We see a bit of the local lift kits.
Yes, Those bang for the buck spacers. Yes, They will lift your 4runner. But are they any good?
Springs or Coil Springs, They work with the factory shock to hold the vehicle weight evenly across the vehicle. This allows for maximum tire contact patch at all times, Which in return helps with weight transfer, traction, braking and handling.
Coil springs, To control their movement must be matched with the proper shock valving. Proper shock valving helps with the oscillations of each spring. The valving is mostly based on oil passages. With shims of different sizing paired with a specific oil weight. Each spring also needs a set limit of preload to place the spring within its proper tension.
There is two types of suspension springs in common use today. Linear and Progressive.
Progressive Springs work as the spring is compressed. The spring rate increases as the compression continues. So the spring will stiffen up through out its range.
Linear Springs work as the spring is compressed. The spring rate continues to stay the same through out its range of compression.
Some shops install spring spacers or shims to lift a vehicle. This adds additional preload tension to the spring. By doing so. You run the spring tighter, outside the valving spec. This stiffens up the ride quality, and fails to control the oscillations of the coil spring. Accelerating wear on the shock, causing aeration and overheating of the oil in the shock as well. This significantly degrades the ride quality and handling.
Using preload spacers, or shims accelerates wear on suspension components. Causes shock failure, acceleration of ball joint wear. And can wipe out your bump stops. Which bump stops are also engineered to have their own compression rates. It’s just a bad idea.
This coil over below has adjust able collars to set spring preload, A second collar to lock out the preload collar. And the coil over itself had specific valving and oil weights to work together with the spring as a team. Improving handling, traction and braking. All while keeping weight in check.
With the price of a good suspension kit cheaper now days. It doesn’t make sense to start out wrong. You’ll end up doubling your costs int he long run. And even damage your vehicle.
Stay tuned as we continue to cover this topic in the close future.
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