I was checking out my brake wear and suspension components on a 1994 4Runner that I picked up recently. The vehicle is 200k miles, 5spd manual, and in really good shape. One thing I noticed today was very concerning to me… looks like the rear drivers side strut is snapped!
Am I correct that this is the strut? What about that little rubber boot/stopper? Will I need to buy it separately. I know a good bit about working on Honda’s but am new to the Toyota world… any help on the official names of the parts I will need to replace are appreciated.
I am thinking about putting Land Cruiser coils on the rear suspension to fix sag as well as 1.5" BJ spacers… I probably will want to do it all at the same time if possible.
I am thinking that this is a strut issue. Please help correct me if I am wrong.
Some caution is in order about the rear coil spring change you are considering. The engineers who designed the car weren’t expecting you to do that, so you may be introducing unwanted problems, like it won’t be possible to align the rear wheels, tire wear problems, or handling difficulties. I think you’d be better off to stick with suspension parts known to be compatible with your new purchase. Parts made for a 94 4Runner.
4Runners rear is a bit all over the place in my experience even when stock. I will only change for the same original parts and not swap to other model or lift the car because then the handling could get dangerous.
That is not a “strut” as @tester said, it is a bumpstop or bump rubber It is a BIG bump rubber designed as a spring-helper. When you load the vehicle it sags into the bumper and that adds spring rate to help handle the additional weight. It has failed. It needs replacing. If the truck has sagged, the spring needs replacing, too. That should fix the sag. You don’t need (or want) ball joint spacers if you use Toyota parts to bring the truck back to the correct ride height.
I appreciate the concern BUT on yotaforums many people have found a lot of success in land cruiser coils to lift the rear with spacers in the front. It is very easy and under $200 in parts. Then you have to upgrade shocks but I probably should anyways since I don’t know how it has been maintained in the past.
Thank you tester. I am going to get in there and see if the dome is rusted out or if it’s just the shaft that connects the two. The car has very little rust so I am hopeful.
yotatech.com and Toyota-4runner.org are the two premier 4Runner sites (I can’t even find “yotaforums”). I use them both for info, and have upgraded my braking system to the Tundra brakes using information directly from them (and it went exactly as described, too). I can just about stand this thing on the front wheels now.
Having said that, make sure the upgrade you are considering wasn’t just done by one guy, with a lot of “interested” or “thinking about it” comments, and results after time has passed (like over a year).
Like the posts above, though, suspension upgrades are difficult to do correctly, introduce handling issues, noise, tire wear problems, stopping problems, increased wear on the new and old suspension parts, and more I can’t think of right now. I’ve known people to introduce those stupid 22" wheels to their Cadillac only to find out those things were destroying their suspension after time had passed. Some have just replaced the worn parts, others have gone back to a better wheel.
Caution is the word of the day here. Not saying it can’t be done, just be careful and do it right.
