Mid/long range travel….educate me

Looking for the style below. Educate me please. Mid or long range suspension. Tons of miles (3000 a month). Good? Bad? Ugly? Just looking for info. Planning on repainting the hood already. Want to do the fenders at the same time.

 

That's a Total Chaos kit, here's the link.

https://www.chaosfab.com/2010-2017-4Runner-Long-Travel-Suspension-Systems.html

 

Are there any negatives for a long travel kit on a daily driver? I’m talking 3000 miles a month daily

 

True LT is going to cost quite a bit more than a standard travel setup. Mid travel is less travel than long but can be up there in price.

 

To put all this together correctly you're looking at close to 10 grand. Are you ready to drop that kind of coin on a daily?

 

now?? No. In a year to five years, yes. This is a long term goal thang

 

You can't run certain parts on their own. Like standard travel shocks will not work on a LT kit and LT shocks will not work on OEM A arms. You also need new CVs or just the TC longer shafts if you are 4wd.

 

Maintenance is a high priority when running a setup like that. If you aren’t handy with a wrench it can get pretty spendy aside from the initial cost of the kit and install.

 

mid travel...something along the lines of a new uca and decent shocks, (maybe spacers, if you really WANT that stance) will be better as a daily(turning/parking/etc)

 

They addressed the big things with LT…cost and work.

aside from that, why are you driving 3k a month in a 4runner? Just curious. I’d have a Volvo or some shit with that kind of mileage.

this is mid travel set up:

 

been reading a lot on it and like mentioned above, for a daily, it is A LOT of work. I’ll do it, but probably after it’s no longer a daily. I don’t have time to maintain it as much as it needs to be.

 

I like country and live in San Diego. I live in BFE and everything I do is in the city, including job, so I drive A LOT! 100 miles minimum on days I work, and 200 or so if I take my daughter to school (I only have her 50% of the time).

I really should have something more economical, but I love how comfortable the 4Runner is

 

I drive my runner 3k a month too, probably 1k of those are off road....I drive what I like, not whats economical, if I did Id drive a motorcycle.

 

nothing wrong with that. I do 20-25k a year, but it gets pricey on a heavily modded tank

 

I'm waking up this thread. Mainly because I'm interested in this topic.

I'd like to know what you mid travel/long travel guys are running in the rear... what shocks/spring and other modifications you made and what your travel numbers are.

 

This was before I did my rear bumper setup (just removed the bumper to run the hard trails at this event)
Extended travel Dobinsons shocks/ springs. Not a true long travel setup, just extended travel suspension.
Front: IMS59-50574 Shocks. C59-352 coils.
Rear: IMS59-50575 Shocks. C59-677V coils.

Rear is like 7+"(?) extra down travel. Front is only a couple inches but won't be utilized unless you remove/disco the sway bar.
Rear requires offset upper links, extended brake lines, extended bump stops, extended sway bar links and a track bar correction kit.

 

Here's the same setup with my rear bash bar.

Works great.

 

That's an awesome setup you got there. I saw the dobinson ims and mrr rears extended travel have like 11"+ of suspension travel.

 

I’m really not sure of the numbers. I believe Dobinsons advertises the nearly the same extended shock lengths between the GS(nitro), IMS, and MRR. When I did my initial measurements I believe it was 6-7 inches more than my old OME rear shocks. The IMS is a great compromise. Better dampening than the GS line, but very affordable imo. I certainly don’t lift wheels nearly as much now. Removing the front sway bar helped a ton too.

It’s not as good as a true long travel setup, but it does everything I need it to do.

 

That's a lot of miles. IMO: long travel is a terrible idea.

I have a "mid-travel" setup. It's pretty good all around. I just took it out to Johnson Valley this past weekend and it did great driving through all the SXS chop that is rampant everywhere now. You still need to be careful of the cross grain stuff and whoops any larger than a foot.

JBA Upper Arms
Front Springs/Shocks: Dobinsons MRA59 Extended Travel + Dobinsons C59-352 Front Lifted Coil
Rear springs: ICON 158157
Rear shocks: Dobinsons IMS59-50575 IMS Long Travel

I also have extended brake lines and the timbrens bump stops in the rear.

Here is my "build thread" (it needs some updating):
https://www.4runners.com/threads/5th-gen-build-a-baja-resilient-daily-driver.36058/#post-600559

 

Nice Rig!

The only LT travel setup that I'd recommend on a daily is Dirt Kings new +2 kit. All rubber and delrin bushings. Would work well on a daily driver without adding a bunch of maintenance.
It doesn't address the weak steering rack, but you could swap over to a Tundra rack anytime.

