2016 TRD Pro KYB x JAOS Lift Kit

This is my post on Reddit. I will add photos here after I create this post!

Below is the weights I calculated over factory so I can get an idea of what suspension I needed. We do go off road out here in Colorado but nothing major. Goal for us is comfort, tad extra clearance (1-2”), suspension that can handle the load and get us to our camp spots with a side of moderate off roading. I was stuck between Dobinsons and Bilstein until I came across this kit about 7 months ago. Seems like a super popular kit in parts of Asia and South/Central America. Also knowing KYB’s history and using their stuff on my autocross WRX before going coil overs it made the decision much easier.

Components and their weight:

Front:

- Hefty Fab Banshee Bumper: 35lbs

- Superwinch SX10SR: 60lbs

- Ditch Lights and Brackets: 5lbs

- Bumper Lights: 5lbs

- Dobinsons Snorkel and Pre-Cleaner: 14lbs

- Auxbeam switch fuse block and bracket: 5lbs

Mid/Rear:

- Gobi rack, ladder and lights: 88lbs

- Occupants: 365lbs

- RTT: 155lbs

- Gear: 400lbs not constant and only when camping

This leaves us about 459lbs of wiggle room until we reach GVWR when fully loaded out or 859lbs when not hauling gear around.

So with the decision made I did a pre order through Summit Racing (glad I did). Waited till February for the parts to be shipped since there was a big back order. Fronts came in first.

Below is a post I made elsewhere on Reddit when it came in.

“Just got the front kit in from Summit Racing! Front comes with everything you need. New top hats, bolts, bellows and even zip ties for the bellows.

Also the spanners for the perches have a 1/2" drive broach so you can actually torque the perch jam nut! I have never seen that before on previous adjustable clovers I have had on my WRX.

I also got confirmation the rear shocks only come with the top nut. No new top bushings. They are still on back order so can't give first hand experience but KYB did tell me that. You can either purchase an OEM kit for $100 or do what I did and bought the Nolathane set for $15 off of summit racing. Will be installing in March hopefully and will definitely be coming back to write a review since people post about it and never follow up lol.”

I did end up going the OEM route. Parts department did a nice thing and got me out the door for $80 for the rear upper and lower cushions ( #1& #2) . These cushions (bushings) come with the metal cups already on them unlike the urethane ones. I just feel better with OEM since the originals didn’t look too bad with 144k miles on them.

I built the front shocks, did use the Toyota manual to figure out top hat washer orientation. It goes wavy washer on bottom concave up, then top hat, then bushing and then flat washer with concave down. I first put a coat of never-seize on the shock body threads then threaded the perches back on. I set the perches to 50mm pre load on the driver side and 48mm passenger side to account for driver weight and gas tank. Took some messing around to get the top hat aligned correctly. But the Vevor spring compressor helped a bunch. I was able to get the top hat clocked perfectly and the lettering on the springs to face out. So you can peep the brand! After they were built I sprayed the threads with a corrosion inhibitor like Fluid Film. So between never seize and that we should be good for a while out here. Will re coat as necessary.

Build quality out of the box was very impressive! Welds were clean, paint looked great and the hardware was impressive. All around good fit and finish.

Now the rears had some issues. But how KYB responded made the difference! I was on a tight install schedule due to work and travels. I received the rears and upon inspection after opening the rear shock stem threads were flattened on one shock and the other had some flatness to it as well. Definitely not a shipping issue since the boxes were in great shape. In the pictures you will see how the flat spots align with the flat portion of the stems. Definitely a manufacturing defect. So I reached out to customer care at KYB and they informed me to reach out to Summit Racing. I did and they were able to overnight the rears! New ones came in next day and looked much better!

Massive side not but I was in contact with KYB a bunch. So if you are reading this KYB or the customer service rep thank you for your patience! I asked so many questions and even tried to get them to pull inventory from Canada to get shipped to the USA while on back order. All the responses were professional and fast, even for my crazy questions! lol

Kit is installed! Drives like a dream and will keep updating as time goes on. Currently got about 3-4” of lift front and rear. But should settle about an inch lower after 500 or so miles. Will remeasure then and make any front adjustments as necessary. The lift measurement was from the bottom edge of the wheel to the fenders edge. It gives you a better datum point since eyeballing center is just that. Again I want to post here as much as possible since this kit isn’t talked about much and if someone has questions I hope to help them out.

