Suspension for new 4Runner: daily driving, towing, off-roading?

I am a first-time 4Runner owner and, frankly, it's my first vehicle that I'll be doing significant after-market mods to. I need help know how to find the right suspension for my needs. Here are some details of my situation:

- I have a new 2023 SR5 Premium on order (I need the 3rd row seats)
- It will be a family daily driver in addition to our vacation vehicle
- I have 3 kids and we sometimes bring an extra friend (or 2) on trips; so it will not be unusual to have a full load of 7 people in the car
- Vacations for us usually entail a 4-6 hour drive to the destination when we'll be heavy with 6-7 people, gear, food, etc. We often bring along bikes, inflatable paddle boards, or other toys. If we are camping, we will tow a 3500 lbs pop-up trailer. Most of this driving will be highway driving, with perhaps a few miles at the end on a dirt/gravel road to get to the campsite or Airbnb.
- Most of our off-road driving consists of day trips from our campsite. Our load will be much lighter since most of our gear will be left at camp and we'll just pack for the day. We drive mostly on maintained gravel roads, but we encounter occasional ruts, wash-boarding, or other minor obstacles. We don't get into the real technical stuff, and we are not fully loaded with gear for multi-day backcountry trips.
- I plan to put a full-length Gobi roof rack on top
- I like the aesthetics of a 3" lift with 285/70/17 or 295/70/17 tires

So here's my question... what suspension is the right fit for me? Is it possible to find a solution that can address the breadth of conditions we'll use it for:
1. Daily driver around town with light loads
2. Heavily loaded (and towing) between home and a campsite
3. Non-technical off-roading

I welcome any recommendations and advice!

 

Welcome!
Can 6-7 people even sit comfortably for a few hours in a 4runner? Maybe someone with a 3rd row will chime in

 

I'm not very technical just average user. So IMO SR5 (or Limited) are the perfect candidates for Load carrying with 1165lbs (TRD models only about 800ish lbs). I'm 5' 5", even though I fit in 3rd row of SR5 / Limited I would def get my feet & b**t numb for hour of sitting. Also when 3rd row is up the cargo space is useless.


I've have really good suspension like ELKA2.5DC but I don't say they are the best for on pavement. I have few more suspension lift experience and not soft as stock. (I like soft suspension and not every one like soft suspension)

In my experience I could not fit 285/70/17 without lift and plastic trimming even on TRD Pro with 1in lift from factory. I had to add extra .5in lift barely to clear them. But many in the forum is against it. They say lift don't do a thing.
Its just me personally didn't work at stock height even buying smaller 32.76in 285 tires, not 33in 285 options like GY Wrangler Duratrac. Both my SR5 and 2 of my friends got 3in spacer lift where my friend got 285s on his and didn't even trim the plastic. There was minor rubbing but after couple of trail runs the tires cleared the plastic it self.


I guess its better to give sometime search around the forum and get lot of info before spending the money. There are better more knowledgeable folks in the forum..

 

Suspension lift, especially if you’re going to have heavy loads and towing. No spacers. As far as which one, check out the build threads and then do research and see if it fits the bill.

 

Welcome here!

I can give you advice after being in the same boat before regarding my first heavily modded vehicle, and wanting to add weight and tow occasionally. Fully upgrade suspension, tires, wheels. Levelled mine out with 3" front lift, 2" rear lift, 17's zero offset, 285/70/R17's, front uca's.

1 . You'll have to gauge what your approximate average camping and trip weight could be. Decide what your max extra weight will be including worst case; 7 ppl and towing.
2. Take these numbers and use the min/max load to choose upgraded front and rear springs. The spring rate can sometimes be similar to stock springs, but the aftermarket springs will be longer length. Finding the right spring rate and length will allow you to sit at approx. 3" full time.
3 . Upgrade the front and rear shocks, typically longer travel than stock. I recommend Bilstein 5100, or 6112, best price, good ride height, and satisfactory performance
4 . Do a diff drop kit when lifting 3".
5 . Wheels aren't that important, stay away from large negative offset to avoid rubbing wheel well. Stay away from large positive offset to avoid rubbing uca's.
Tires: do the 285/70/R17, I run more heavy and durable 10ply Load E, but guys seem to run Load C without many punctures. Most shops won't install 295's for you, because you'll have major rubbing, require chopping, and also get into the relm of needing to regear and such. Highly recommend upgrading uca's too if budget is there.

 

Here's a couple videos about lifting IFS suspension:

https://youtu.be/33VewJFda1Q

This video has multiple parts, they are all very interesting. Actually, all the videos on this guy's channel are very interesting, he's very analytical and presents things very well.

https://youtu.be/_68Hc8GtLko

 

I have 3rd row and driving is similar to what you describe except we almost always have 5 kids + 2 adults loaded in so 3rd row is always up. Be aware that 3rd row adds a little over 100lb versus non 3rd row model. Add carseats plus people and weight adds up quick before you even add cargo.

My experiences below.

Cargo space is tight with 3rd row in use. Water proof bag that fills out most of roofrack space is nice to have and can be stored easily when not needed. Keep some rope or straps because you never know what you may have to throw on the roof if 3rd row is in use.

For day trips to the river, a hitch tray is good enough to hold a big cooler rather than lifting that up to roof. Just be mindful of exhaust exit location.

