2 in Leveling kit, 2 in lift, or 3 in lift

Hi All!

Went to the shop yesterday and talked some options about starting the mods of my 4runner. Just stuck on what do. Overall want a more aggressive look with a beefier tire and rim set up. I like how the 3in lift looks with the 33s with no cutting...
Anyone have any recommendations? She is a pavement princess. Pictures with your set ups are much appreciated.

 

I did the simple Daystar lift and level. 2.5” front and about 1” in the rear. Makes it sit level and did not need to do any type of front differential drop or adjustments. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. I do t do any mudding or overlanding. Some dirt and gravel roads heading to a cabin up north, but that’s it. Keeps the stock handling characteristics, which is what I wanted. Kept the stock tire size as well.

 

33's look great with no lift imo. But if you want it, keeping the lift mild at <2" is probably the best bet to keep your suspension geometry intact. Over 2.5-3" you may benefit from UCA's and a track bar correction kit. Which adds some cost and complexity.

The tire fitting/cutting concerns will have a lot to do with wheel choice. With the stock wheel size you can get away with very minimal cutting for 33s. If you choose a wide wheel with negative offset to get some tire poke you'll be trimming quite a bit.

Since you asked for pictures, here's mine.
34" Tires (285/75/17)
RRW 8.5" -12 offset wheels with spidertrax spacers
Extended Travel Dobinsons suspension set to 3.5" of lift.
Full skids, low profile bumpers, winch, roof rack, and all kinds of misc mods.

 

Dont equate a lift and tires with an aggressive look. You can simply install a more aggressive tire and achieve the same result. I have mine lifted and 33s but I also go off roading. However, if i wanted to just get an aggressive look id just swap my tires to a more aggressive tire pattern. There are plenty of people here who've done just that and it looks amazing. Also given you said it was a pavement princess, switching to ICON, Eibach, Bilstein - whatever, the ride is going to be much more stiff - i.e. you will feel every bump.

 

What is that guard/skid plat behind your rear wheel?

 

As stated above, just adding a more aggressive tire will change the look of your ride quite a bit. I struggled with this decision myself and ended up going with a mild lift; I installed the Eibach Pro Truck Stage 2, which is a 1" lift in the rear and adjustable coilovers in the front that will give you between 2" and 4" of lift. After several adjustments, I ended up with somewhere around 2" to 2.25" of lift in the front. I have 285/70R17 BFG KO2's on OEM TRD ORP wheels and the only time it rubs is in reverse with the wheels cranked all the way to the right. It rubs the front fender, which isn't a big deal as it can be easily trimmed with a utility knife.

Here is a picture after the final height adjustment.

 

Just a bash bar with side hoops. It's a DIY kit from 80% Off Road. They send the bent and notched tubes all I did was cut to fit and weld them on.

Got REALLY tired of ripping the rear bumper off. Departure angle on these rigs suck.





Its taken some hard hits

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/micixzVWqMg

^One of those oh shit moments where you know stabbing the brake will roll you, so you let off the brake a tad to let gravity take the vehicle down hill instead. Not a great habit as I definitely picked up a little too much speed at the end... but better than panicking, stomping the brakes and rolling the vehicle.

This video is nearly a year old now but I still tend to do the same thing on steep downhills when I start lifting rear wheels! lol

 

i agree. Do a proper lift, 2” lift and no spacers. No cutting no BMC and keep stock UCAs

 

Your 4rnr looks perfect. You have 2” lift all the way around or just leveling up front ?
What did you do to paint the wheels ? I would love to do mine like that .
Tnx , cesar

 

Thank you! Heres my set up:
2” lift Bilstein 6112 w/600 lb coils front, 1.5” lift Eibach T13 coils rear, Bilstein 5100 rear shocks, TRD skidplate, 285/70/17 Falken WP AT3, Energy Suspension front bumpstops, SSO Slimline Bumper w/ Badland Shackles, Durobump bumpstops 4.25” rear
Rims are factory Trail Special rim.

 

good lord my heart..

 

I’m likely going to purchase a 6112/5160 setup to try out. I think I’d like the firmer valving. Having seen you recommend this, (you win the award for how many times) has helped convince me to do it!

I’ve previously narrowed it down to this or Dobs IMS since I only want 1.5” up front.

 

nice. You wont regret it, I believe you can go from 0-3” in lift with 6112. I love the ride quality on and of road as well as handling. Let us know how you like the 5160s in the rear. I was thinking about swapping to those at some point.