Suspension suggestions

Just purchased a 2021 SR-5 premium 4x4 Toyota 4runner. Looking for input on a good lift kit, vehicle wont be used on rugged terrain but may take on some mild off road trails. Looking for more quality rather then price.

 

Tons of threads on suspension upgrades on here. Spend some time cruising through the forum. If you want quality, look into coilovers. They’ll provide the best of both worlds (off-road & street driving). Or check out shocks with different spring setups for an in the middle setup which is great for most owners on here. And lastly there’s spacers which are the cheapest and don’t offer any added performance. Also research the difference between progressive, digressive, and linear valved shocks if you go with coilovers.

 

Welcome from Texas.

I have the ORP. with the pro wheels. Have the Dobinsons Coils & shocks (IMS) front & rear - 2.7" in front - 1.7 rear - Bf Goodrich KO 2 C 6 ply 285/70/17. This give around a 4"lift if you count the larger tires increase of height. Front shocks are adjustable. The rig drives great on the road and off-road.
If you want more info contact Mike from exitoffroad.com nice helpful and honest guy.
Good luck.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks I’ll keep reading through the forum. Definitely won’t do spacers. I was at least trying to narrow it down to the different brands. This is my first owned 4 Runner.

 

Thanks I’ll give exit off road a call.

 

If you are after quality parts and the best ride possible we definitely have some options for you. Fox and King are the top 2 brands to check out, and our free custom tuning will make your 2021 4Runner ride super smooth both on and off-road. Take a look at those kits here and feel free to shoot us a message if you have any questions!
https://accutuneoffroad.com/product...7-2010/10-4runner-mid-travel-suspension-kits/

 

Idk why many ppl recommended eibach, my 20 orp making cranking noise at front and tweeting noise at rear after 6 months . Idk what to do now just saving some money for a better option like king or fox.

 

Welcome from Wisconsin! 'Forum Search' is a good place to find pros and cons for suspension questions. Good luck.

 

Something is wrong with yours.

My Eibach Pro Truck Lift put on in 2019 works just fine. No weird noises. I'm off road just about every weekend.

 

I'll take a look.
Thanks

 

FYI my Eibach Pro Truck Lift was $750 w/ free shipping to my house.
On sale for $707:

$917+ Eibach Pro-Truck Lift System

https://www.tirerack.com/suspension...ft+System&group=Pro-Truck+Lift+System&cat=Kit

Install with alignment was $500.

I later added:

SPC UCA's $609 w/ free shipping:

$696 SPC Specialty Products 4RUNNER & FJ UCA (PAIR) 25480

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DBTTSO

Install of the SPC UCA's plus a Body Mount Chop was another $350.

Total for my suspension installed = $2209.

Video of me in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfdHe_EQRzI

My videos, most are 1st person driver POV:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC21XgrK1QQQDMUld-U2XYvg/videos

I'm happy with it.

 

King, Fox, Radflo, Dobinsons, Elka are all great options if money is no concern. Keep in mind, though, some higher end shocks will require a rebuild periodically.

Another consideration is whether you want to do more low speed trails or high speed stuff. For lower speeds, you might not need 2.5" coilovers.

285's only add about .6" of height.

 

My 4x4 shop told me to pick a setup that has high speed + low speed adjusters if I want best comfort vs Kings with 1 mid speed adjuster. Again I have no idea if its true or false. Something to double check for OP or anyone from their 4x4 shop when selecting a kit for their 4R.

 

Good idea! It would be nice to be able to tune to the situation. This makes me think Fox might be a better option for some.

I'm just saying that if high speed off-roading isn't a factor, high end coilovers are probably overkill. If one doesn't mind the cost and the maintenance, though, then they might as well go high end.

 

Some tech about DSC adjusters for those interested:
https://accutuneoffroad.com/should-i-get-dsc-adjusters-on-my-fox-shocks/

 

I'm looking right now at OME and Dobinson. It will be mostly a road vehicle because that will be my wife's ride but still looking to improve ride quality. Also looking for something that doesn't need to be rebuilt. I'm trying to look through the forums and man there is a lot to read. Guys any others that I should be looking at or more input on OME and Dobinson? I Know there is others such as FOX,KINGS,ICON etc but may be more then I need. And I still need to figure tires and wheels.

Thanks

 

If you're looking at OME, the BP-51 looks really nice.

Dobinsons are pretty popular and have good reviews.

Don't buy Icons.

 

Yes the higher end BP-51 looks good. I didn't focus on the higher end set ups because I didn't think I would need them. So I was looking into
the entry level OME or one step up to Dobinson IMS. Any thoughts on these?

 

I don't have any experience with OME. It seemed that their only option was a 3" lift, which is more than I wanted. Of those 2 options, I would go with Dobinsons as I'm pretty sure they have more options for height and spring rates. But, that's just my opinion.

