Minimum IFS Droop on 05+ Tacoma, 03+ 4Runner/FJC

[Redline]

I did a search and read a few threads but couldn't locate the exact answer I'm looking for.

I want to know the 'Minimum' recommended droop travel for the 03-09 4th Gen 4Runners (Tacomas/FJCs). I thought somebody told me a couple years ago that 10mm was the minimum for a good ride and performance. 10mm seems like not much (I have more) but I would like to have a frame of reference.

I'm making some alignment adjustments tomorrow morning and thinking of going a bit (1-2 turns) higher in the front again and was going to measure the droop travel instead of merely eyeing the front CV angle.

Can someone confirm my 10mm recollection or share a different number so I can make the changes soon/tonight?

Thanks

 

[Redline]

Wow no takers... thought this would be a quick easy question for someone?

I raised it a turn anyway

 

[RHINO]

i dont have a number,,, but 10mm doesnt seem near enough

 

[bulldog]

The 4R/FJC/Taco has a little less than 8" of travel stock, with a good aftermarket suspension a little more than 8" of travel. Extended coilovers and UCAs get you closer to 9" of travel. Then there are various mid and long travel kits giving you anything form 11" to a little over 13" of travel.

With IFS a good rule of thumb is to have around 1/3 of total travel as downtravel.


So with around 8" of total travel you want around 2.5" of down travel. This is typical with around 3" of lift from stock. So in general leave at least 2" of down travel as a minimum, which is equal to about 3.5" of lift on these trucks.

BTW: 3" of lift will still give you close to stock whee alignment with stock arms at a good shop. Once you go over it it gets really hard to align the truck.

I have about 2.5" of down travel with close to 3.5" of lift with aftermarket UCAs and coilovers.

On the rear axle you want closer to 1/2 of the total travel as down travel. The rear has a little over 8" of travel stock (travel is not the same as side to side flex on an axle or even IFS for that matter). SO try to get at least 4" of down travel in the back.

Measure travel by gettign center wheel to fender when on the ground. Then lift the whole end of the truck and let the wheels droop, measure center wheel to fender again. Don't just lift one wheel to mneasure up/down travel.

Hope this helps with your question. And you are on the right track by looking at total travel and static axle postion vs just lift high.

 

[Redline]

Thanks for your post Bulldog.

For the record, I think I do have much more than 10mm of droop travel. I haven't measured it properly yet as you detail above, but yesterday just eyeballing it as I raised the car it's well over an inch, maybe two. I will measure it today.

I have aftermarket upper A-arms/ball-joints, and coil overs and it all works well. The goal is/was to raise the car a bit more to get some added overall height and compression travel in an effort to gain more clearance and a slight resistance to bottoming when pushed hard/fast. I cranked the front up a couple turns and gained about 7/16" of added height. I'm probably going to lower it one turn this morning, not because the CV angles look bad or because I don't have enough droop travel but because I dislike a butt low attitude/angle when unloaded, and particularly prefer a slight nose low rake on the 4th Gen 4Runner, I think the body lines were made for it. And because I load the car heavy for trips & trailer pulling, starting a little nose low works better.

 

[Dave Bennett]

The 4R/FJC/Taco has a little less than 8" of travel stock, with a good aftermarket suspension a little more than 8" of travel. Extended coilovers and UCAs get you closer to 9" of travel. Then there are various mid and long travel kits giving you anything form 11" to a little over 13" of travel.

With IFS a good rule of thumb is to have around 1/3 of total travel as downtravel.


So with around 8" of total travel you want around 2.5" of down travel. This is typical with around 3" of lift from stock. So in general leave at least 2" of down travel as a minimum, which is equal to about 3.5" of lift on these trucks.

BTW: 3" of lift will still give you close to stock whee alignment with stock arms at a good shop. Once you go over it it gets really hard to align the truck.

I have about 2.5" of down travel with close to 3.5" of lift with aftermarket UCAs and coilovers.

On the rear axle you want closer to 1/2 of the total travel as down travel. The rear has a little over 8" of travel stock (travel is not the same as side to side flex on an axle or even IFS for that matter). SO try to get at least 4" of down travel in the back.

Measure travel by gettign center wheel to fender when on the ground. Then lift the whole end of the truck and let the wheels droop, measure center wheel to fender again. Don't just lift one wheel to mneasure up/down travel.

Hope this helps with your question. And you are on the right track by looking at total travel and static axle postion vs just lift high.

Great first post! :Wow1:

Welcome to ExPo!!!

 

[Redline]

Unless my measurements are grossly incorrect I don't have anything close to 2.5-inches of droop travel. About 1 1/2-inches on the front.

Front Suspension is:

Camburg 700-lb Coil Overs
Light Racing upper A-arms and ball joints.
Anti-sway bar is installed with drop brackets.

Seems to drive well both on and off-highway, took it over some whoops today at a fast pace- compression travel is very good (too soft in the past) and I didn't notice a lack of droop travel. Though I'm not sure I would know what it feels like.

