Hi i was just wondering if anyone could give me advice about building a 4-link for my 89' 4runner. i cant decide whether or not to build my own or just get a universal kit ??? any advice woyld be great.


Thanks

 

Even a "universal kit" is a custom job. Here is the thread on mine:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...thread-153382/

 

I would buy the trail-gear kit.
(4 link- http://trail-gear.com/trail-link-4.html )
(3 link- http://trail-gear.com/trail-link.html )

no matter what your still gonna have to do some custom fab work for shocks and what not but these guys have a pretty good reputation for building great stuff.
If this is gonna be your daily driver i would shy away from these. and just do springs.
I have trail gear 5'' springs front and rear and it flex's reall good about 33'' with a fork lift before another tire come off the ground. And that was before the springs were broken in.

 

Thanks for the advice i am a fairly experienced fabricator so i should not have any problems with installing it. The only street driving is just to get to the trails.

 

The TrailGear kit will NOT work on a 4Runner. The crossmember is WAY too high. It's designed to be right behind the cab of a truggy with no bed.

 

i read that you can install the crossmember with all of the frame and bed still on.
You just gotta cut out parts of the floor and make tunnels so that it the 4 link cross member will clear. its just sheet metal
The fine print sais extensive bed modification required. so if you can fabricate i see no reason why it would'nt work.

 

I would go with a custom 4-Link from scratch--get the good stuff (Parts) and on my 3rd gen we had to cut the floor for the shocks. But the result was awsome and it rides really nice. Trail buddies call it the Cadillac. But set it up so you can ditch the Panhard bar. That will require you to have a true triangulated 4-Link. But you will like it!!!

with that said i now get 13" of travel limited only by my shocks and other "STUFFS". It also rides nice on the street.

 

Oh--I am not sure about your 4Runner--but i had to make/relocate a custom gas tank, reroute hoses/pipes/filler etc...

 

4 link troubles can be eliminanted by eliminating your IFS. SAS and leafs all around are in order I think.

 

and trade ine set of troubles for an entirely NEW set of troubles!

Here's the deal, leaves are easy but they do not control the axle well at all. Links do not have that shortcoming. Seriously, it's not THAT difficult to build a 4 link, just make sure to put the time in up front getting the design right! Seriously, I have probably about 1/2 the time it took to do the fab sitting in front of the computer doing the design and tweaking it.

 

does anyone know approximately how much it would cost to build my own?

 

I just finished pricing out my SAS components for my swap.

12" travel coilovers w/resevoir
Rod ends, thread bungs, High misalignment spacers and rubber boots
link brackets, coilover brackets, poly bushings for the axle side
Longfield chromo birfields + chromo hub gears, limit straps, etc.
Lastly, all the steel is prolly the cheapest.

In total, I got just shy of $2K, which is nice cause I only have like $2.5K to make this happen...Hope that helps.

 

thanks for the help

 

i would go with a 3link universal front kit from polyperformance and trail gears rear linked kit those would help make it easier to put together

 

Mine was right at $1000 for the rear, reusing the current springs.