I purchased 99 springs a while back... though haven't had the time to install, as they have sat in storage for a couple years.

My Bro needed my truck b/c his girl's truck got flooded and they need to borrow for a couple weeks until the insurance fixed it. So, in exchange, he agreed to go ahead and swap the springs for me to solve the truck bottoming out.

My question is, is there a visible/noticeable difference in the 97 v 99 springs when put side by side? He swears they are exactly the same spring, and sent a crap cell phone pic to show. He stated every way he looked at it, it appeared the exact same spring exception only being cleanliness.

 

http://www.sonoransteel.com/4Runner_Front_Coils.JPG

 

These are the rear coils, not the front... but thanks for trying.

Bump?

 

IIRC, not all 99 springs were the "tall" springs. Also, even the tall springs were prone to sagging. They look used in that picture. (?) Hopefully, you didn't pay too much for them.

 

So how do you ell them apart,

Measure them?

 

bumpity bump

 

Same ride height, same bottoming out, same spring.

 

cakalack han has it correct. The picture in #1 above is of rear springs.

Not all 99 springs are tall springs. The color coding is your clue.

My 99 Runner had rear sag and short springs.

For less expensive , longer lasting springs just go Old Man Emu to start over with.

Select 890 for the most popular of rear spring applications. 891 if you ride loaded full time and 892 if vehicle is really loaded down full time.

Similarly 880, 881 or 882 for upfront springs.

 

Soo, anyone know what the color coding means?????

 

Well, that f-n sucks. I bought them under the ASSumption that all of the 99s were taller than the 97s.

 

the color coding is our clue, but no one knows what colors to look for?

I think Ill just put the helper air bags inside the coils.

 

When I got my new replacement coils for my '99 the dealer takes the VIN number and I bet when that number is put in the computer it comes up with the number for the taller coils if your Runner came equipped so from the factory and mine did and I definetly got the taller coils.

You need to be specific when ordering the taller coils unfortunatly.

 

How much did they cost?

And which digit in the VIN do they need?

What letter/number does your VI number have for that digit?