paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

Those are the Level8 wheels, right? Not sure if they are available or not, but I think for the size tire that guy is running, a 17" version would look better.

A quick story for you supercharged folks. Last night I was coming home from the gym and I put my foot into the 4Runner to check the tune for the 4Runner Jamboree at Pismo Beach this weekend. Apparently I got the guy in the Mustang next to me excited. We got stopped at a red light and I knew it was on. The stoplight was positioned on a hill that goes up and over a freeway. From 0 to 65 we were door-to-door, there was absolutely no difference in acceleration between them, then we let off.

The other car was somewhere around a 2002-2004 Mustang GT with a manual trans. I know they aren't the quickest car in the world, but I am impressed that a lifted 4WD 4Runner on 32.5" tires had 100% identical performance to that of a V8 "sports car" that was built in the same era or newer. I bet it surprised the Mustang driver even more.

I never had any idea how the performance compared to other vehicles, and at least now, I have some sort of benchmark. I'm still on the stock SC pulley too.

Speedy

Yep, I e-mailed the guy and got the info I needed and I'm gonna go with those. I love the way they look. I'll put my IS TRD's up on Craigslist.

Yeah, a supercharged 4Runner does pretty well. I've smoked some 4.6L Mustangs in mine as well as a couple turbo'd imports that got caught off guard. Pretty funny to see their faces. The 4.6L Mustangs were dogs with only a 315HP rating. Dog slow to be honest. The new 5.0s are way better. The new V6 is 305HP and LIGHT.

I have a 2009 Dodge Challenger with a built motor and a supercharger for when I wanna go beat up on the big boys. 600RWHP and runs 10s in the quarter mile. I've taken out a couple Porche's in it as well as countless Corvettes and Mustangs. Good times.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

I had an 88 Supra turbo that put down 430 hp and 465 ft lbs of torque with minimal mods, and that was a lot of fun. Mustangs, Camaros and Vettes were no problem, where I was challenged was modded Mustang Cobras and Z06 Vettes. I never ran drag radials, so that put me at a severe disadvantage.

Old or not, people expect a sports car to be fast. Beating a V8 sporty car in a lifted V6 4Runner is just plain fun.

I miss bracket racing at my local drag strip. In my area most of the cars you saw at the strip were Mustangs and Camaros and probably 50% of the cars were riced-out Civics. But bracket racing made even those fun. I would dial in at about five or six seconds lower than the Civics and for those five or six seconds that they had the green light and were headed down the track while I waited for my green light, it felt like eternity. But the best part is slowly reeling them in and finally passing them right at the end, my 114 mph to their 80 MPH. THAT was a fun feeling.

What size wheel are you ordering?

Speedy

I'm gonna go with the 16x8s on the wheels. I considered 17s but to me they look too big for the proportions on the 4Runner.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

The 8" width will be nice. Are you going with the gun metal color?

Speedy

Yep, Gunmetal is what I want. I was going to paint the IS Wheels gun metal and leave the polished lip, then clear them, but it's gonna cost more than the Level 8 Wheels to have that done so I'm just gonna swap them out. I'm ready for something different anyway.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

Good choice, I love gunmetal wheels. My 4Runner gets a lot more attention now; something about the dark gray wheels just makes it look more modern.

Speedy

Agreed. I love the truck and plan to keep it for a while longer so I figure I may as well update it a bit.

Speedy

Can you do me a favor and take a measurement from the middle of your wheel hub to the edge of your fender so I can compare to mine? I called SS and asked about a 2" lift and he said the 7.2 was 2" but when I pressed him a bit he said it was 2" on a 1999 so it's more like 3" on mine. I need to do some looking to see if it'll be too high.

My other option seems to be the OME 880 906 setup that's right at 2" but some have complained of a rough ride as we spoke of before.

For reference mine measures 19.5" all the way around from the center of my wheel to the bottom edge of the fender and I have the big flares.

Speedy

Since I hate finding old threads with unanswered questions, I got in contact with this guy and he has the OME 880 front and 906 rear springs in his. He has the Bilstein HD shocks and describes the ride as "decent". This is the stance I'd like, but want a good ride.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

I will take those measurements tonight.

You might want to PM 4x4mike, he is running the OME 906s in the rear and either the OME 880 or 881s in the front, but we're trying to work through some rough ride issues on his right now--not sure if it's the coils, the load range d tires or something else going on.

This would be so much easier if you just flew to California this weekend for the 4runner jamboree at Pismo Beach...you can drive my truck and probably test every suspension setup available.

