Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
Okay, now that I've decided to keep my 4runner a little while longer, I need to start addressing some of the nagging little 'issues' that I've had with it.
First and foremost is the dreaded and well-known "rear sag" problem. As you can see from pics like this:
I do suffer from the slight rear sag, especially when loaded up with a cooler, camping gear, etc (the sag is actually a bit more pronounced than you can see in these photos.)
I bought the truck with 117k on it, and it was obviously rarely if ever taken off road (the running boards were still on it and undamaged.) Based on the fact that I had to get the T-belt done, I'm probably safe in assuming that the springs and shocks on the vehicle are original equipment, IOW 12 years old and have 141k miles on them.
So, I'm thinking of suspension options. Concern here is that I seem to read a lot of "horror stories" of people who go with an OME or similar full suspension (i.e. new springs AND shocks, front and rear) and then complain about the horrible ride, or similar problems. They often end up spending upwards of $2k trying to "fix" the problem by variously swapping out parts and going from one kit to another.
I really don't want to go through that. The ride on the 4runner is decent now, if not great, and I'm a strong believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." OTOH, I wouldn't mind upgrading to higher quality products, particularly if the cost of those higher quality products is the same as OE or only slightly more.
Here are my needs:
* Need to lift up the back end a bit, and wouldn't mind if it were more capable of carrying a load without sagging so much. I'm willing to put up with a slightly stiffer ride, but I don't want a buckboard.
* Need to replace worn components (shocks) as they are long past their replacement mileage.
Those are my only needs. Lift is NOT a requirement, in fact, the truck sits as high as I want it right now (except for the saggy rear.) I've been running 265/75/16s and have had no problems, and I have no desire to go with a bigger tire.
Not looking to spend a ton of money, but will spend what I have to. I haven't priced them but I would assume OE or replacement OE shocks would run on the order of $100/ea max (is that realistic?)
So my questions are as follows:
1. Would a spacer (puck) lift in the rear only get me where I need to be? What are the pluses and minuses of a spacer lift?
2. Same question but instead of a spacer (which seems like a cheap part for such a critical component), would replacing the rear springs with something slightly longer and/or stiffer (get your mind out of the gutter! :hehe: ) be a better way to go? If this would be a good idea, which spring? I know some people talk about using LC coils, and there's always OME.
3. Assuming I go with either a longer spring OR a puck lift at the back, I assume I'll need longer shocks, yes?
4. Since I like the front springs just the way they are, would it be a good idea to leave the springs as-is and just put in a higher-performing shock (bilstien, OME, etc?)
5. Maybe this is a dumb question, but can I cure my rear-sag by simply fitting heavier duty rear shocks? That doesn't make sense to me (since shocks aren't really designed to carry a load) but I have to ask.
I'm not neccessarily going for "cheap" here (though I wouldn't mind that), however, I want my modification to deviate from the original equipment as little as possible. My belief is that the vehicle was set up the way it was from the factory for a reason and I'm not going to mess with that more than I absolutely have to.
Thanks in advance. I've never modified the suspension on any vehicle I've owned so I'm approaching this with a little trepidation. I don't want to screw up a good thing, but it would be nice to squeeze a little bit more capability and/or performance out of my rig.
First and foremost is the dreaded and well-known "rear sag" problem. As you can see from pics like this:
I do suffer from the slight rear sag, especially when loaded up with a cooler, camping gear, etc (the sag is actually a bit more pronounced than you can see in these photos.)
I bought the truck with 117k on it, and it was obviously rarely if ever taken off road (the running boards were still on it and undamaged.) Based on the fact that I had to get the T-belt done, I'm probably safe in assuming that the springs and shocks on the vehicle are original equipment, IOW 12 years old and have 141k miles on them.
So, I'm thinking of suspension options. Concern here is that I seem to read a lot of "horror stories" of people who go with an OME or similar full suspension (i.e. new springs AND shocks, front and rear) and then complain about the horrible ride, or similar problems. They often end up spending upwards of $2k trying to "fix" the problem by variously swapping out parts and going from one kit to another.
I really don't want to go through that. The ride on the 4runner is decent now, if not great, and I'm a strong believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." OTOH, I wouldn't mind upgrading to higher quality products, particularly if the cost of those higher quality products is the same as OE or only slightly more.
Here are my needs:
* Need to lift up the back end a bit, and wouldn't mind if it were more capable of carrying a load without sagging so much. I'm willing to put up with a slightly stiffer ride, but I don't want a buckboard.
* Need to replace worn components (shocks) as they are long past their replacement mileage.
Those are my only needs. Lift is NOT a requirement, in fact, the truck sits as high as I want it right now (except for the saggy rear.) I've been running 265/75/16s and have had no problems, and I have no desire to go with a bigger tire.
Not looking to spend a ton of money, but will spend what I have to. I haven't priced them but I would assume OE or replacement OE shocks would run on the order of $100/ea max (is that realistic?)
So my questions are as follows:
1. Would a spacer (puck) lift in the rear only get me where I need to be? What are the pluses and minuses of a spacer lift?
2. Same question but instead of a spacer (which seems like a cheap part for such a critical component), would replacing the rear springs with something slightly longer and/or stiffer (get your mind out of the gutter! :hehe: ) be a better way to go? If this would be a good idea, which spring? I know some people talk about using LC coils, and there's always OME.
3. Assuming I go with either a longer spring OR a puck lift at the back, I assume I'll need longer shocks, yes?
4. Since I like the front springs just the way they are, would it be a good idea to leave the springs as-is and just put in a higher-performing shock (bilstien, OME, etc?)
5. Maybe this is a dumb question, but can I cure my rear-sag by simply fitting heavier duty rear shocks? That doesn't make sense to me (since shocks aren't really designed to carry a load) but I have to ask.
I'm not neccessarily going for "cheap" here (though I wouldn't mind that), however, I want my modification to deviate from the original equipment as little as possible. My belief is that the vehicle was set up the way it was from the factory for a reason and I'm not going to mess with that more than I absolutely have to.
Thanks in advance. I've never modified the suspension on any vehicle I've owned so I'm approaching this with a little trepidation. I don't want to screw up a good thing, but it would be nice to squeeze a little bit more capability and/or performance out of my rig.
Last edited: