Yea, I think a 2" body lift would work for your stuffing issues. Thats part of the reason in addition to what you did I was gonna do a 4crawler 2" BL.

Nice pic's!

 

Its he.

Its what happens from trying everything else.

A lift looks real cool to the guys passing you on the trail while you're laying in the dirt replacing steering crap. Ask me how i know.

As for tires, I dropped from a 33x12.50 to a 33x9.50 to aleviate further steering issues. This will only be an issue if you are running mostly rocks with a front locker. Trying to turn a big fat tire, that has been aired down on a high traction surface will do wonders for idler arms. A TC arm will fix this as well.

Obviously, I recommend the IFS truss from Sonoran Steel. It's stout. I also recommend the Total Chaos Idler arm. It is 325 well spent dollars.

I am looking into fixing my steering with DOM and heims, but currently haven't found a way that i feel comfortable on road with. I'll post up when i get it.

The suspension on these trucks is what it is. It will never be a ramp champ, it isn't possible to jack it to the sky. You can spend very little money to get clearance, and put the rest where it counts: lockers and gears.

 

Your correct there Ike, unfortunately the steering system and IFS frontend wasnt meant to handle the abuse of rockcrawling and turning without hydrosteer assist.

Although last time I went to rausch creek we had a couple guys from TTORA come with. One guy had 36's on an 85 truck with no hydro and he did fine but he took his time. The other guy really amazed me: He had an 87 runner, cranked t-bars, shackles in the rear, a 2" body lift and 33x12.5's and rear spool and he kept up with the SFA rig pretty danged well, even running a rock crawling course with him. Too bad a month later he flipped it, but thats driver error, he drove like a nut.

But that truck amazed me and made me believe it can be done, I think if you do mostly wooded trails and few rocks you can get away without beefing up the idler arms and such, if you last that long enough and dont break stuff you can save the cash for the TC idler arm anyways.

 

Will someone post the part numbers for the shocks from the different brands? If someone could post these for trucks and 4Runners that would be great.

 

If you pick up the new issue of 4WDTO they have an article on lifting 3rd Gen's to fit 33's for $600.

 

are there any noticable differences between doing a low profile bumpstop rater than a ball joint spacer? they do the exact same thing anyway.

 

crawling? no. at speed, yes. using a BJ spacer and a stock bumpstop is much softer than the low profile.

 

It is highly possible that the truck had driveline vibes more from worn parts. I had vibes stock that got better with the 2" suspension lift. I replaced U joints which helped quite a bit as did tightening the t-case bearing.

2" should not induce vibes in a balanced driveshaft with good U joints and mating bearings. Actually, you should be able to push 3.5-4".

I guess what I'm saying is, lift the truck in a good and reliable manner as Ike has described. If you have driveline issues, fix the driveline by replacing worn parts or having the shaft balanced.

Frank

 

No.

However, with the UPPER bumpstops, it is an either/or situation. You cannot run low pro uppers AND a balljoint, as you will exceed your cv angles and start having issues.

LOWER bumpstops are fine either way. With a BJ spacer, you may experiece rubbing, as you will have added uptravel. This will depend a lot on tire size, brand, etc...

I have kept stock bumpstops for the ride. As stated, Low pro can provide a harsher "bottom out".

 

A 2" DT lift on a 4cly is fine.

With a V6, its not possible unless major DT changes are made. The maximum should be 1/2".

 

Erik, please elaborate? The truck I'm basing my conclusions on is a 3.0V6 pickup. No issues. It is a manual, though, is there a problem with the auto?

 

hmm i'm guessing 4cly and V6 trucks have the same DT then?
I was referring to 90-95 V6 4runners.

 

no, they don't. But i was just wondering, i didn't know, and i'd not heard of any problems. Sounded like it could be a major hassle, and i wanted to put a warning on the first post if there was a significant problem.

 

I wondered the same thing. I would assume the following though: 86-94 trucks should be fine to do a drivetrain lift afaik. Assuming the 86-89 runner is basically a pickup with a shell on it and shares the same frame of the earlier trucks its entirely possible I think to do a drivetrain lift.

Food for thought: http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/hottoy/west/ but it is a 22re.

Here is another one with a V6: http://www.off-road.com/toyota/reade...matthewlawson/

 

My experience:
Before i bought a BB x-member, i did LOTS of research (wire, pirate, ttora, google) about adding a DT lift first.
Bud told me 1" should be "safe". 4cralwer explained the differences between a V6 and 4cly. I don't remember all the details... but most of i what i was told (before & after) and the information i gathered, lead me to play it "safer" by going with a 3/4" DT lift along with my 1" BL.....
Any speeds above 40mph, i had very noticeable vibrations and shaking. It was annoying but I just dealt with it.
I tried finding a solution but that meant changing DT parts. IIRC, V6 pinion angles change significantly if the tranny is raised. I also did measurements according to this info and learned that things were "off" by about a 1/2".

After selling my DT lifted x-member, i put the stock x-member back on and drove my 4runner (after the wreck) and it drove smooth as glass.
The guy that bought it had a 4cly...he had zero vibes.

Based on what i learned and found out, it's not recommended to lift the DT on a v6 4runner. I still haven't seen anyone here that has besides myself...hopefully someone can shed some technical light on why.

 

This post is a LIFE SAVER!!! If I would have known about this about three months ago, I'd be sitting about 3-4 inches higher(2-3inches of lift+33's) Man, I had the money for this, and I thought I was SOL outta luck. I thought the only way to lift my IFS 4Runner was to buy the $1300+shocks rancho IFS lift. Too bad I spent all my money on gas this summer, though. I've got no lift, and I added about 5,000 miles. Oh well, I guess the parts for this kit aren't going anywhere. Maybe when I get some more $$$ I will do this, and post pics. Thanks AxleIke!!!

 

There is NO problem(s) in doing a belly up (dt) on a v-6 4Runner.
If you do end up with vibs simply get a set of adjustable upper control arms and set the pinion angle up correctly.
If you wheel the vehicle anywhere that's even half way tough, you should get some aftermarket UCA's anyway, as you risk ripping the UCA brackets.




Fred

 

what body lift were you running erik?

Sorry I can't remember.

Were the vibrations on the differential end, or the transfercase end? You mentioned pinion angles, is why i ask.

If it was driveline related, it sounds like it could have been remedied with a fairly cheap modification to the joints. I'm just failing to see what the issue would be with the 4runner vs the pickup. Not doubting, just having a hard time understanding.

Erik, any info you have on this, please post up here. I'd like this to be as informative as possible, and if there are any problems, it would be great for people to be able to read through and determine if they fall into the problematic category.

 

i'm planning a body/dt lift in like 2-4 months so anymore info on this would be great. i' thinking only 1" but i'd still like to find out now.....

 

This is a great thread. Thank you for starting it. Gives me a better idea of what to do to my rig, and confirms some that I already had. Thanks again!!!