A bunch of folks here are running Dobinsons, and I have yet to hear any complaints. If you choose that route, our resident Dobinson expert @Crikeymike can probably help you out.

 

Thanks for the tag!!

Happy to help, we definitely have the most coil options of any brand out there, and any lift height from stock height up to 3.5" too.

This page shows every possible option, but it can be daunting, so I can answer any questions you have:
https://exitoffroad.com/product/dobinsons-1-to-3-5-build-a-kit-toyota-4runner-5th-gen/

 

Depending on the springs you can get 2.5in lift and 3in lift with OME. OME is great at high speed driving. But I don't like the feeling at slow speeds. At local roads I can feel every bump and crack. I will never buy OME Nitro lift again. Bilstien5100 is much better.

However I've heard OME BP-51 is very comfy and LC200 owners use them. OME BP-51 is one of the kits I'm thinking for my Limited where I need the best comfort on road and I don't care the offroad performance. Its not easy to pick one as all lift kits talk about offroad specs and no one seem to have absolute best on-road comfort.

 

Misconception about IMS shocks, they are not entry level or one step-up, they are machined, fully rebuildable and re-valvable. They have a hi-flow CNC 6061 Billet alloy piston and a are 56mm/2.2” Bodied with 50mm hi-flow CNC 6061 Billet alloy pistons and a 50mm bore.

That said, they are on par with Kings & the likes. The step-up as well with kings and other high-end brand shocks is an added reservoir which are also available in Dobinsons MRA59-A700 3-Way Adjustable MRR (MRA) Front and Rear.

Do not be mistaken, because of Dobinsons more affordable price. The IMS shock itself has the same measurement and quality, specs as the (MRA's) which is called more high-end because of the the 3 way additional reservoir.

Btw. What do you mean by "Also looking for something that doesn't need to be rebuilt"?

If your spouse drives mostly on the road, these shocks will outlast any factory and up shock. If I understand your concern about "rebuilt" means that you have that option and do not need to buy new shocks, which is less expensive than buying new shocks, giving you the same result as new.

Important, in rebuild periodically, is understanding use, and the size of your shocks, terrain and application, (e.g. going fast and a lot in the desert) even with heavy use a high quality shock will be fine most of the time for around 5 years before rebuild or replace will be necessary.

 

Yeah, that's right. My issue was that I wanted 1-1.5" in back and Bilstein seemed like the most economical option for that. I may have gone with Eibach as well, but hadn't really heard much about them when I bought everything.

 

I would also give Ironman 4x4 a look, based on your intended use and desire to avoid maintenance and frequent rebuilds, etc. Their lead times are around 1 month, and current 25% off sale. A Foam Cell Stage 3 kit with 2.5" performance load pre-built front coils, and 2" performance load rear coils, with UCAs, adjustable links and panhard rod for $2060 shipped is a ton of value for the $.

 

Important, in rebuild periodically, is understanding use, and the size of your shocks, terrain and application, (e.g. going fast and a lot in the desert) even with heavy use a high quality shock will be fine most of the time for around 5 years before rebuild or replace will be necessary. I'm sure sure you know that, you ride dobinsons. LoL

 

Thanks Roland for the info.
I may have said it wrong. I meant to say one up or one step up to the IMS on the Dobinson from its entry level setup and the OME entry level set. Sorry if I am saying it wrong again.

As for the rebuilt, something that doesn't need to be removed at x number of miles to get serviced or rebuilt.

So I guess I'm looking for the best comfort on the road. I have never owned a 4Runner so I don't know how it rides or handles on or off road.

I'm also looking for something that can be adjusted to get it leveled. I just don't want the sag look or to much rake look. So I guess the two entry level kits are out? IMS or other?

 

Ironman's Foam Cell setup is more or less equivalent to a Dobinsons IMS. Both have adjustable height front struts, and their UCAs are also comparable to Dobinsons, with oem style rubber bushings and sealed ball joints.

Captrussia253 has Ironman on his GX460 and Dobinsons on his 4Runner. You could hit him up if you're curious.

 

You can set the vehicle up to be level from the get-go with the proper height coil springs, as opposed to using adjustable height struts to make the change. Even though IMS are adjustable height up front, you'd still use an appropriate height lifted coil to get the height you want, then the adjustability of them would be used to correct for a lean or to adjust the height later if you add more weight and lose some height due to squatting.

What you want to do can be done with the twin tube standard setup, or the IMS. Both are very similar on the road, however the IMS is better because of the bigger piston size, more oil, and IFP as well, and then offroad, the IMS blow the twin tubes away for performance and comfort.

 

Why did you say don't bu Icons?