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I'm thinking about lifting the GX, but i don't want to go crazy. All i want to do is add a 2" toytec spacers in the front that go with the stock shocks.
I've already purchased the metal tech conversion kit for the rear. The only thing left are the springs. However i am only looking for an 1" to 1 1/2" springs so the truck is leveled.
Can anyone point me to where i can purchase said springs. I also want to keep the rear stock shocks. So i found these:
stock fj coils supposedly give 1-2" of lift over 4runner coils and most people who do not go aftermarket end up using those on the gx470. I have read if you use the 4runner ones it will be a little lower than where it is on N stock. with the FJ coils you get a little lift at the same time, but how much exactly couldn't tell you just from what I have read.
also note that the toytec spacers are the kind that will add pre-load to your front springs as they sit under the shock hat.
its harder to install but keeps the dampening stuff on top of the shock exactly like factory.
do note that you are effectively making the springs stiffer by adding pre-load as the effective length of the spring is shortened.
If you look in my thread I was able to use the non-preload type of spacer and modify the dampening bracket.
this way the springs are not pre-loaded and all the dampening stuff works like factory, although with a modified bracket.
stock fj coils supposedly give 1-2" of lift over 4runner coils and most people who do not go aftermarket end up using those on the gx470. I have read if you use the 4runner ones it will be a little lower than where it is on N stock. with the FJ coils you get a little lift at the same time, but how much exactly couldn't tell you just from what I have read.
also note that the toytec spacers are the kind that will add pre-load to your front springs as they sit under the shock hat.
its harder to install but keeps the dampening stuff on top of the shock exactly like factory.
do note that you are effectively making the springs stiffer by adding pre-load as the effective length of the spring is shortened.
If you look in my thread I was able to use the non-preload type of spacer and modify the dampening bracket.
this way the springs are not pre-loaded and all the dampening stuff works like factory, although with a modified bracket.
AliSC3, could you give me a link to the non pre-loaded spacers please? I'm a noob. However i like your idea of keeping the factory dampening. Also, how do i install them? How do i modify the bracket. Thanks greatly for your input.
the one I got looks like this and they wer 2.5" they also make a 2". I think the 1.5" is a different company.
for the 2" one here is the ebay title, just search it on ebay: TOYOTA TACOMA 4RUNNNER PRE RUNNER 2" LEVELING-LIFT KIT TAC FG 2.0T
seller was summit performance but there are lots of them online.
the one I got looks like this and they wer 2.5" they also make a 2". I think the 1.5" is a different company.
for the 2" one here is the ebay title, just search it on ebay: TOYOTA TACOMA 4RUNNNER PRE RUNNER 2" LEVELING-LIFT KIT TAC FG 2.0T
seller was summit performance but there are lots of them online.
AliSC3, i checked out your build and i got to tell you, it is great. I wish i were as mechanically inclined as you are. i am going to follow your build thread to get some ideas. Keep it up and thanks for the info
you can get "top plate" or "top hat" spacers like what Ali SC3 is using. those sit on top of the coil over assembly and do not require you to pull apart the front coil/shock to install them. i used these on my lifted 4runner to even out the lift after i added a bunch of weight like skids, armor and winch. it sagged my front end down a little more than i wanted, and the top plates brought it right back up without adding any preload on the coils.
you can get "top plate" or "top hat" spacers like what Ali SC3 is using. those sit on top of the coil over assembly and do not require you to pull apart the front coil/shock to install them. i used these on my lifted 4runner to even out the lift after i added a bunch of weight like skids, armor and winch. it sagged my front end down a little more than i wanted, and the top plates brought it right back up without adding any preload on the coils.
GreatHim, thanks for the reply. My concers is retaining the factory dampening. Will the truck retain its factory dampening after i do what you suggested. I checked AliSC3's build and he mentions that the truck will lose the factory dampening if the bracket is not modified whick i don't I'll be able to accomplish. Your thoughts?
you will loose factory dampening if you use non preload and do not modify the bracket in a similar way to what I did.
the bracket is too large to fit on without modification. there is no way it would work without cutting the bracket so it can fall into the middle of the circle spacer.
just show the mechanic the pictures, any decent mechanic can use a grinder to cut the bracket down.
Or just use the pre-load spacer a mechanic can do that without any questions asked and no bracket modification is needed.
thats why before people said online you can only keep dampening with the pre-load because it literally takes no extra work.
I found out you can cut the bracket in like 5 minutes though and its not really the case, but seriously you have to cut the bracket, please do not think you can use a non-preload without chopping up the dampening brackets you 1000% will have to cut those 2 brackets and zip tie the wires up after that.
you will loose factory dampening if you use non preload and do not modify the bracket in a similar way to what I did.
the bracket is too large to fit on without modification. there is no way it would work without cutting the bracket so it can fall into the middle of the circle spacer.
just show the mechanic the pictures, any decent mechanic can use a grinder to cut the bracket down.
Or just use the pre-load spacer a mechanic can do that without any questions asked and no bracket modification is needed.
thats why before people said online you can only keep dampening with the pre-load because it literally takes no extra work.