 

[bulldog]

1.5" sounds low for the lift height you listed. Also measuring 1/2" of travel difference is pretty difficult to be honest, that is why I listed approx in the measurements above, as 1/2" tolerance on the measurements should be assumed.

If you are close to 2" and you are happy with the performance then life is good

Did you measure form the top of the tire or center wheel? What was your reference point on the truck (bottom fender, frame)?

 

[Redline]

I don't think I stated a lift height... but it is around 3+ inches. My tires change often but with the current 285s the front lip of the stainless Shrockworks skid (at the lower lip of the front bumper) is about 23-inches from the garage floor.

To measure the droop, I measured from the center of the wheel hub to the top of the fender opening above the tire. You're right, it's not the easiest thing to measure.

Droop travel has never been my problem, but compression travel has been. With OME 886 up front the on-road ride was great/soft but off-highway the springs were too weak for all the weight of the car, and bottoming/rubbing was common. The adjustable coil overs mostly solved this, and my goal has been to get more height in front, while not loosing too much droop travel or a slight rear high attitude.

Thanks again for the input.

1.5" sounds low for the lift height you listed. Also measuring 1/2" of travel difference is pretty difficult to be honest, that is why I listed approx in the measurements above, as 1/2" tolerance on the measurements should be assumed.

If you are close to 2" and you are happy with the performance then life is good

Did you measure form the top of the tire or center wheel? What was your reference point on the truck (bottom fender, frame)?

 

[Ryanmb21]

Bulldog - Welcome!

 

[bulldog]

Great first post! :Wow1:

Welcome to ExPo!!!

Thx.

I don't think I stated a lift height... but it is around 3+ inches. My tires change often but with the current 285s the front lip of the stainless Shrockworks skid (at the lower lip of the front bumper) is about 23-inches from the garage floor.

To measure the droop, I measured from the center of the wheel hub to the top of the fender opening above the tire. You're right, it's not the easiest thing to measure.

Droop travel has never been my problem, but compression travel has been. With OME 886 up front the on-road ride was great/soft but off-highway the springs were too weak for all the weight of the car, and bottoming/rubbing was common. The adjustable coil overs mostly solved this, and my goal has been to get more height in front, while not loosing too much droop travel or a slight rear high attitude.

Thanks again for the input.

My mistake, I don't know why I thought you had 3" of lift.

Either way dial in to what suites your needs the best. I found that good droop goes a long way to help with ride and also stability on rocky terrain.

Another avenue you can explore instead of just cranking the coils is to have you compression valving firmed up a bit. This will help a lot more from bottoming out than just your coil springs. Coils are supposed to just carry the weight and give you the desired ride height, your shocks valving is used to control the motion and prevent things like premature bottoming, etc.

Bulldog - Welcome!

Thx

 

[Redline]

For sure

My increased spring rate went a long way toward curing the 'too soft' ride. I have lots of armor (bumper, full skids, including gas tank) and the car is simply heavy...

Measurements aside, my butt meter indicates that the droop travel seems adequate. I have done some slow and fast off-highway testing with the many combinations & adjustments. Yesterday I could barely get the left-front to rub/touch when the car was driven very fast over a bump test track, unloaded. I have extended bump stops.

Keeping adequate droop is important because although the Mall Crawler is a great off-highway rig, on-highway performance is very important and it needs to drive well on road trips.

 

[Redline]

2 7/16"

A buddy and I remeasured the droop travel this evening. I was likely being too conservative with how far I could lift the front before measuring. He suggested lifting to the point where we could just barely rotate the tire by hand and this is what we did.

Using this method I have 2 7/16" of droop travel :victory: should be enough.

 

[bulldog]

That sounds more like it.

 

[mr.trd]

I wonder if the 4 runner has more travel then? Cause I thought I only had about 2.5" of lift and I just checked my downtravel and I only have 2 1/4" of droop on the drivers side and 2 1/2" of droop on the passengers side. And another weird thing is that I have the same amount of lift on both sides and I have 1/4" more droop on the passengers side. I measured from the top lip of the wheel to the bottom of the fender and used the same angle to read the tape so that wouldn't change my outcome.... I have Icon UCA's and Icon extended travel coilovers. The reason I checked is because it rides to good and I hit the front and rear bumpstop at about the exact same time when I go up the RTI ramp so my preload is about perfect up front. But I am about to install some 1/2" thick axle relocation plates on the rear to move my rear axle back 1/2" and was wondering if I could give the coilovers a couple of turns to keep the truck just a tad rear high and not alot rear high. I love the stance now so in a perfect world i would like the front to go up 1/2" also.... Do I have more lift than I thought and shouldn't be messing with it cause if it goes up 1/2" then my droop is under 2"?

I would have never gone through all this thought if it wasn't for this thread James...... Thanks! LOL Also making room for larger meats....that's why the rear axle needs to go back a tad and have the bumpstop hit just a tad sooner...the relocation plate I made sounds to good to work exactly the way I need it to...LOL