Suspension upgrade for leveling and improving ride quality

Hello. New to the forum. Recently purchased a 2014 SR5. Body and interior in great shape, 170k miles on running gear. Underneath is rust city. I am currently removing the rust it’s been tedious. But making progress. That all being said I need advice on replacement suspension that A, levels the vehicle and B upgrades from the stock mushy feel. I am not trying to turn it into a rock crawler, just breath some life into it. Rear coils look fine. A lot of other stuff is rotted af. Ideally I would like 32” AT tires. I am overwhelmed with all the options out there. Thanks. Also, I am sure this has been asked a million times.

 

Don't go too deep down the rabbit hole. From my research, assuming they are available for you 2014, replace your suspension with Bilstein 5100 shocks/ struts and I think you'll be happy. Any company who sells the Bilstein (shock surplus etc) will be able to help you match coils to the shocks if you need them too.

 

Agree with @HuskyMike

 

5100s ftw

 

I am still figuring this stuff out. So you guys recommend a kit? Assembled front? 2” lift? I see a lot of options for 0-2” 2” 2.5” and 3”. Trying to avoid spending a ton, but willing to splurge if it’s really worth it. Also, I don’t have access to a lift and will install myself. Just replace shocks in rear or both shocks and springs? With a 2” lift should I replace upper control arms? Diff drop spacers? Sorry…. I’ve been watching too much YouTube.

 

Dude honestly a diff drop is over hyped and even sometimes can do more harm than good.
2" lift or less it's possible to retain OEM Uca but sometimes you may lose too much caster and your ride will suffer. (Truck wanders on the highway.) Sometimes you just have to see how well an alignment shop can get your numbers. With a lift try to aim for 3.5 - 4 degrees caster. At least that's been my experience in the past. My current 4runner is still stock. Some people don't mind having to constantly correct the steering as they drive.

 

I would get the assembled front. One less thing for you to worry about doing. Since you want it leveled, you will want to trust the advice of the vendor from where you purchase the suspension as they've (probably) done this hundreds of times. They will know where to set the struts and which springs to use for the rear, if you decide to replace them (I'd suggest buying whatever springs the vendor suggests). In my case, their suggestion was spot on.

General consensus is to go 2" or less to avoid having to replace other components. Just get the struts (assembled), rear shocks with springs and you'll be golden.

I installed my Bilstein 5160/ 5100 kit in my garage by myself. It should be noted that I installed them on a new(ish) 4Runner with only about 10,00 miles so I didn't have to deal with rust, stuck bolts etc.

Assuming it's same/ similar on the 2014, these are the two videos I used to install everything.

https://youtu.be/w2ZjivorC-I?si=UOSXR8RS2LxDYbSP

https://youtu.be/EUJpika3DtY?si=U649HMvpnCr1dFeC

 

My '18 SR5 has a 2" Dobinsons yellow shocks suspension (I forget the model name/#, but the price was right) and I kept the factory UCA's. With a 2" lift, a diff drop isn't needed. If you get really big tires, you may need to get new UCA's. I have 275/70 17's on the factory snowflake wheels with no issues after the "fender liner tuck mod". 285's will fit with factory wheels, too.

 

What kind of process is it to change out rear coils? I think I can get everything loose on the front end. Trying to decide if I need/want new upper control arms. Prices for those range a bit. Seems like 400-700 is the general range. My daily driver is a 22’ Silverado 2500 and I was taken back by the nose dive on the 4Runner at a hard stop. I am sure it’s just getting accustomed to it, but I tend to lean towards stiffer suspension.

 

I’d keep it as simple as possible. Nice set of assembled Bilsteins will help with the nose dive. If you want a lift, 2 inches is good in front, a little less high in the back.

If you just want to level out the front a bit, about an inch is all you need.

If you start changing too many things out, then you’re gonna be fighting all those rusty bolts,

That said, after a lift you’ll need an alignment, and the cam adjustment bolts in the lower control arms are very likely rusted frozen. They might need to be cut out if an alignment hasn’t been done in a while (this happens even when the rust isn’t that bad). The tabs on the LCA that hold the cam washers may not have much that much left on them if they’re rusty too. Might wanna budget for those things since they are common issues.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvJUFN7FuX4