First off hello all. Second, I did look through a few FAQs and they seemed to be more geared towards upgrading in terms of lifting. I (my daughter actually) has a 97 4Runner 4x2. I recently bought it from a friend who was the original owner...he told me it drove like a dump truck...he was not kidding. Do I have any options on upgrading the suspension for a significantly better ride?

THAKNS IN ADVANCE

 

Lift kits and upgrades for the 2WD suspension are similar to the 4WD 4Runner, here is one look at what another 2WD 4Runner owner did to his truck:

http://members.cox.net/nolanlh/4runn...sion_tires.htm

Also, you might want to review the information on here as well:

http://www.sonoransteel.com/

Good luck!

 

Thanks, I'll take a look...but again, I don't want a lift kit, I just don't want the thing to ride like a concrete truck. ;-)

 

Just buy factory replacement tokico shocks/struts. A little over $200 for the 4 of them.

 

Can't go wrong a Sonoran Steel set up... like the one I'm selling

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f11/...pacers-182915/

 

...and for the third time...he doesn't want a lift.

 

OK well, I tried to provide some information to educate the user but since some people can't read I will go into greater detail. The reason the 4Runner rides like a "concrete truck" is because there is not enough room between the bumpstops on the rear axle before it bottoms out on almost every bump and the HARD factory bumpstops. You can see this yourself by just looking under there while there is weight on the rear of the vehicle. My 4Runner looked exactly like the pictures Nolan has on his website detailing his experiences. There are several ways to go about solving this FACT as detailed in the links I provided. Sonoran Steel has a solution and information posted on his website, that involves replacing the factory bumpstops with his "super soft" bumpstops, for one example. Also, Nolan details on his website very well through excellent pictures what is wrong in this scenario. So while getting Tokico shocks/struts might help, it might NOT. How do I know? Because I had the same exact problem on my 96 4Runner and I found the information and pictures very helpful and informative on both of those websites. Solved my problem with Bilsteins, Progressive springs - which are no longer made, and the Sonoran Steel bumpstops. Yes, I actually took my 4Runner off road and towed things with it so that is why I used that solution which worked very well for me. If you notice in my reply I stated "lift kits and upgrades" just in case they change direction about what solution they want to try. You also have the option of seeing if your local Toyota dealer wants to address your rear bumpstops through the old recall that was in effect. My local Toyota dealer was not helpful when I tried that route. Good luck.