So I want to get a lift for a gen II 4runner, and the rear seems easy enough, pick up some new coils, a drop bracket, whatever. But the front, it seems a little more difficult. I dont feel like cranking my torsion bars very much, if any, because i hear it wears them out and gives you a really stiff ride. So, i hear you can get ball joint spacers, but i have no idea what these are, where they go, how they achieve the lift, etc, etc. Can someone enlighten me as to how these work? Thanks.

 

How much lift do you want?

 

Im looking for around 2-3"

 

1 1/2" Ball joint spacers up front and a 1" body lift should work nice for you.

 

This is not a shot at you at all cebby, so please don't take it that way, I just dont want a body lift at all. I hate them. I think they're a crappy alternative to a "real" lift. I want something that increases my wheel travel, not just lets me look cool with big tires. They make your truck look funny with the frame stiking out too, i think.

 

Oh, and how do the ball joint spacers work? How do they lift it, and where do they go?

 

this will help you out alot: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...hlight=spacers

 

The best way to lift it is with a jack. About $60 bucks

 

Christyle, the standard lift to get a 2nd gen 4runner ready for moderate trails is a tbar crank (or now spacers), a 1inch body lift from roger brown, pound/cut near the fenders slightly, and 33s. People have been known to take on the rubicon with this lift. If you truely want 3 inches purely from suspension then you'll have to go with a lift from some company that drops the front diff, but then your CG is way high and for the money you might as well do a SAS.

Cranking tbars is not necessarily bad, nor are small body lifts. Anything more than 2" BL is not needed nor will many people advise it. A rear locker will do more for you than any lift will.

BTW, be sure to check out the pismo trip in july. I was an ME at poly.

 

All i've heard about body lifts is bad. If I get a 1" body lift, will I need to get shifter extensions, bumper drop brackets, etc, etc? Robinhood, what did u mean by "but then your CG is way high and for the money you might as well do a SAS"? Lastly, will 2" lifted coils for the rear need extended brake lines and a panhard drop bracket, or anything else?

 

Try doing a search for these things, you'll find all you need to know. But anyway the short story is that a 1" doesn't need any extensions, the rear bumper is attached to the body so no spacer is needed, there will be a 1 inch gap for the front bumper but it's not bad at all.

CG=center of gravity (come on aggie, don'tchya have to deal with CG when building the float? J/K). The aftermarket lift kits make it too tall, in my opinion. SAS=solid axle swap.

The downey rear 1.5" kit comes with all the brackets and brakelines you need. No panhard drop needed, nor new shocks but the shocks are the limiting factor in droop.

 

Well first of all prettu much anything you do to the front end will not give you anything for increased suspension travel at all. Cranking the t-bars or ball joint spacers just give lift by eating up your down travel. Even a 4" IFS lift still has the same amount of travel as stock and in reality as far performance is concerned it will be exactly the same as doing an equal height in a body lift. The are ways to modify a 4" kit to give a little more travel though. Any real difference in articulation in this case would come from what ever you did to the rear to match the height of the front. For the stock IFS you can replace the stock bump stops with some low profile ones and take out the sway bar and that will make a small difference in articulation. The only way to really make much of a difference is to go all out on a long travel IFS kit like Total Chaos or to do a SAS.

As for the body lift, I just did a 2" lift in my '93 and the only issues I had at all were with the shifter boot. I was able to extend the steering enough without spacers and everything else had enough slack. There is nothing wrong with a body lift in it self. I agree with you in that I prefer that any lift that I add be suspension so that it is more 'useful' but the fact is with IFS it really makes no difference how you do your lift as far as performance goes and the only tires will make any difference in ground clearance anyway.

 

I'd like to make a correction regarding suspension travel and ball joint spacers. The spacers increase overall travel 1.5" as well as provide 1.5" of lift. An additional benefit is the ride is as soft or softer than stock thus increasing trail flex. This is a functional mod.

Lifting the body does not lift the CG as high as a suspension lift does and it allows bigger tires so it is a functional mod as well, just don't go too high.

4" kits don't increase travel out of the box but can be modified for more travel easily. 10+ inches is easily attainable. However, stock springs are stiff and you'll rarely use more than 6" total. They have their place and uses but honestly had I thought of the spacers way back when I wouldn't have a 4" lift today even though I've modded it for about 13.5" of travel and with air shocks can use about 10" of it.

Frank

 

BJ spacers increase travel.

Bodylifts are not hack and a 1" does a perfect job of getting more room and not gaining extra height.

How much tire are you looking to run?

Low and wide just plain spanks.

There is no way to get 3" of "real lift"

Bodylifts at 1" really lift 2nd Gen trucks the exact amount needed to fit 33's.

 

I want to run 33x12.5's if possible. As it is right now, im thinking im going to get some ball joint spacers for the front w/ minor torsion bar cranking if necessary, and get some rear coils. Then i was thinking about a 1-1.5" body lift. Are the RB BL's the only option for 4runners, or is there some other reason everyone on here seems to use them?

 

1. RB is the only maker of 1" BL
2. All his products are very high quality and customer service is great (call him up if you have any problems).
3. He's the Vice President of my club, a technical writer for the Toyota landcruiser association, and an overall nice guy.

 

The only BL worth using. Quality product from a quality individual.

Don't bother with anything else.

 

I say go with the spacers, whatever you want for equivalent lift in the rear, the BL, and use all the dough you saved for gears and lockers. Gears and lockers are what will really make the difference on the trail.

Frank

 

Im gonna assume that getting gears and lockers at the same time is the cheapest way to go? I wont be able to put them in myself. What are some good lockers? I dont feel like going to arb air lockers, too much other stuff needed. What about the toyota e-locker everyone seems to talk about? Is it really good or cheap or what? Thanks again guys for all your help you guys are awesome.

 

You definitely want to do them all at once, saves labor since you have to take the same stuff apart anyway and that labor ain't cheap.

I guess the questions to ask are how hard are you planning to wheel and do you drive in ice/snow.

Most who aren't into body damage are fine with a rear locker and almost anyone will do. (BTW, if you aren't into crunching sheetmetal, the BJ spacers, BL, rear coil lifts are more than adequate as the desire to keep the body intact will limit your abilitie way more than the suspension) Detroit is wicked strong, Lockrites are not as strong but still good options costing much less, then there are limited slips. If you drive on icey roads auto lockers (Detriot/Lockrite types) are bad news as they are very unpredictable. Selectable lockers like the E-locker and ARB are perfered.

You'll need to modify your axle housing for the E-locker. If you search, you can read some write ups on it to see if it is within your abilities. On thing though, you'll probably still need to put the right grear ratio in the e-locker housing unless you can find one with say 4.88's (good ratio for 33's). Not many of them out there with that ratio. The ARB is pricey but it fits and you get an air compressor out of the deal too. The e-locker is usually about the price of Detroit so cost there is a wash (You save about 450$ if you get lucky and find an e-locker with the right ratio), you just need to wire up the e-locker and like I said make some mods to the axle housing.

If money is a concern and you aren't going anywhere iced up in the winter, you can put a Lockrite in the back and for the money you saved Vs. the arb, get rocksliders and some other goodies.

ARB's are darn cool though.

Frank