Unfortunately, it's still 7k worth of parts... So the mid travel kit is a good stopping point for me.

https://dirtking.com/collections/4runner/products/2-long-travel-kit-dk-812928
https://dirtking.com/collections/4r...oilovers-dk-811908-fss?variant=41085604331563

 

Damn! That is some serious off roading!!!

 

I'd love to give $10K is there is trouble free long travel kit that I can run like factory components quiet and maintenance free. Like we don't re-grease factory ucas, lcas. Factory ucs. lca, axle are quiet and smooth.
Constant re-greasing and other maintenance is not my interest. I don't even do my own oil changes. I used Toyota dealership and now going to a toyota specialized independent shop. That toyota/lexus shop is not a mod shop.

edit -
Comfort is another huge deal for me. The minimum comfort level I can take is factory TRD Pro Fox shocks. I did not like OME nitro sport, Bilstien 5100. Ironman FCP is decent, little better than TRD Pro Fox. Love the off pavement comfort of ELKA 2.5DC. I'm not sure LT kits have this kind of comfort. For my next lift I'm tempted to go OMe BP-51. For sure its not LT and I don't think its even mid travel kit.But I would enjoy comfort on long trips.

 

Those were taken at Texas Toyota Takeover at Merus Adventure Park. Definitely helps to have good spotters and similarly capable rigs!

Although, there were a few times it would have been nice to be twin locked... 4.88's and and Eaton front locker is up next for sure.

*Edit: minimized pictures

 

Get a lightly used Corolla or Camry or Rav4 for the pavement driving. You will save the purchase price on gas, maintenance, wear and tear items, etc in less than 2 years, way more comfortable for daily use, and easier for kid to get in and out of. 36k miles a year at 18mpg average is 2000 gallons of gas a year, comes out to 9-10k in gas money, add 50% for more stop and go and loss of mpg from long travel and bigger tires that's 12-15k in gas money alone. Then there is the cost of running AT tires that need once every year or year and half at your use rate, so call that 1k a year, that's 13-16k a year JUST in gas and tires. Then the maintenance of oil change, driveline parts, transmission fluid change. it all adds up.

 

^This.

Once you dump 15-20k into LT, regearing, lockers, 35s, it would absolutely suck to commute the thing to death.
Even with my more simple setup I'm actively searching for a cash car (thinking Scion TC for sub 7k?) just to preserve my 4Runner for years to come.
It can then become a full time adventure vehicle. Preserved for off-roading and cross country road trips/ camping.

 

I have that Total Chaos kit on my Tacoma and here's my two cents...

By the time you do the entire truck, $10k isn't realistic. Putting LT on the front of your vehicle will start a cascade of other mods to get everything else up to speed. All of these prices are from memory but here's the ballpark price of the LT on my truck:

The front is a total chaos kit with spindle gussets, frame gussets, control arm gussets, HD hubs, RCVs, king coils and tower bracing. All in cost for the front including parts and installation from a reputable shop was around $16k. The rear end has a bunch of dirt king frame bracing, deaver springs, king bypasses and bump stops, PRP limit straps and bedcage. All in cost for the rear was around $10k, parts and labor at a reputable shop.Running LT up front without bypasses and bumps in the rear doesn't make sense.

It's been awhile since I've priced gears but they're not cheap either. Also budget for stuff like you can't run your spare under the vehicle anymore, etc. Again, this was for a Tacoma but I'd expect to spend a similar amount of money to do a 4runner. I love the truck. It's a blast to drive and I'll never sell it. If you can afford it, go LT and your face will get tired from smiling while you cruise past your friends in the desert.

 

I keep saying this as a joke, but PoRTaLS!!!

Seriously, I wonder what the price difference comes out to in the end. Portal kits give you extend width/travel in the front with good suspension geometry. They regear at the wheels in one fell swoop, which is great for protecting CV durability. No need for permanent changes on the vehicle. Compare that to a well set up long travel setup. Are the “all-in” costs that different?

I wouldn’t daily a portaled 4runner though.

 

Do portals allow more travel in the front?
I assumed they did not. The extra width is necessitated by the portals, but this alone does not increase articulation. Only longer control arms can give you serious gains in front travel.

Maintaining the factory suspension geometry sounds good until you realize the factory geometry isn't that great for off roading in the first place.
Don't get me wrong, Portals are cool and have a ton of benefits. But I think these are solutions to different problems.

 

Only reason to go LT is if you're consistently bombing through the desert or hitting the hard lines in the rocks. Also, if that's you, be ready to spend way more than the 10k mentioned above and be prepared to break a TON of parts on the trail.

If I haven's scared you off check out some of the build threads including mine.

Mid travel is the way in most instances.