I have
been through a couple suspension setups and have been pretty
happy so far with all of them. I am someone that likes
to be connected with the road. Espcially when it comes
to a heavy SUV. When I decided to lift my truck I already
had Heavy Duity Bilsteins waiting to go in. Over much
thought I went ahead with the Heavy Duity OME (Old Man Emu)
Coils. I loved this setup. My truck handled better
than most cars, and I took it to its limits quite a few times
as the road I drive to work is quite curvy. Since I
added the TJM T-15 Bull Bar the weight pulled the front of
the truck down so I had to do something about it. I
could have gotten a spacer put in, but I got a great price
on an adjustable coilover setup made by Downey. I like
the design of the unit as I can change out the shock without
sending them off, you just replace the shock. There
is also more adjustability offered than the compeditor Sway
Away (SAW). Not only will the Downeys give me 3.5"
of lift but will also lower. Not that I'm interested
in lowering, but I have a feeling they did this incase the
truck is a 2x4? I don't know, but it's there.
The Downey setup isn't as stiff as my OME setup, but I had
to crank them all the way up to get the correct height with
the TJM on. Lucky for me the higher you go the stiffer
the spring rate. I have been happy with both of these
setups and would recomend both. For someone that can
sacrafice a half harsh ride for a truck that can handle like
a car and more importantly have the confidence to avoid an
accident. I would say go with OME HD Coils and HD Bilsteins.
I have only had the Downeys in for about a month now, so I'll
post my thoughts after I get some time with them. I'm
confident they will do fine as it's designed around a bilstein
shock and Downey has been around and I'm sure know what they
are doing by now.
*Update* Roger
Brown 2" Body Lift
Body lifts have
been looked down upon for years mainly because on most domestics
you can see through the frame and quite frankly, it looks
like crap. Lucky for me the 4Runner does a good job
of hiding it. You can see through a little bit at the
rear, but its minimal and easily fixed with pond lining.
The bennifits of body lifts are that it allows for bigger
tires and at the same time keeps the center of gravity low.
It also allows for things to be lifted up out of the way of
rocks. Most importantly on 3rd gen 4Runners is the fuel
tank. Because I have an aftermarket winch bumper, a
simple bumper reloaction was not possible. Not only
would it be a pain in the butt to make a custom bracket.
But it would also make the bumper quite a bit weaker when
winching and I have heard enough horror stories of ARBs breaking
off, no thanks. A fellow forum member thought of cutting
one side of a $5 piece of lattice from home depot and use
self tapping scews and put it inbatween the body and the bumper.
Turned out great, and keeps the bumper lower for winching/hitting
ricers.
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