Two days after install I did adjust the front down to 47mm driver and 45mm passenger because I didn’t like how over sprung everything felt. I then messed with the 14 way damping and got it dialed in a little better. Didn’t drop in height at all so these springs have a lot of settling to do. But those adjustments did help on ride quality. Brake dive is less (not gone) and side to side quick steering doesn’t feel tippy. Will be excited to get off road with this kit!

 

Below are the images from before install and after install. Plus some information on height measurement and the KYB manual.

 

Interesting. Side note - it seems Hefty Fab no longer offers the Banshee bumper for the 5th gen 4R...

 

yeah I saw that last month. I went to go find it to show my buddy and realized it’s no longer a thing. I wonder if they knew the market was pretty well cornered on that style. I do love theirs a lot!

 

Cool. Never seen these KYBs before. Did you adjust the front spring perches in situ or with the coilovers removed from the vehicle? The spring perch being located near the bottom of the shock (vs. the top as with King and Fox) doesn't leave as much room for the wrench.

 

Looks like a coilover you'd find on a car. I had a similar Bilstein setup on a previous car and was able to adjust them on vehicle. The issue I ran into was the threads would get dirty and seize a little so I would recommend spraying some type of protectant on them if you plan to adjust them.

 

When I did the adjustment I was able to do it while it was on the vehicle. The broached portion to put a 1/2” drive on the spanner made it easy. I just lifted the front, took both wheels off, loosened bottom jam nut, adjusted, measured and then torqued to spec.

 

oh yeah! My BC Coilovers seized up because I didn’t do that. So I did multi protection on this set. Base coat of never seize on the threads and then once installed I did a fluid film type of protectant. Then probably every other oil change (1yr-1.5yrs) I will clean with a brush and re-coat.

 

Here are some close ups of what things look like installed!

 

Can you provide links to the coil overs? I've never heard of these and am very curious.

Looks good though!

 

fronts: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/kyb-sr7000

rears: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/KYB-SR7001

KYB Website: https://www.kyb.com/products/kyb-jaos/

As I was pulling links it looks like the rears are either sold out or they pulled stock. You can also order through Oriellys and Tire Rack since they are KYB distributors. Definitely do not order outside of their network just in case you have to do any warranty claims.

But I will say, so far I’m impressed in comparison to my OEM TRD PRO Bilsteins and my buddies top tier Bilstein setup.

Also check out the JAOS (Japanese Off-Road Services) Lexus Baja vehicle on YouTube! They are an impressive company that has been around a while. Most people who import Delicas and other JDM off roaders will be familiar with JAOS. Specifically their racks, ladders and mud flaps!

 

Update: About 175 miles of driving so far and still not much settling. I wasn’t a fan of the CV angles so I took the perch height down to 36mm driver side and 35mm passenger side. Handling still seems solid but did lower the front about 3/4”. So total height gained at this point is 3” from factory. Hoping to loose about an 1” after it settles in and put me at 2” total gain. Nice part is I can safely lower perch height to 25mm if necessary and I still have plenty of room on the up in case it settles more than 1”.

 

Nearing 750 miles on this kit. Settling out quite nice! Will be getting an alignment soon. But the major thing I noticed is the springs are not as sharp over bumps as they were in the beginning. Now you hit bumps and it doesn’t sound like the spring is shooting the shock to full extension. Handling is still great and I have noticed I can take some turns a little faster. Also used it to move houses and loaded it up with a lot of stuff. I would say we were close to camping weight and the 4Runner was sitting level and not nose up. Will be curious if it stays that way long term. If so I will be very happy!

Anyways wanted to come back here and just update everyone that this kit is very nice so far. Now just waiting to hit some trails soon and really test them out!