Running 6" lift, help leveling the front

I'm new to 4runner world....I bought an 07 toyota 4runner with a 6" fj lift. The front is sagging about 2" I was wondering can I take out the shock and spring and spacer with the lift and put in an adjustable coilover with a spacer to get the front level or close to level

 

Tricky question, most people don't have 6" lifts, which typically come with replaced cross members and sometimes some custom fab work. Such a high lift changes geometry kinda extreme, such as lift spindles, etc. I'd first determine exactly what lift you have, such as a Rough Country, etc. Then I'd reach out to them to explain the question and ask what they recommend.

I'm not sure you can just bolt in an adjustable strut with that much modification without considering spindles, shock travel and CV angles and stuff.

 

Like mentioned above... need to know more. If you're not sure, post up some photos. Also scared and curious how you're getting a 6" lift in the rear.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Yeah, I’d like to see a 6” lift on a 4 Runner. Not common, that’s for sure. It might be easier just to bring the whole thing back to a more practical lift using go to parts and methods.

 

You know what ya'll need? Ya'll need 17" of lift in the ass end, like me.

Just weld a few coils together and add some big ass spacers top and bottom. Then put a body lift on the ass end only.

Done.

Your welcome.

 

It's a 6" lift for an fj cruiser it was on it when I bought ot..the front has a spacer and the rear is springs with a spacer ..
It's made by rough country from what I've researched

 

The answer to your question, Overland4runner, is probably not, at least I’ve never seen a commercially available suspension kit that you could buy off the shelf that would do what you are asking. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, only that I’m not aware of it. Could you reproduce what you have now, using some hybrid system you folk engineer yourself? Sure. Go for it. But unless this is a dedicated off road rig, purpose built for that much ground clearance for a specific application, a lot could be improved by putting a high quality after market suspension on it that still preserves your need for ground clearance and would also give you better integrity and driveability on the highway. There’s lots of options if you go this route.

 

Question OP, what are you looking for? You interested in keeping that much lift or coming down to say, 3" of lift?

 

I'm looking to clear 34s or 35s and not rub...I dont do hardcore offroad but I like to do some 4 wheeling

 

So you can do a 34" on a 3" lift and do pretty well, which is a big bonus of lowering your center of gravity and being generally easier to work on, and you lift options open up immensely.

35's is gonna require some cab mount relocates, mild tubbing and stuff. In the end, a 295/70/17 is like a 33.8 or 34" and will roll over most things a 35" would, considering it's only 1/2" less ground clearance.

Do some research on 35's and what's needed, might not be worth the hassle, might be. Just know you're doing a lot of work for that one size up.

Regarding your existing lift, sounds like it needs maintained so either way and evaluation is in order because there's going to be something that needs to be done, even to the existing ones. Care to post some pics so we can see the innards?

 

Does yours look like this?

 

OP, lets just confirm your lift. How may inches between your hub center and bottom of the fender... all 4 corners.

 

This is what I have now

 

If I were you I’d get rid of that junk and go bilstein or OEM

 

I have 25" from center of front hub to bottom of front fender and 36" in the rear

 

Ok so here's some data from looking at the photos:

1. That's an aftermarket lift spindle 100%.
2. Rear shocks are non-descript but likely just whatever comes with the Rough Country if that's what it is.
3. Your rear has factory bump stops and no inner bumps in the coils. You can easily bottom the shock and bend up some stuff if you venture away from the pavement on that setup. I recommend ensuring the uptravel of the shock will not bottom out before the bump stops in the rear are engaged.
4. I can't see it, but likely that means your front bumps are factory too.
5. Front is likely a Rough country strut, or OEM strut with a gigantic spacers. That's the filler between the spring and the top of the shock mount. Mostly for show, but I know a few guys who have wheeled with them pretty hard and lift spindles. He tends to break stuff more often than the rest of us.
6. That much lift might not have a aftermarket, longer driveshaft, but the angles are likely bad, especially if it's a 1-piece driveshaft. Can you confirm if you have a 1 or 2 piece rear driveshaft, and if there's play in the carrier bearing if you have a 2 piece?
7. A photo from the front showing the CV angles would be helpful, I suspect they are likely ok if the lift spindle is doing it's job. Side note, wheeling hard with lift spindles, they tend to crack. Some people have reinforced them successfully, others not. I don't have any advice here, just know that they could be a weakness so inspect them.
8. Couraga tires are made by Federal, in my opinion not a quality tire, but a nice looking one. If they aren't too old and not too worn they will do you just fine, so please don't take that as an insult, but they tend to dryrot quickly, so inspect in between the treads on the tire surface (not just the sidewall), to ensure it's still ok.
9. The wheels look nice, but you won't be able to air down for both comfort and increased grip on those wheels, a 16" or 17" wheel will allow you to put more rubber on the sidewall, providing better offloading experiences.
10. The Upper Control arms on the front are pretty decent and much beefier than OEM, if they are in good repair I'd not bother upgrading them.
11. Could be camera angle, is your front sway bar contacting your frame?
12. Frame looks good, I believe you have a solid platform on which to build.

Back to my other question, what's your goal? Looks, rocks, baja, weekend warrioring? That will determine the advice worth taking from the rest of us.

 

I'm wanting it to be functional not just for looks, not really wanting to rock crawl I've done that in heels for years just wanting more of a weekend warrior I guess but also a daily driver. Wanting to do some overlanding,camping and some I guess you'd say light 4 wheeling

 

Ok, ran into something interesting while trying to research info for my next round of questions.

If you have an FJ suspension on your 4th gen 4Runner, it's possible someone has modified the suspension on the truck, or more specifically, the truck itself to accept the suspension modifications.

Mainly, if you look at the connection of the shock at the bottom of the front suspension, does it appear there's any grinded parts?

 

It looks factory underneath no grinding...the guy I bought it from said he bought it while he worked at Toyota and 07 - 09 4runners and fjs used the same suspension..I'm not sure though

 

Radflo makes front coil overs for that lift. I had them on my 08 FJ with the RC lift. Get rid of the those rear RC shocks on the rear and it will make a huge difference in the ride quality. I used the Gas cellular shocks from Fabtech 6" lift for the rear.