2017 Upgrades - Need a little advice

Hey guys,

Bought my 4runner about 8 months back and time to do a little work on it.

Little background on use: I'm always in the mountains. During the summer, off-roading, camping and mountain biking are my big draws, and then hit the mountains in the winter for snowboarding. Other than that, use my 4runner for road trips and the daily commute to work.

First thing I want to do is level my car. I know there are a lot of threads on leveling, however, having difficulty once the thread starts going into specific / technical details. I've spent the last couple of months reading through threads so understand the basics between spacers and leveling kits via suspension. I'm a pretty functional person so seems like most threads point towards Bilsteins. I've off-roaded plenty and done some gnarly crawls with off the lot suspension so I don't know if I need the Bilsteins, but if there is a massive drawback to spacers off-roading (I know it compresses the suspension, but not sure on actual every day impact) / benefits to Bilsteins that make it a clear choice I'd be interested. I'm working on a limited budget (~$400), but also am happy to spend the extra cash on a quality part that I don't have to upgrade later down the line. Can somebody in laymans terms describe their recommendation / difference?

Second - roof rack. Like I said a lot of off-roading and camping, but also would something versatile that could handle snowboards / skis in the winter. Really leaning towards the Gobi Stealth, but any advice on roof racks that could fit that criteria or how best to use a roof rack for snowboards?

Cheers guys - appreciate the help, leaning on you guys for some recos.

 

I would do tires first.

 

Can't help you with suspension but I have tons of experience with racks. I had a Gobi stealth on my Wrangler and absolutely loved it - I'm in the process of ordering the same rack for my 2020 ORP. Its rock solid, looks good and the 2 moveable round bars allow you to add any Yakima (or Thule) attachments you currently use. The fact that the bars are moveable also allow you to shift loads (I use them for skis, kayaks and most often my RTT).
I can't recommend Gobi enough - no complaints at all from this satisfied customer.

 

OK first thing I did was a good set of sliders. Glad I did because I then went out and got into some ish and used them. They saved a ton of body damage.

I found a gal on here that installed a 3" spacer lift with 1.25" wheel spacers and 285 tires. I loved the look. My Runner was brand new with less than 10,000 miles. I was not willing to throw away the factory shocks. So I installed the same 3" spacer lift, 1.25" wheel spacers and 285s. Drove a little wonky until I took it to Big O and had them do a full rebalance and alignment on their computerized machine. Not it drives great and I am VERY pleased.

I have also taken it off road and have been happy with the additional clearance and ride with the spacers.

IF, my Runner would have been older with more mileage, say 50,000 +, I would have just replaced my shocks with 5100s and achieved the lift with those. At some point in the future, when my shocks are worn out I will probably remove the spacers and install 5100s and then sell the spacers. But I am unemployed for the foreseeable future and do not drive much at all so it will be YEARS before my shocks are toast.

Hope this helps.

 

If you're just going to level it, then that means you'll just be lifting the front somewhere between 1 - 1.5" or so. A spacer will do it cheapest, but you'll be extending the front shocks and loosing down travel. Not a huge deal on road. Offroad, you will bottom out your suspension faster and cause premature wear on the shocks. Also with this option, you will still maintain the stock ride (for the most part) which means you'll still get a lot of nose dive from braking, body roll, ect.....

If you go with a Bilstein 5100 or an Eibach adjustable front shock, you can just buy the front shock and retain your stock spring. You'll be able to level it with the different lift settings they have. These also act like a spacer lift in the sense that they extend the shocks in the same way; however, these shocks are designed to have a bit more travel than stock shocks so bottoming out will happen much less frequently. They also will improve handling both on and offroad by reducing nose dive and body roll.

Bilsteins will be on the stiffer side. Eibachs will ride nicer in my opinion. With this set-up, you can just leave the stock rear shocks on until it's time to change them. This set-up will only run you roughly $250 for Bilsteins and $300 for the Eibachs. I recommend the Eibachs because of the improved ride quality.