For 2 or 3 day trip, roofrack plus hitch tray can be good enough to fit everything but a small utility trailer is nicer in my opinion. Less climbing and lifting. If you are doing hotel stay or something that you dont need tents, cooking gear, sleeping bags, etc, then you can easily get by using roofrack.

Hills will heat the transmission if you aren't careful. Especially if towing. I use a Scangage to have any eye on trans temp and adjust driving style as needed when loaded with camping gear.

The Bilstein 6112 on front has been great for us. Rear i have 5160 shocks and Old Man Emu (OME) 2895 coils. I had different rear coils before and they didn't take weight well. The OME have been really good for rear. This suspension setup gave me +2.5 inch lift front and +2 inch rear. After 50,000 miles, rear is still at +2 and front has sagged slightly to +2. It was fine on stock upper control arms but i did eventually change them to aftermarket. Didn't feel a difference really after UCA change.

Load range C tires in 285/70-17 also have 50k miles and have done well enough including a couple rougher offroad trails. KO2s have had balancing troubles that cause steering wheel to shake so i will try different brand tire next.

Good alignment was main thing that got the tires to clear even when i originally had it set at only 1 inch lift. Still have stock splash guards on but i did ziptie them back a little and push the fender liner forward slightly in front of tire.

Edit: you will definately feel that 3500lb trailer. Don't expect good gas milage or performance. Take care not to get too heavy with gear.

 

I’d go with Dobinsons MRA’s. You can tune them for different conditions via reservoir adjusters. The price is very good for what you get although they’re not inexpensive. $2700 for shocks, struts and springs. $3500 if you add UCA’s which I would recommend. I have their IMS suspension which I love, but I never travel loaded, stock weight 99.5% of the time.

Edited to add - Dobinsons has a ton of spring options for any situation. Anywhere from stock weight to HEAVY.

 

My family does all the things you mentioned with ours. Grocery getter, kids taxi, dog hauler, MTB carrier, camping rig, off-roading transport. xmas tree fetcher.

Things we've done to it:

• Bilstein 6112 (rear) 5160 (front). 2" front lift, 1" rear)
• Helper bags in rear springs for towing (easy and worth it)
• Untold $$$ in pursuit of better sound with stock head unit (blechhh)
• Dark window tints (we camp in the desert and live in San Jose)
• Front seat jackers (I'm tall)
• KO2s in stock size on stock wheels (perfect for in-town, great for off-road)
• Nerf bars (yeah, they're not cool kid sliders but they help my wife and kids get in and out comfortably)
• Real cross bars (flat, not arched. slotted for normal fasteners)
• Canvas dog liners in rear area
• Throttle mapper (so my accelerator foot can be lazier)
• Tow controller built into dash empty slot (so we are safe going over Sierra Nevada mountains fully loaded)

Things we've done to us:

• get used to turning lights on and off
• accept that my wife never locks the doors and the car doesn't do it automatically
• accept that it's pretty slow and lumbering
• do my own service every 5K because I'm the only person I trust mechanically
• accept that sound system sucks
• rejoice that not a goddamned thing has gone wrong with it since the day we bought it
• trust it to take us out into the remote desert for a week at a time reliably and predictably

Jason

 

Sounds like the stock 4 Runner does all of the things you listed without spending any additional money. If you want it for looks that’s different.

 

Respectfully disagree, ditch the stock tires 100%. And with 3rd row, maybe 7ppl, maybe towing; the T4R nose dive and ass sag will bother ya

 

I think stock suspension should be a good fit for your use. I would replace stock tires with something better and put 34-36 psi in tires to have a little firmer ride.

 

Is for OP or me?

In my case, I like having a nice tool for the job. Especially jobs I do frequently and get enjoyment from.

But you are right, many of the things I do *could* be done in stock trim.

 

I cannot find Toyota offer Premium with 3rd row seats. Please post your build order.

 

And this is where a spacer lift (on the strut, not in the strut) is different because at full compression, the tire will not be in the same position as stock (and no, I'm not advocating for spacer lifts)

 

I'd start by looking up the numbers for your 4Runner - Curb Weight (weight of vehicle as is with nobody in it), Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (maximum total weight the vehicle is rated for) and Payload (the difference between the two, the weight you have to deal with) and doing the math. 7 people and some stuff is going to eat up a lot of it. If you're towing, add 10-15% of the weight of the fully loaded trailer for the tongue weight. If you are considering adding storage capacity (which you'll need if you have 7 people and much stuff to haul) via a roof rack, add the weight of that plus its contents. I personally would not push right up to the weight limit on a regular basis and would want to leave some margin of safety. If you can stay under the GVWR under any normal circumstance, I'd stick with the stock configuration for awhile to see how it works for you. Others will disagree, but I hate the idea of ditching brand new parts off a well made reliable vehicle and replacing them without giving them a chance - unless of course you know you're going to exceed the GVWR on a regular basis, in which case you don't really have a choice but to enhance the suspension to make it capable of handling more weight. But there may be alternatives. If you're only taking occasional short trips with 7 passengers, you could take 2 vehicles.

 

Solution is not to exceed the GVWR. Even if you swap to more robust coils, how do you know that was the limiting factor in determining GVWR?

Now, if anyone can explain how Toyota gets an 880# (or 1135#) payload from a 6300# GVWR with a 4750# curb weight (GVWR and curb weight are in their documentation), I'd love to see that math.