Not enough rake? Opinions?

I recently cut my fenders and installed high clearance fender liners from C4.

One unintended consequence was I lost a bit of visual rake.
Rigs sitting at about 3" lift front and rear.

Hub to fender measurements are:
24.1" DF 24.5" PF
24.5" DR 25" PR

I am going to correct the lean by adding a spacer to the driver rear coil.
I may also lower the passenger front .4"
This will leave me with about 1" of rake.

I have extended travel shocks so I could lift the rear more to add a little more rake. And I even have some ET springs that are 1" longer in storage.

I need opinions, should I:
1: Add 1" longer rear coils to provide more rake
2: Fix the Toyota lean and leave it alone.

For reference Dobinson's quotes about 1/4" drop for every 100lbs of gear added.
For trips I'll usually pack 200-300 lbs. of gear.

What do you guys think?

 

Putting a level on the running boards, you can see what "IS" level and what "ISNT" level.
The 4R needs about 7/8" higher on the rear wheel arches for the vehicle to sit level. A lot of people assume when they have the same measurement front and rear that the vehicle will be level. In fact, you need the rear higher about an inch for the vehicle to actually be level.
When you have the front and rear wheel arches the same, lets say 24.5 or whatever front and rear, you will notice the belt line, the bottom of the windows will appear level. A lot of people visually look at this and judge "level" off the lower window molding however that line and the actual bottom of the rocker are not on the same plane with each other. If you want the lower rocker, lower door, and running boards / sliders level you must have right at an inch higher in the rear. This will cause the lower window molding to have an upward rake appearance.

The way your vehicle measures and looks is pretty much dead nuts level. If you start adding stuff in the rear you are most certainly going to go lower in the rear and will have a nose up appearance. How much is totally up to you and personal preference but if you want it to "appear" level with some weight you are most certainly going to want to go a bit higher in the rear.

 

That looks really nice as-is. Yeah, it will probably will squat a little with a full load. @Airdam is right about gauging your true angle off the frame/sliders. The wheel well gaps and body lines all imply different angles, in orhelps actually hide squatting a little bit when you’re loaded. So in the end, even if the rear end squats a bit, it might not look horrible.

That said, I think it’s good to try to get the frame level. The vehicle handles so nicely when level and with evenly distributed weight.

If you decide to adjust, I’d adjust one front corner first by lowering it a tiny bit. If you have front sway bars on, adjusting one side will affect both front corners. That might actually be enough to dial it in to your tastes without having to touch the back.

 

I hate to be the lone descent, but I must disagree with all the other educated and well thought out responses. I think the fuck'n thing is totaled. Sell it while you still can. I'll take it off your hands, but I can't offer much, you know...because of that self inflicted massive defect that it has.

My God man, I can't unsee it now!

 

@Airdam sure enough according to the measure app on my iPhone the rig is damn near level at the slider. I didn’t expect that at all.

@McSpazatron Thanks man. I’m really on the fence now since I don’t want it to be too nose high on trips. You’re right about adjusting the front and reevaluating. I may go that route.

@Borracho Loco Classic Borracho


Seeing that the frame is level unloaded definitely makes me feel like I need to add some height in the rear. Damn those ET springs are a PITA too

 

Dissent. Just sayin...

 

glwood54 is---The Grammar Cop
A Quinn Martin Production

 

So despite the polling results I'm gonna switch from the Dobinsons 675V coils to the 677V's in the rear.
The 677 coils are 1.1" longer but have the same spring rate.
I'll also add a spacer to correct for lean.

Should provide some usable rake. I'm sure it will ride ass high for a while but in my experience the Dobinsons springs will settle quite a bit with time.

Thanks for your points gents!

 

I wouldn't even have bothered but for this BL post the other day:

 

Yeah, I knew where that was coming from. In fact, I was going to make a whole elaborate post like it was the Streets of San Francisco or The FBI with BL being your partner but then then I decided to be lazy instead.

 

Did you buy your 4Runner with a lean on it?

 

My 4Runner leans without a lein

 

Never fear, it appears the cops are on top of that case too! d'oh!!

 

Follow up:
Swapped the rear coils out and corrected the Toyota lean. I’m sure they’ll settle a bit more but I’m very happy with the rake now!

 

Before and after the spring swap:

 

Looks better now. When I did a similar swap it was much more stable when loaded.

 

Thanks. I think so too. Surprisingly the rig handles high speeds a little better now.

Hard to contribute this solely to the springs since I also lengthened the rear sway bar end links. Regardless it handles better now and can now be loaded with gear without suffering the dreaded Carolina squat.

 

Looks.so much better. Did you use the springs mentioned in post #8?

 

I did. Dobinson C59-677V
Added a Apache Offroad 3/4" lean correction spacer to the driver side as well.