Carolina4x4
Member
So real-world issues are bouncing around my efforts to find a lift kit for my 5th Gen 4Runner Limited. My ornery but highly skilled mechanic with 40 yrs experience working on Toyotas (all he does), poo-poos the basic lift kits (e.g., Bilstein 6112/5160) and wants to see me install at least an ICON Stage 2 ($2700 without labor) or similar (he is not brand obsessed). He says these better and more expensive systems greatly improve ride comfort, off road capability, and most, importantly, alignment potential and adjustability. In his typically brusque but compelling way, he writes:
[Better, more expensive systems] FIT RIGHT AND WILL LAST A LIFETIME WHEN YOU LIFT A VEHICLE YOU CHANGE THE GEOMETRY OF SEVERAL THINGS LIKE AXLE ANGLE ,SWAY BAR ANGLE, CENTER LINE OF DRIVE LINE , CASTER AND CAMBER ANGLES , CENTER OF GRAVITY , DRIVE SHAFT ANGLES , PINION ANGLES .
You need a system and an install that considers all these factors, he argues. But of course they are expensive, particularly when there are so many other things that need purchasing, skid plates, bumpers, etc. And they present the Overlander with added maintenance when on the road in remote countries and places if the suspension is fed by nitrogen and remote oil reservoirs. The ICON systems also come with a 30-50k maintenance intervals. So, is it just dumb for me to spring (!) for one of these systems?
The plan is to travel South America and eventually Africa. But in the next year or so, there will still be plenty of mall driving and work commuting with an unloaded vehicle...and some "dry run" off roading in the mts and hills of NC.
So I need guidance. Do I blow off the only Toyota-experienced builder in my area, who I believe will do a good install? Do I go with my Plan B, which is a lift kit from Bilstein or OME for around $1300 and get installed by the "mechanic down the road" who seems competent but has done only a lift kit on his personal truck and never on a Toyota? I don't have the tools, experience or space to do this job myself, so labor costs are a factor too. Here's the side by side:
PROS
ICON Stage 2: Tighter, better ride, more precise alignment
Basic Bilstein or OME:
[Better, more expensive systems] FIT RIGHT AND WILL LAST A LIFETIME WHEN YOU LIFT A VEHICLE YOU CHANGE THE GEOMETRY OF SEVERAL THINGS LIKE AXLE ANGLE ,SWAY BAR ANGLE, CENTER LINE OF DRIVE LINE , CASTER AND CAMBER ANGLES , CENTER OF GRAVITY , DRIVE SHAFT ANGLES , PINION ANGLES .
You need a system and an install that considers all these factors, he argues. But of course they are expensive, particularly when there are so many other things that need purchasing, skid plates, bumpers, etc. And they present the Overlander with added maintenance when on the road in remote countries and places if the suspension is fed by nitrogen and remote oil reservoirs. The ICON systems also come with a 30-50k maintenance intervals. So, is it just dumb for me to spring (!) for one of these systems?
The plan is to travel South America and eventually Africa. But in the next year or so, there will still be plenty of mall driving and work commuting with an unloaded vehicle...and some "dry run" off roading in the mts and hills of NC.
So I need guidance. Do I blow off the only Toyota-experienced builder in my area, who I believe will do a good install? Do I go with my Plan B, which is a lift kit from Bilstein or OME for around $1300 and get installed by the "mechanic down the road" who seems competent but has done only a lift kit on his personal truck and never on a Toyota? I don't have the tools, experience or space to do this job myself, so labor costs are a factor too. Here's the side by side:
PROS
ICON Stage 2: Tighter, better ride, more precise alignment
Basic Bilstein or OME:
