A common question we receive is – What parts do I need to consider when I am building out my truck? It’s Complicated
When you are looking at building your truck there are several parts you should look at replacing in order to correctly account for the change in suspension geometry when lifting a vehicle. There are also parts that should be inspected for wear and tear, and replaced at the time the new suspension is installed in order to minimize potential labor and alignment costs. Below we will go over what areas of your vehicle you should be looking at. We will explain the purpose of each of the parts, and when they are needed. We will also go over what you should consider when making your suspension selection based on how you will use the vehicle.
– Front struts (or coilovers)
– Rear shocks
– Front springs
– Rear Springs
– Front Bump Stops – Protects the shocks from bottoming out, also many aftermarket options alleviate harsh bottom outs.
– Rear Bump Stops– Protects the shocks from bottoming out, also many aftermarket options alleviate harsh bottom outs. The suspension you buy will dictate which model / brand you need. Pay attention to the collapsed length as some brands full stop height is equivalent or shorter to stock even though the extended length looks longer.
– For airbag models- Rear coil conversion – Creates a spring seat and locates the new spring. (All GX470, Some GX460, Some 4th Gen 4Runners)
– Front upper control arms – Readjusts the ball joint allowing you to regain caster, also creates room around the coil and UCA so that binding does not occur. Highly recommended with any lift height, though if absolutely out of the budget, stay 2” or below.
– Front sway bar links – Controls the angle at which the sway bar sits / affects available travel.
– Rear sway bar links (4r, FJ, GX) – Controls the angle at which the sway bar sits / affects available travel.
– Rear upper links / trailing arms (4r, FJ, GX) – Controls your pinion angle
– Rear lower links / trailing arms (4r, FJ, GX) – Controls your front to rear axle alignment
– Rear Panhard Bar – Controls the left to right rear axle alignment
– Panhard Correction Bracket – Flattens the panhard, Correcting your roll center angle. Axle remains flatter in corners, it helps with body roll. (Contrary to facebook, this is not a replacement for replacing the panhard bar itself) (Both should be done together)
– Lean Spacers (On some vehicles) – Most trucks lean. Non KDSS trucks usually on the driver side, KDSS trucks on the passenger side. Measure your car prior to ordering, not all of them lean. Measure from the center of the wheel to the bottom of the fender on both sides. This will give you a good idea if yours leans currently and will also lean once lifted. This does not guarantee that your vehicle will or won’t lean, but it is generally a pretty good indicator. This is part of having a toyota, it’s one of the few issues we have to deal with.
– Brake lines – There are 3 sets of soft brake lines on these vehicles. There are hard lines running directly to the caliper- those do not need to be replaced, unless they are damaged. The soft lines connect the hard lines to the chassis. It is recommended to replace the 3 soft lines with stainless braided lines to increase the braking firmness in the vehicle. Also higher mileage trucks may begin to see issues with bubbling in the hose side walls resulting in squishy or inconsistent braking. (this happened to me on the edge of a cliff, wooo)
– Rear Center– These are most important to replace with a lift, though generally are only REQUIRED when using a long travel rear set up such as the Apache AX2-30R or the Dobinsons 575 or 941 (tacoma) series.
– Front at the Caliper – These may be replaced with a lift, generally the stock length will work, you may need to slightly bend the brake line bracket. Stoptech stock length lines are available, Apache extended lines are also available. Long travel fronts will require extended front lines.
– Rear at the caliper– These do not need to be extended, stoptech stainless lines are available.
- Lower Control Arms – These are more of a maintenance item. That said, The taller you lift the front, the harder it can be to get the camber correct. If you are around 3-3.5” you can get it mostly correct, though using something like the Superpro Offset LCA is advantageous as it allows for even more camber/caster adjustment than with the factory LCA. We run these arms, and recommend them for most applications when it comes time to replace your LCAs.
In terms of priority importance when you install a lift, there are some parts you should replace along with the lift itself. If your budget doesn’t allow for a full build, use the guide below to determine which parts you should replace now vs what you can do at a later time.
- Lifts under 2”:
- Generally speaking, lifts under 2” are not very intrusive. While you can replace the above parts, you should be fine to run your factory control arms. I would place bump stops as the most important at this height, especially the rears on airbag models. Airbag models would also require the coil conversion.
– 2” + Lifts:
– At 2” in the front you can get the alignment PRETTY CLOSE. If possible we recommend replacing the UCAs. 2.5” and above, these are required at install.
– At a minimum the coils, shocks, struts and UCAs should be top priority.
– Bump stops front and rear should be replaced if possible to protect your new shocks. We recommend Durobumps. If your budget does not allow for them, you will likely be okay short term, use caution in hitting things too hard.
– Rear sway bar links- Ideally you replace at least the rear sway bar links, both ends should be done eventually- the rears need more adjustment and will limit your travel if they aren’t replaced. That said you can do them later, the worst case is you limit your rear travel more than need be.
– The rest of the parts listed above pretty much can be done at a later time. Its important to check the operating condition of your suspension components though and also use that to help determine what should be replaced. A lot of the time we are working with older high mileage trucks, which are past due for replacement on a lot of these parts anyways.
Maintenance parts that should be inspected / replaced if worn/damaged.
– Front inner tie rods – Use OEM, 555 (Altrom at Napa,) or Moog Problem Solver
– Front outer tie rods – Use OEM, 555 (Altrom at Napa,) or Moog Problem Solver
– Front lower control arm – Bushings / Joints – Super pro or oem, Super pro offsets if lifted.
– If you are paying a shop to replace the bushings, 9/10 times it will be less expensive to replace the entire arm given the labor cost of replacing the bushings. If you own a KDSS GX470, your only option is to rebuild or buy new oem. GX460, Non KDSS GX470, FJ, 4Runner owners have the option to replace the whole arm. We have had bad experiences with autoparts store / low cost LCAs. The bushings tend to fail in them quickly. We recommend using SuperPro Offset LCAs.
– It is VERY common for the LCA bolts to be seized. This requires cutting the factory LCAs out and the LCA either being rebuilt or replaced. It is not limited to rust belt vehicles and tends to be a problem everyone faces at some point. If yours are not seized, we recommend putting anti seize on the bolts. While its more work to do at the time of the suspension install, it will save you future frustrations.
– Wheel bearings – You want to use something with a KOYO bearing. The hub portion is less important. We have had terrible luck with other brand bearings on these vehicles. They do not last.
– Steering rack bushings – Super pro
– Sway bar bushings – Super pro
