Lift Or No Lift!? That Is the Question. Please help!

Recently I picked up a 2019 SR5. She's great. However, I'm not a fan of the stock tires and wheels. This is where I have run into the ultimate dilemma.

I definitely want to upgrade the size/aggression of the tires, but do I simply jump up to 275's on the stock suspension and call it a day? Or do I go for a proper lift and get 285's? The tires I'm looking at currently are the BFG KO2's.

Here's how I will be using my 4Runner. I live in Utah and do a fair amount of camping, fishing, hunting and exploring. I'm not looking to go crazy on gnarly Moab trails, but I certainly want to be able to traverse some nasty stuff should I encounter it.

I'm not looking to go cheap, but I'm wondering if I actually need or will use a proper lift or if the money would be better off spent on upgrades such as a bumper, winch, rock sliders, roof rack, etc.

BONUS: If you are running 275's on stock suspension I'd love to see a picture.

 

I just lifted my wife’s new 2019 TRD and I think it looks a whole lot better with a lift than without.
I think it rides better, too.

 

agreed, a small lift and they look great

if you're adding weight you're going to want to upgrade your springs anyway so lift it!

 

You don't necessarily need a lift to run 285's.

With the proper wheel offset, backspacing, alignment, and possibly a very small amount of fender or mud flap trimming, you can pull off 285's on a stock vehicle.

Just for reference, I'm running 285's on a 1.6" lift in the front and no lift in the back.

And if you want a good quality lift, you don't necessarily need to spend a lot. You can get some eibach adjustable front shocks for $200 and you'll be able to lift the front end up to 2.5" using your stock coil if you want. Or you could get some Dobinson lift coils and shocks for a little more money.

 

What lift did you go with for your front? Also what kind of MPG loss did you see by going with the larger 285's? Your rig looks great.

 

Just upgrade to a better tire, get some sliders, some skid plates and you can run the Rubicon without damage on your stock SR5. You won't need suspension or bigger tires forever if you don't want them....unless you are looking for excuses to do so?
Buuuutt, the stock suspension starts to suck around 30,000 miles, that's where I am now.....

 

I agree with Wally, better tires like an All Terrain will make your 4Runner look like a 4Runner. Sliders and skids are nice too but biggest bang is the tire.

For my taste I did not like the forward lean of my Trail and also on my Gen4 SR5, this is the reason I spacer lifted my fronts to level her out.

 

Thank you.

I have Eibach adjustable front shocks set at 1.6" to level the truck out. I'm running the stock coils with these shocks at the moment. It rides really nice, but I'm looking to improve things even more by adding Dobinsons 1.5" or 1.75" front lift coils and setting the Eibach shocks to 0". This will allow all of my lift to be achieved by the coil so that the up and down travel of my suspension can travel as intended.

I haven't noticed an mpg hit from running 285's. I decided to go with P285's vs LT285's for a few reasons. First, my truck is my daily driver and spends most of it's life on-road. My family rides in it all the time and I wanted things to be comfortable and not jarring. Second, the P285's were lighter than the LT's so I wouldn't take as big of a hit on mpgs. Third, I've never had a sidewall fail on a P-rated tire, so for my uses (occasional desert-style offroading), it made the most sense.

I really like the way it rides right now and am looking forward to it riding even better with the Dobinson coils.

All this being said, you need to do what makes the most sense for you and how you will use the vehicle. Decide how you plan to use the vehicle most and go from there.

 

30k miles is not "forever".... haha

 

I keep hearing people say to avoid spacers at all cost as they end up putting extra stress on the whole suspension. Is this a legit concern or just misinformation being spread around?

 

Yeah I know, my point was it seems every Toyota I have ever had...many...the suspension starts to suck around 30K. Probably just me, but It's when I start to think about replacing the stock stuff, either with a lift or at least the shocks.

 

You'll be amazed at what a good suspension upgrade will do for your ride both on road and off...

 

Spacers are fine if you're mostly on-road with maybe some light offroading.

I'd never recommend them though or personally use them. Coils and shocks can improve your ride quality all around. Spacers do not.

 

I put a 2" lift with a 1" spacer to make it level. It is my opinion that that the 1" spacer will not harm the suspension in fact if your 4Runner was lifted by the dealership they would have likely used a spacer lift.