teotwaki
Excelsior!
I decided to upgrade my suspension which is a 4+ year old set of Downey Offroad (out of business) front coilovers, a pair of 4 year old custom Deaver rear springs and a 3 year old set of Donahoe/ICON rear shocks. The Deavers appeared to be sagging as I was losing height in the back. One of the Donahoes was leaking and the warranty process was taking weeks and the front coilovers were just.... old.
I purchased all of my suspension parts form Overland Warehouse who have customized versions of RadFlo suspension that are tuned for 4Runners and have custom springs.
http://stores.overlandwarehouse.com/StoreFront.bok
The full kit includes a drop bracket for the rear brake lines, spacers for the rear bumpstops and relocation hardware for the front swaybar.
http://stores.overlandwarehouse.com/-strse-Suspension/Categories.bok
I did not take a lot of pix but here are a few.
New 16.5" & 20% spring versus old
New rear shock versus old
New coilover versus old
and one of them installed
This is the $15 Pep Boys tool I used for popping out the tie rod ends. It is just the right size
Finished!
Later I raised the front a little and let Firestone run an alignment on it.
Old height measurements taken at the horizontal lip of the fenderwells which includes lift from the larger tires:
Front Pass 36.5""
Driver front 36.5"
Rear Pass 36.875"
Rear Driver 37.0"
New measurements:
Front fender 37" to 37.25"
Rear fender 38.5" to 38.75"
For anybody buying the coilovers I highly recommend the adjustment tool that OW sells. It is really nice. The tie rod tool is safer than whacking things with a hammer.
The street ride is pretty nice and I am looking forward to offroading it.
I purchased all of my suspension parts form Overland Warehouse who have customized versions of RadFlo suspension that are tuned for 4Runners and have custom springs.
http://stores.overlandwarehouse.com/StoreFront.bok
The full kit includes a drop bracket for the rear brake lines, spacers for the rear bumpstops and relocation hardware for the front swaybar.
http://stores.overlandwarehouse.com/-strse-Suspension/Categories.bok
I did not take a lot of pix but here are a few.
New 16.5" & 20% spring versus old
New rear shock versus old
New coilover versus old
and one of them installed
This is the $15 Pep Boys tool I used for popping out the tie rod ends. It is just the right size
Finished!
Later I raised the front a little and let Firestone run an alignment on it.
Old height measurements taken at the horizontal lip of the fenderwells which includes lift from the larger tires:
Front Pass 36.5""
Driver front 36.5"
Rear Pass 36.875"
Rear Driver 37.0"
New measurements:
Front fender 37" to 37.25"
Rear fender 38.5" to 38.75"
For anybody buying the coilovers I highly recommend the adjustment tool that OW sells. It is really nice. The tie rod tool is safer than whacking things with a hammer.
The street ride is pretty nice and I am looking forward to offroading it.
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