Speedy

Haha, yeah that would be ideal. Not a lot of modified 4Runners in Middle TN. I've had crap suspensions lifts on older Tacomas and just hated them so I'm trying to be more tentative here.

Steve says the 7.2 rides exceptionally well, and from my reading the end user agrees. I was playing around with a jack last night raising the truck to different levels and I just can't take more than 2" of lift on mine. 1999 coils and some kind of trim packer might get me what I'm looking for, but I'd have to figure out shocks or re-use my stock ones that have 95K on them. The Bilstein 5100 shocks sound good so maybe I can find them to fit.

With your measures and those from mphudak I'll have an idea of what's what, so thanks in advance.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

I suspect than a newly installed SS lift will end up a little over 2", probably between 2.25" and 2.5". Mine is 7 years old now and probably sits right at 2", but I am only guessing ; I will measure tonight. I seem to remember the ground to the bottom of the flare is measurement is about 37–1/4'.

Speedy

Maybe it's been a while for Steve. When I talked to him about it yesterday it was hard to pin down an actual lift height. He said 2" over a 1999, but a 1999 is already an inch taller than mine so that means mine will be 3" of lift if what he stated was accurate.

Also, the 7.2 says it comes with 890X rear coils but Googling I can't find anything on the 890X, only the 890. Is that something they made special for him or ? I wondered why the 7.2 didn't include the 906s that are 2" of lift.

I've about gone blind reading all the forums trying to figure this stuff out.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

I don't know for sure, but I think an 890X is the same thing as an 890.

I researched mine to death too and also could not find much consistency among lift heights and ride impressions. If you buy the SS7.2, the results for that kit are pretty known, but I suspect it will be just slightly taller than you want. That’s why I went to a 17” wheel and 275/70R17s; smaller tires just looked a bit off. Your other choices are the Toytec, OME 880/881 and OME 906 lift but keeping in mind that some users report questionable ride quality, or bundling your own kit. Bundling your own kit means being a guinea-pig and possibly needing to go back in and adjust a coilover or perch height.

I think the OME 906 height is what you want in the rear. I think my OME 890s are advertised at ½” higher. You could play around with Bilstein 5100s in the front along with some new Toyota ’99 coils and probably get the height and ride you want, but you might have to play with settings some. If I were after a slightly smaller lift than mine, I would use OME 906 coils in the rear with the nice bumpstop relocation setup that SS uses, perhaps the extended brake line and rear panhard bar; then in the front I would probably experiment with the Bilstein 5100s and OEM 99 tall coils. A front diff drop may nor may not be necessary at that height. But again, you’ll be experimenting and final heights are a little unknown.

Speedy

I called Toytec to see what they had to say as well. They recommended their Ultimate Lift for what I wanted with 906 rear coils. She said if I went with the 5125 shocks the ride would be nicer than stock and the gal on the phone said that was actually what she had on her 4Runner and didn't find it harsh at all. She did say the 890 springs were firmer and taller.

I'm gonna do some math to see what makes sense. I could do 99 tall springs and a 3/4" spacer in the front and 99 tall springs and 2x10mm spacers in the rear. That should give me right at 2" of lift and have stock parts. There's probably a 5100 series shock that will work with that setup as well I'd just have to figure out which ones.

Once you get some measurements for me I'll know if the 7.2 will be too tall for me or not. I can jack up my truck until I have the same height as yours to look.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

Do you ever carry a load or tow? The rear 906s will handle the weight much better than the soft 99 coils.

Speedy

Rarely. I've moved a time or two and loaded this thing to the gills AND a trailer. It sagged in the back but did fine. 90% of the time it's empty.

So after MORE reading, ugh, it looks like the 890 coil is softer and rides better for the rear over the 906.

I'm learning that just getting a 2" lift for this thing is complicated.

paddlenbike

iTrader: (1)

Yup. If you don't expect more out of your suspension, you could always go with new 99 Toyota coils and shocks. It won't look much different but you know what the outcome will be. That said, it will cost as much as a lift. As you said, seems like you get 1" or 2.5" of lift and little options inbetween without experimenting.

Speedy

2.5" from where I am today would probably be fine. The issue is that mine seems to be pretty low. I measured it once and it was 19.5" but playing with it last night it measured 20" from center of the wheel to the edge of the fender. The difference could have been fuel level as it was near empty before and full now.

If yours comes back 22-22.5 it'll be easier to decide. If it's 23-23.5 I'm back to searching.

You are right, the rub is paying the same price for stock parts vs. lifted parts.