I found out you can cut the bracket in like 5 minutes though and its not really the case, but seriously you have to cut the bracket, please do not think you can use a non-preload without chopping up the dampening brackets you 1000% will have to cut those 2 brackets and zip tie the wires up after that.
Ali SC3, after much research, i think i will go with the bilstein 5100 shocks and set it to the 3rd notch for a 1.75" lft, keep the factory dampening, and trick the rear air bag for 1" lift. My only problem is i don't really know how to trick the rear. I wish there was a DIY for tricking the air bags. Any help on that is greatly appreciated. Thanks
I can tell you how to trick the rear airbags its pretty easy, but the blisteins are replacement shocks, and the factory shocks are what control the factory dampening via the round dial by the shifter which has comfort to sport settings.
when you change the shocks, you loose the damping adjustments, and when you change the rear airbags to coils you loose the factory ride height adjustments. hope that makes sense.
there are some higher end coilovers that can have dampening adjustments, but thats not the same as the factory stuff.
what exactly are you looking to achieve? if you can list some of the things that you really want to have and some things you can do without maybe one of the setups might be more suited for your needs.
unless your shocks are blown the toytec spacers might fit your needs better than the blistein shock lift. you will loose damper adjustment with the blisteins, but not with the toytec spacers.
that being said alot of people prefer to get rid of the fancy damper adjustment and rear height adjustment and then the blisteins are a good basic lift option, although I don't trust the whole c-clip thing holding the spring seat on, do a search you will see the discussions on it. spacer or coilovers seem more reliable to me.
I can tell you how to trick the rear airbags its pretty easy, but the blisteins are replacement shocks, and the factory shocks are what control the factory dampening via the round dial by the shifter which has comfort to sport settings.
when you change the shocks, you loose the damping adjustments, and when you change the rear airbags to coils you loose the factory ride height adjustments. hope that makes sense.
there are some higher end coilovers that can have dampening adjustments, but thats not the same as the factory stuff.
what exactly are you looking to achieve? if you can list some of the things that you really want to have and some things you can do without maybe one of the setups might be more suited for your needs.
unless your shocks are blown the toytec spacers might fit your needs better than the blistein shock lift. you will loose damper adjustment with the blisteins, but not with the toytec spacers.
that being said alot of people prefer to get rid of the fancy damper adjustment and rear height adjustment and then the blisteins are a good basic lift option, although I don't trust the whole c-clip thing holding the spring seat on, do a search you will see the discussions on it. spacer or coilovers seem more reliable to me.
Ali SC3, thanks for the quick reply. I only want to achieve a mild lift with spacers in the front and rear airbags tricked. Just like your setup. My only problem is modifying the bracket to retain the factory dampening which i don't think i'll be able to achieve. oh well, i will just wait for air suspension to go out and lift the the truck with an iron man kit. Thanks again for your help, man.
There are other options for lifting the front end than just spacers. I replaced my front springs with a longer and stiffer Old Man Emu coil spring. This achieves roughly a 2" to 2.5" lift. In my case I was looking for slightly more so I'm also running a spacer on top of the strut mount. Total lift for me is somewhere just over 3". The spacer did not interfere with the ride adjuster. Everything still functions as it did stock. A differential drop is another item I strongly recommend considering. Mine was lowered 1" I believe.
For the rear I tried the air bag trick. It seems to be the trend right now but from my experience it's not the way to go. I found the ride to be overly stiff and extremely bouncy. It's definitely the cheap easy way to go but similar to cutting springs to lower a car. For my truck I ended up adding a spacer bellow the airbag to add around 2.5" lift. This was a custom made piece but not to difficult to manufacture.
If I was to do it all again I would go a different route. I would have saved my pennies and gone with icon coilovers. I can already feel my stock shocks starting to fail. When they finally need to be replaced I won't be going with stock components, Most likely icons.
There are other options for lifting the front end than just spacers. I replaced my front springs with a longer and stiffer Old Man Emu coil spring. This achieves roughly a 2" to 2.5" lift. In my case I was looking for slightly more so I'm also running a spacer on top of the strut mount. Total lift for me is somewhere just over 3". The spacer did not interfere with the ride adjuster. Everything still functions as it did stock. A differential drop is another item I strongly recommend considering. Mine was lowered 1" I believe.
For the rear I tried the air bag trick. It seems to be the trend right now but from my experience it's not the way to go. I found the ride to be overly stiff and extremely bouncy. It's definitely the cheap easy way to go but similar to cutting springs to lower a car. For my truck I ended up adding a spacer bellow the airbag to add around 2.5" lift. This was a custom made piece but not to difficult to manufacture.
If I was to do it all again I would go a different route. I would have saved my pennies and gone with icon coilovers. I can already feel my stock shocks starting to fail. When they finally need to be replaced I won't be going with stock components, Most likely icons.
Rz500, your truck looks really good. Thanks for your input.
03-25-15, 05:47 PM
Some input needed on a minor lift...Please.
