3 in lift with Bilstein 5100

Hi y'all, I'm still new to cars so bear with me. I purchased a 07 4runner last summer and didn't know what the lift height or tire sizes were until recently. The last owner had replaced the rear shocks with some rough country ones and changed the rear springs as well. In the front, he had put in 1.5" spacers (which equates to a 3" lift?) and kept the stock struts with the xreas. Tires are 33". Not sure if there was a diff drop done or not.

Fast forward to today and my present predicament. I bought a set of four bilstein 5100s and had a mechanic keep the front struts at 0" and just reuse the 3" spacer mounts and stock springs when assembling the coilovers. I know the 5100's are 0-2.5" so what problems will this cause if any? Will I need new upper control arms?

I wasn't aware that the front had a 3" lift until I realized the 1.5" spacer that I measured when taking the struts off equated to a 3" of lift height.

Again I'm still very new to this so any input will help!

 

Wait, my car is RWD so I don't think the diff drop applies.

 

So I'm changing out the struts myself and got the coilovers back from the mechanic that changed out the stock shocks. There was a little bit of play in the spring, about a 1/4 inch. It wasn't sitting tight against the top of the mount. The mechanic said it should be fine as long as I don't plan on taking her over any jumps which I don't. Thoughts?

 

Why not ditch the spacers and just use the perch setting on the shocks? You’re right on the diff drop since you don’t have a front diff. If you have a 1.5” spacer, that’s how much lift you get. Not sure where you’re multiplying but you don’t get double the lift height from one component. The 5100’s are 0”-2.5” as you can move the perch setting and that’s how they achieve the lift. I definitely wouldn’t trust the mechanic if it were me, your suspension shouldn’t be wobbly.

 

I’ll start by saying that I’m no expert but I did have 5100’s on my 09 taco when I had it. So from what I know the 2.5” refers to the lift Height you get if you use the adjustable spring seat but if you use a 3” lift spacer then you’ll get 3 inches of lift

I’ve heard some prefer this over putting a 3” spacer on stock shocks cuz the lower eyelet of the shock can break, at least with the Tacoma’s

 

A 1.5” spacer gives you 3” of lift, correct. It’s lifting from the middle of the LCA, which equates to more lift at the end of the LCA, basically. It is absolutely a multiplier.

The wobble doesn’t seem right though. Should have enough preload to not really wiggle at all.

If it were me I’d ditch the spacers, assemble the strut at the 2.5” lift perch, and then see where that puts your rake and adjust the rear springs accordingly.