4Runner Leveling Advice

HI All,

First Post:
I have a 2002 4Runner 2WD Limited.

I need to do a little Front End Suspension Maintenance and would like some advice.

First, I love the look of a "little lift" on these rigs. Not going to use this for and serious off roading......so what are the pros and cons on doing a slight lift?

Second, I live in Southern Orange County CA and would be happy to have some shop/mechanic recommendations for my area.
Thanks

 

Welcome, from Northern California.

 

If you did any sort of 'level' it's just for aesthetics; nothing wrong with that.

Do it yourself. These vehicles are stupid easy to work on.

 

Welcome.

 

Welcome! Before lifting a truck that age by any means (spacers, springs, etc), make sure all of the control arm bushings are still in good shape, otherwise you are asking for trouble. There is a “woe is me” thread on here somewhere from someone who did a big lift on a truck with beat up bushings. A lift puts stress on things, and if those things are worn out or close to worn out, bad things will happen, angles will not be right, handling will deteriorate... That being said, (opinion >) the best way to level your 2wd is to add heavier rated front springs. The folks at Eibach or Bilstein, et al could tell you exactly what you need.

 

Yup, Really Appreciate the Input - Control Arm Bushings are the maintenance issues that started this thread.

 

Don’t be too worried about lifting that truck a couple inches. Most of the downsides to lifts have to do with angular changes to the drive shaft and axles. I have not personally lifted a 2WD before, but it should be a breeze.

 

Also, if you are going to DIY this (you should - it is not hard), if you have an extra couple hundred bucks, new upper and lower control arms with bushings and ball joints already installed are worth the amount of effort they save. If you do not have access to a shop press, it can take many hours to pound out old bushings manually or alternatively take your UCA/LCAs somewhere to have the old ones pre$$ed out & new ones pre$$ed in.

 

Southern California vehicle; those bushings should pop out with the factory bottle jack easily.

 

*should

 

Yes, I think I "Should" - LoL. I'm surprised Spell Check didn't pick that one up?

I do a lot of maintenance myself, but this is a daily driver for my Son and I want to make sure it's a project that can be completed in a day.

 

Hehe My *should was about being able to “easily” push out the old bushings with a bottle jack.

It is definitely a 1-day job if you get new UCA/LCAs pre built, then it’s off with the old, on with the new. If worried about it you could plan to do the LCAs one Saturday, the UCAs with a little leveling spacer the following Saturday. You’d probably end up knocking it all out in a couple hours if you planned to do it all. Either way you’d save prob $800 or more in labor. I don’t know where you take your truck, but the Toyota dealership here gets $3700 for rebuilding a set of LCAs. FFT