Well, after going through my 94 4runner sr5 one small upgrade at a time it is now time to take care of the annoying sag. Ive read alot of post in this forum and others about what could work. I do know I want to replace the springs. I dont want to go the spacer route I want to do the full spring swap in the rear. Most of the post Ive read have some people complaining of too much rear lift. I just want a reasonibly priced set of springs that will even out the look and take care of the sag. So far with info gathered Im thinking of the moog or the downey springs. Does anyone have exact models of these or others that will do the trick. Thanks in advance.

 

i had the downey coils before going to LC coils... they worked nicely. my LC coils are starting to get soft and so wiht BJ spacers it looks pretty saggy. but wiht out BJ spacers LC Coils would look good. i'm going to do a leaf conversion when i sas my truck this month, and i;ll be selling all the stuff i dont need anymore. let me know if you want my LC Coils. they flex pretty well because they are soft.

 

The Downey Heavy Duty 1.5" lift coils are an excellent idea IMO. I have had them for a couple of years now, they are a little stiffer but do a good job of avoiding sag even when loaded, but they still flex like crazy with the proper shock lengths. Also, they have not softened or sagged any from their brand-new height as far as I can tell. They do raise the height of the back end significantly, about 3" at the rear bumper if your stock springs are bad like mine were, so you may need to crank the torsions a little to match (make sure and get an alignment if you do this). They are also an excellent match for BJ spacers and 26mm torsion bars (which, coincidentally, I have!)

Highly recommended. Sorry, not sure of P/N but they are easy to work with over at Downey, all you have to do is tell them what you want.

 

You can buy short side FZJ80 coils off of toyotapartsales.com . They're pretty quick with shipping and are relatively low cost. I believe it's like $133 shipped for the short sides from a '97 FZJ80

 

I have the OME coils - the softer ones not the HD. They are great. You can do them without the BJ spacers. I put the BJ spacers in & cranked the bars back down to only have .75" of lift in the front. This has given me the best flex in the front & made the ride nice.

 

I have the Eibach coils, and they leveled it out quite nicely - the rear slightly higher than the front. They are a progressive rate, so they ride great too!

 

94, I can highly recommend Downey from my own experience. I think they raised the rear end just about perfect, and they make a huge difference towing a boat or other trailer. Replace the stock shocks, too, with a longer shock for full extension, and so that the shocks don't "hold back" the spring from expanding.

Before:


After:


(Thanks for giving me an excuse to post pics!)

 

Initially I believe that the rear wheel well is a little bit shorter than the front one, but at the same time the 4Runner does have a rear suspension problem. Mine not so much as some I have seen where they literally look as if they are squatting. Eventually I would like to make mine look more level but at the moment the sag is not so prevelant....plus i dont have the $money$ to spend.

 

I've had the OME 901's (heavy duty) and the OME 900's (medium duty). The medium duty are the best, most comfortable and lift your truck less. Pretty comfortable ride...don't beat you to death on the dirt roads.

 

I too have the Downey HD's and mine looks almost exactly as 4myDogs above, notice the slight sag in the rear still - IMO. I wish my rear was higher so when its loaded it still rides level - after 2 years or so, it has a slight sag again

 

Downey HD's here too. I'm happy with 'em. If you go with Downey, make sure you get the HD's. A few years ago I made the mistake of getting their regular springs. They were way too soft and actually started to sag after about a year. Upgraded to HD and all is well.

 

How tough a job is it to replace these springs?

 

Not very difficult. I would say anyone with average mechanical ability and even a minimal amount of tools could do it by themselves in about four hours or so.

I'd recommend replacing your stock springs with Downey HDs. Before I installed the LC coils, I had the Downey HDs and they were great. But, I wanted more lift so I sold them.

Having jackstands and a floor jack will make the job a lot easier! Put a jackstand under one side of the axle and use the floor jack to lower the other side as far as it will go. Don't forget to disconnect the anti-sway bar and the lateral control rod from the axle to make things flex easier. I didn't even need a spring compressor to get the Downey's in.

Good Luck!

 

If i went with the Downey 1.5" HD coils is it necesary to do adjustments on the torsion bars or do I not have to do that?? I was just gonna order them and have the shop install when I get new tires put on.

 

Yep. Downey works for me too.

 

I've got the Downey HD's in my 94 as well. I like em, but they do ride kinda stiff without a load in the car. But with a car load of people, or gear in the back, it rides GREAT!!! I'm happy with them, but I think you might have to get longe shocks.