School me on lifts/tires

Hi all,

I have a '24 4Runner TRD ORP it is bone stock right now. I come from having Subarus, multiple WRXs and a Legacy GT wagon. I live in NY I plan on using this for light off roading in PA/VT/NH and to tow ATVs a few times a year as well as daily driving and an maybe a road trip out west.

I started looking at lifts and ATs and was pretty overwhelmed lol. There is so many brands and choices. I thought about using an Eibach Stage 2 kit and stock size All terrains but I wasn't sure of what load to get

I appreciate all the advice in advance!

 

You don't need a lift for the use described. Get some good AT tires and rig will impress you what it's capable of. If you want to lift for looks or trying to improve factory ride lots of options. Just go into it aware of the never ending trade offs once you start making changes.

Watch your weight on tire and load range if concerned about on road ride. I prefer to stay away from load range E and target tires around 50 lbs. Any street tires like Michelin are going to be better on the road than more aggressive AT tires. Find the balance that works for you. I do a lot of highway miles so have focused on a balance on road and off road capabilities.

Check out the suspension forum for ideas.

https://www.4runners.com/forums/suspension.19/

 

Everything is a tradeoff, and my opinion is that down-travel is more useful than the lift itself. You lose down-travel the more you increase the lift (can be compensated for to an extent with longer shocks, xyz). This somewhat depends on the type of wheeling you do, but if you wanted to do rock-crawling, you would have bought something with a solid axle in the front I assume. I don't think you need anything aftermarket as of now. My main use-case for buying Bilstein 5100s was that I couldn't stand the stock shock dampening. I did not do it for the ability to lift the vehicle, but I did because it happened to be an option. Which has since led to bad financial decisions lol

Toyota light-truck platforms hate unsprung weight as a rule (wheels). I run 275/70r17 AT3w Falkens, which while nice, were ultimately a stupid choice. Slightly larger than stock, but at a whopping 57lbs a corner. Talk about tread life. Also C load lmao. I do not get more than 16mpg except on slower interstate and state highway speeds, which doesn't make-up a lot of my driving currently. For that weight and price, I may as well have pushed all the way up to a 285/75r17. So my advice is to stay at the stock size unless you are willing to lose anything resembling decent mileage. And a hit to ride quality of course.

For an actual tire recommendation, I have wanted to try the Yokohama G015 AT. They look like they would be a good compromise between on and off-road performance, but again, I have no experience with them. And at this rate, my Falkens look like they will pack on about 80k before dying (said the liar) and I plan on moving to the aforementioned skinny 34s anyway. Just don't buy a K02. They are outdated at this point, but did have a good run.

TLDR: Just do some wheeling before you buy anything and let your experience dictate your choices

 

Thanks for the input so far guys! I should have mentioned I would like to get rid of the nose dive under braking the 4Runner is famous for. As for tires I also should have mentioned needing something good in the snow. As for wheeling, in the northeast is mostly rocky terrain in PA or just old dirt roads and as I mentioned maybe a roadtrip to UT and CO, which is something the wife and I have wanted to do for awhile.

Going to assume I can get away with SL load tires based off of my use case. I'll get some ATs and protection and worry about lifting later on

 

Much info on this found with a simple search of forum.

 

Only you can say what will work best for you, since you have the most accurate (and realistic) idea of what your truck will be used for. But here's my personal opinion, since we're all sharing; some 4Runner drivers are very sensitive to ride quality, and some of us are not. I view worrying about ride quality on a 4WD utility vehicle in a similar vein to putting lipstick on a pig. There are 1000 much better choices than a 4Runner if someone needs a vehicle that has great ride quality and will live its entire life on pavement. My current 4Runner is the first I've put a lift on, of my 4 Toyota trucks so far, and I think the lift is overrated, and I sometimes regret getting it. I wanted the beefier suspension, which I am glad of, but the lift is meh. These trucks are extremely capable stock with just a new set of tires. And tires bring me to my final point; tires are the weak point in any 4WD, and I personally don't see the purpose (for my uses) in buying a 4WD and putting weak tires on it. On Colorado jeep trails, there are two kinds of drivers, those who have E rated tires and those who wish they did. Same for the Dempster Highway. This is anecdotal, but a few of my buddies did a trip on a trail going from northern Nevada to southern Oregon, and nobody with E rated tires had a flat, and the guy on C's had two, and had to borrow an off-size spare.

My truck lives 98% of its life on pavement (in two years I've done 4 trips from coast to coast, plus Cabo to Canada, etc), but when I decide to hit a trail while on my adventures in Baja, Colorado, etc., I love the peace of mind of a solid tire.

 

'twere me, I'd put 265/70/17C BFG AT KO2 or KO3 on it and leave the suspension alone.

 

I put Eiback Sport Truck shocks and struts on with a Gen 4 rear spring. 1.6" front and 1" rear lift. I have MT Baja Boss AT in stock size waiting to get installed this fall. The suspension upgrade totally eliminated the nose dive.