5th gen - lift options with KDSS

I am looking to put a lift on my 2015 4runner with KDSS. After some research I see that going 2.5 - 3" is max. I went to my local off road shop and they quoted me $8k which seemed very excessive from what I see that range of lift for online. Is he quoting me higher because of KDSS? I thought I thought I would be looking more in the $2,500 - $3,000 range for parts and labor. Any guidance?

Tires - I currently have 265/70R17. What size tires should I look at after a lift?

 

Welcome to the forum Rachel.

 

You better be getting some long travel top of the line suspension at that price point! KDSS makes it slightly harder to install as you have to work around the sway bar system from my understanding.
Research your own lift, decide what you want, then take it to the shop to install it. It’ll range anywhere from $500 (spacers) to what you were quoted at for top of the line stuff.

 

8k seems pretty high but I guess it depends on which part of the country your in. Type of lift depends on your usage of the vehicle. If it’s going to be a mall crawler you could do a cheap spacer lift. For middle of the road Blistein offers quality at a reasonable price. Check out some of the off road supply people like

https://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/toy...resent-toyota-4runner/suspension-kits-80.html

. It will give you an idea what parts cost so you will know what your paying for labor.

I’d ask the guy for an itemized list of what he is charging you.
A lot of mechanics that don’t have experience with KDSS charge way to much, look on Yelp for reviews for mechanics that are familiar with Toyota’s and KDSS, Having KDSS should not cost you more than $150 for labor more than a regular suspension lift. Mechanics charge by the hour for shop rate. A good mechanic with KDSS experience can put on a suspension on a KDSS equipped vehicle and not add to much time dealing with the KDSS vs a non KDSS.
Read the forum here on suspensions.

https://www.4runners.com/forums/suspension.19/

do some research on what type of suspension suits your needs, and shop around for another mechanic. $8k is way to much in my opinion.

 

Welcome!
That seems like way too much money, but depending on what kind of equipment they quoted to install.

I did a Bilstein lift in the front (around 2.7 inches) and replaced the factory struts in the back with Bilsteins, but no lift. That and some rather expensive wheels and Nitto Grappler tires and didn't spend half of the 8k you listed.

 

That’s pretty steep! What kind of suspension are you getting for that price?

 

I walked right out when he told me $8k because I felt like I was getting my chain yanked.

My 4runner is my daily driver but I also take it on a lot of weekend trips. I need more clearance (I've had to replace all of my skid plates). I drive trails (rocky, rutted, etc.) in Southern California (not heavy duty rock crawling), back road in Baja Mexico, the dessert out in Anza Borrego.

 

If your near Costa Mesa check out a place called Signature Performance Tire and Wheel.

https://www.signatureperformancetirewheel.com/

They have a lot of experience with Toyota KDSS and charge a reasonable rate to do the lift, they were around $350 for labor to put on a suspension, plus alignment. Read their reviews on Yelp.

Check out Blistein 5160/6112 set up. It’s a good all around suspension for how your using your 4Runner

https://trail4runner.com/2019/02/09/bilstein-5160-complete-guide-review/

 

I have 2014 Trail version with KDSS. I do not go on serious off-roading but here and there easy to medium. I just did spacer lift at 88 Roter in South El Monte. 45 min installation $400. great guys and know what they are talking about including KDSS. They can do what I did which is economy all the way to full suspension lift. but I think $8K is just not right. And on the way back put 285/70R17 BFG KO2 tires. Love it so far.

 

^ what he said. I called them for a quote and with parts and labor it’s about $1,600. They work on 4Runners all day long which is a plus especially if you have KDSS. I asked for a Bilstein 5100 set up and I think they’re doing a 3” lift in the front and 2” in the rear. Seems high but that’s what they recommended to level it out. Tons of videos on YouTube of the work they’ve done. I’m getting my tires from discount tire for the sheer purpose of maintenance and repair or else I would have just paid the $2800 (+ tax) for tires and lift at 88 Rotors. You need to go elsewhere to do the alignment. The tire size I ordered is 285/70/17.

 

I agree with what has been said. It sounds like that shop doesn't know what they're doing, or they're trying to gouge you.

Parts for a lift with KDSS can be had for around $1K (5100's and UCA's) and up to around $4-5K (Kings + UCA's).

A good tech should be able to do the lift in a day. Even less if they have worked on 4runners before. So, I would expect to pay for maybe 6-10 hours worth of labor.

@rachelcarr can you post a pic of the estimate? I'm curious what they were going to sell you for that much.

 

Go with Bilstein 6112 and 5160 with 2 inch lift for KDSS,super reliable can beat everything in the market .
2 inch lift with KDSS is the best more then that you might face issues .

