what im doing wrong, without answering the question..

toy_tek

Just from my experience I would say 2" suspension. Body lift won't get you more ground clearance from the frame and running gear. I think 2" with 265's would be plenty stable for you. Plus if you go with something from Sonoran Steel or OME you'll likely get more articulation which is a major advantage in terms of traction. Body lift won't do that for you either.

3" will look funny with 31's, I know because I have 3 up front and 4 in back, my 265's looked too small. You will also need to regear as noted above.

Kaleb

Was that directed towards me, or all of the information given in general?

Red3.slow

Lets start over by getting exact info on his truck. Then we can say search and then give him info anyway.

Tacoclimber

I don't see how much of this was "misinformation". Almost all of the replies were based on actual methods of lifting a vehicle, whether through body lifts, bj spacers, AAL, or whatever. The "best" way to lift a vehicle is a still matter of opinion. It's all dependent on how you're gonna use it.

I do think that having more than a 3" lift with 31's would look silly, but that's just an opinion.

Most of this sport revolves around personal preference and budget constraints.

Good luck lifting your truck, triptech. Happy hunting.

kylextrisler

there is some mis info, so dont rely to heavy on mine whereas im a 2nd gen owner who is putting their lift on within the next 2 weeks (yeee!)
if your wayy to worried about stability then just shy away from a lift you can fit aggressive 31" tires underthere no problem and could be happy, but many ppl do lift their vehicle and if you drive smart you wont wind up on your side, any change in tires will kill your gas, mine is a DD too, i've realized this will happen but i've also realized gas will always float from 2.30-3.30 a gallon and im gonna have to get over it, might as well do it and be happy w/ what you drive right? the 4 cyl will be sluggish but maybe down the line you'll regear, or if you hate your lift you could reverse it, what i see on most 3rd gen runners are Spacer lifts, relatively cheap and easy, search that and you'll come up w/ alot of info, or LandCruiser coils, i know the rear coils can lift you up front, but i think that it may provide more of a lift than you want. And dont rule out a 2" body lift, 4crawler.com can provide some body lifts, and try trdparts4u.com they might have some good priced OME items for you to buy, try 32" tires or stay w/ 31" if you dont want much lift or dont wanna spend too much money or dont wanna kill your gas, but w/ a lift you have to realize anything will harm your gas a little, dont forget about the 33x10.50 tires too, most ppl go for the 33x12.50 (like me) and will have some rubbing issues or might be doing some cutting, i dont know enough about the 3rd gen but thats alot of universal info i've picked up, if you read about BJ Spacers or Add-a-leaf those are for 3rd gen pick ups or BJ-LC lift those are 2nd gen 4runner, just give the 3rd gen 4runner section a peak and look at other guys rigs, many ppls signatures will have info on their truck and you can type that into the search, good luck w/ your lift!

EDIT: when you do find what you want take a trip over to the classified marketplace on the forums, you can usually find some of what your looking for that other guys used and are selling, you probably wont have any issue with structural integrity just because its used and can usually find a buy for REAL cheap... one mans trash is anothers treasure right