if you want a better road feel..yes beefier sway bars and end links. also, think about putting some 20's or 22's on or something. seriously. the lower sidewall=less sway=more positive road feeling...and you can fit those spinny things on them too if you want.

regardless of what you can do to it..its never gonna be a canyon carver.

 

Everyone likes their car a different way...thats why everyone's 4runner on this site is unique (for the most part) if the man has decided he wants to lower it than he wants to lower it....

although if it was me, lowering it would be my last resort. I would look for various solutions such as the swaybars, coils, springs, and other various add-ons you can do without lowering it. Actually I think you would probably get a better result from doing that then lowering it just an inch or two.

 

Yotatech, flame free since 19........nope, thats changed.

If you want to lower it, perhaps adjustable coilovers in the front and 2WD lowering coils in the rear? Im sure they make lowering coils for the 2WD 4Runners, so you could just put a set of those in the rear.

or try this website: http://www.stylinconcepts.com/subcategory/374.aspx?scid=ZG0269&s_kwcid=lowering%20kit|702084 977

Im sure they could come up with something.

 

Well, thanks for the replies and flames!!

Of course I will get beefier sway bars for the truck. Of course I will get newer shock, and probably Bilstein because I have good luck with them on my other vehicles.

Please read, I only want 1-2" lower, not slam to the ground. And no, I don't want to go 20-22" rims with low profile tires because that will make the ride really harsh.

 

My 4Runner came with the 15" steel wheels. I still have the front springs, they will lower your 4runner about 1 - 1.5".
I am not sure where you are, but you can have them cheap.

 

I see the point of lowering it if he doesnt do any offroading, or an activity that needs the ground clearence. Whats the point of all that ground clearence you never use, which is just increasing the possibility of a roll over.

Maybe he needs the 4WD for getting up to the mountain or to a hiking trail head, and likes the extra room and reliability the 4Runner has over a Subaru.

Lowering it also helps with ease of getting into the vehicle.

There are many reasons.


So my list of mods would be:

- '02 4WD springs (stiffer than 2WD)
- Bilstein high pressure shocks
- Addco sway bars front and rear
- Poly sway bar and steering rack bushings
- 17" Tundra or Sequoia wheels with nice street tires or snow tires

Now, I would think that would make for a fun to drive vehicle that will still get you to the mountain. (yes I know he said nothing about going to the mountain, but thats just what I used for as an example.)

 

I read a lot of this but skipped some so I hope no one mentioned this....I've been considering it myself since before i even had my Runner for my Tacoma....Lower it 2 inches, maybe even 3 but put in like 8 inches worth of "bags". Not sure of the technical term but I know its about $1000 front and $1000 back and you can fill them up with air of let it out to determine your lift at any given time. I really like to drive fast so the highness concerns me but I won't give up the lift as I love to wheel it and want to be able to "go anywhere". I alos know that big rigs use these for their air suspension and some trucks that pull large trailers or haul large loads use them to even things out.

 

Well your intended firs tpost was a bit mislead, and I will admit we all jumped on the bandwagon cause people before you went: I wanna make a lowrider!!!

 

Aren't 2WD springs lower than 4wd ones? You could get 2wd springs which should be about 1" shorter than your current ones. My 2wd 97 4runner was lower than 4wd ones a couple years ago. It's way lower now because my springs are collapsing for some reason so I'm about 2-3" lower than other 4Runners.

 

I've seen that done before here on some Tacos, and on one 3G 4R. They could dump the bags and lower the truck (to around stock height for ease of ingress/egress), but when they wanted to show off they could air up the bags all the way. I have no idea what that does to ride quality and drivetrain geometry, though.

I've heard that a good bag suspension gives a quite comfy ride, nothing like the bounciness (is that a word?) of a hydraulic suspension.

Just my .02.

Merlin

 

I second that Sway Bars make a big difference and even more if you go with Poly bushings! My 4runner corners better then most stock heights trucks and all I did was replace to all poly bushings and some custom end links!! And going with a large wheel like a 20" or 22" will give you better road feel!!

 

when i got my 98 runner the guy before me had put on stiffer rear shocks, and the coils were kinda tired. best thing about it was that it handled like a racecar, never once was i worried about rolling, i would slide long before i would roll. believe me, i took a couple 25 mph curves too fast, they kinda jumped up on me late at night, all that happened was i kinda drifted. course i'm running bridgestone h/t on 17" fj cruiser wheels, not that the wheels make a difference. maybe just try the rear shocks really stiff, only problem is the ride isn't as nice.

 

I got tired of my lift so I lowered my 4Runner.... I had to leave the 2" BL to clear the 33" mud tires... I even cut a few coils to get it to ride low...

naw... jk... I was bored so I chopped this... Looks interesting....

 

To the OP, I've thought of a similar setup. Kinda like a 4x4 rally car with a slightly lowered stance. Would be a total blast on twisty dirt roads. My wife was looking at 4 runners and I don't like the high CG for the 98% on road use it would see. I would probably start by cutting a set of 2wd coils because they are softer to begin with, so the stiffening that happens when you cut them wouldn't be so bad. The HD Bilsteins would be my choice, along with the stiffer sway bars. I was thinking about a 29" tall tire, fairly wide. 275/65-16 or so. If you want to widen the track I'd use wheels to make that happen, I'm running spacers on my Taco and it's hard to mount them accurately enough to avoid the shakes. These spacers might be OK due to the centering rings built into them though..

http://www.spidertrax.com/s.nl/it.A/id.1252/.f


Biggest thing to remember is that this could all be reversed in a couple of hours if it turns out crappy, and all you would be out is a set of coils.

Let us know how it works.

 

dude that kinda looks sweet

 

get some 01-02 2wd coils, get some bilstein shocks, front and rear addco sway bars. ES Bushings and bam you got a street ready performer. If you need more help, since theres a limited street tuned audience on YT feel free to pm me.

- kevin


im actually using everything you plan to do except i havent done the polyurethan steering rack bushing.

 

where do you think i could get some 2wd springs outta an 01-02, none of the local junkyards seem to have em and ordering them would defeat the whole purpose

 

what a waste...

 

How many people in this thread have called "forrest Gump 9" retarded? Maybe only I noticed this

 

performance products has a 1" lowering spring they sell that would be fine for what you want. Also If you don't want to go huge then as MTL said a 17" or 18" wheel/tire combo would still give a good ride and reduce tire flex to improve handling.