 

^ agree

I did this (6112, 4th perch, 5160 rear, stock spring) myself with zero suspension experience. It went way easier than I expected, and using King’s KDSS instructions I didn’t touch the KDSS system except to compress the piston briefly to install the passenger front coil.

 

I got my bilstein 6112 and 5160s (2.5 inch lift front and 1.5 inch lift rear) for about 1400 from head strong off road in Hemet (they're a vendor here) and paid 600 with alignment from a local socal toyota shop so less than 2200 otd here in socal

 

Being that you live in socal like me,you should be able to find someone doyou do what you want and a reasonable rate. I found 88rotors on YouTube and they are out of l.a. give them a peak bc they are doing 4Runners all day

 

I went to Off road warehouse in San Diego - I didn't get any kind of paper quote bc when he said that # I just walked out.

This has all been incredibly helpful. Thank you guys!!!

Thoughts on this kits?

https://yotamafia.com/product/bilstein-stage-2-lift-kit-spc-ucas/

https://www.offroadwarehouse.com/pr...lar-icon-vehicle-dynamics?gfid=p12952-c432830

 

I went to a different shop than the one who quoted me $8k. I told him I'm a weekend warrior so I wasn't looking to go the King route. He gave me two different quotes -

1) Bilstein 5100s + alignment + 285 tires = $2,698 less the tires = $1,587
2) Fox 2.0 shock and coil over + alignment + 285 tires = $3,731 less the tires = $2,620

Here is where I think he's yanking my chain. He said none of them will need any maintenance at 30-40k miles and didn't give me a lifespan estimation on any of it. I have read the contrary. I want to give these guys the benefit of the doubt that they are professionals and giving their honest advice, but after the $8k quote, and now this guidance I can't help but be cautious to follow their lead. Thoughts?

 

Those are good prices and I don’t think he’s yanking your chain. I’m paying $1,600 without an alignment and tires for Bilstein 5100 set up when I could go elsewhere and get it for $1,200 with alignment. I just want to go to a shop that has a good track record with 4Runners with KDSS and know what they’re doing. I’d rather pay extra for the little piece of mind than deal with a shit storm to save a couple hundreds. That’s just me though!

 

Dobinsons makes specific adjustable KDSS kit. Get their upper control arms too. GREAT ride quality and adjustable so you can make it sit perfect.

https://www.dobinsonsdirect.com/products/dobinsons-1-to-3-0-ims-lift-kit-toyota-4runner-2010-19-kdss

 

WOO... I think I have finally narrowed it down to Icon coilovers in the front with a 2.25" lift, Bilstien 5100 in the back, and Toyo 285 AT3 (e load). What do you think of the quote attached?

They threw quotes at me with body chop OR spacers OR new wheels. After some research, if I leave it alone (no chop, no spacers, run my stock wheels) I might get a little bit of rub on full turns, but that's it? But how often do I do that anyway? I am not doing any major rock crawling. I have 4 wheel drive, if that info is relevant.

 

Not bad. I’d caution you though that it rubs and it’s a horrendous sound. You will need to cut/file it down or it may take out your bumper after awhile. I have a similar set up to your quote (bilstein 5100 set up, 3” rear lift, 2” front lift and Toyo AT3 load C). The goons at 88 Rotors where I had my suspension done didn’t tell me that I needed to get new UCAs cause the stock UCAs with the lift is not really cutting it. Probably an additional $800 with labor and parts for the new UCAs + install. Long story short, after getting an alignment from a different shop, I was told I need new UCAs and hopefully that will get my car aligned. It’s not at the moment. My car is also leaning quiet a bit towards the passenger (1”+). Im getting spacers to fix the lean to get it down to .5”. 4Runners are notorious for leaning especially ones with KDSS, I can live with a .5” lean. Just letting you know in case you run into the same issue.

 

I wish I got this instead of the bilstein 5100.

 

my understanding is if you stay under 2.5" lift you wont need UCA and you won't get that lean from KDSS?

 

I can't say what the rule is here, but I'm at 2.3" in front and no lean that I notice.

 

I went Dobinsons because I would lose my mind if my 4runner was sittin sideways (Paul Wall) lol. If you want adjustability, put the Dobinsons ims up front and use their KDSS specific springs on all four corners. .

 

I think even from the factory there’s a lean. But yeah I measured how much it’s leaning and it’s quiet significant. There’s not much text out there for a lean towards passenger, there’s always a lean towards the driver. I went to a reputable alignment shop here in my city and they told me that I needed to upgrade my UCAs because of the lift I did and to improve performance. Maybe the place where I got my suspension done fucked up installation. There I was thinking they’d get it right since they work on 4runners all day long. I’m not sure why it’s leaning so much. I’m just going to put spacers to level it out and replace the UCAs and hope for the best.