By What do the Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Tacoma, and Toyota FJ Cruiser have in common? Almost everything from the waistline down, actually. Every one of them uses Toyota’s legendary Hilux as a base. They offered the same engines, transmissions, trims, and suspension geometry from 2003 up through 2018. Toyota’s classic “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality persisted throughout that time. Many suspension and drivetrain components went unchanged between the 4th and 5th gen 4Runner, the 2nd and 3rd gen Tacoma, and every generation of the FJ Cruiser. There were a few bolt diameter changes here and there, but with a little bit of tweaking almost every part of the front suspension on these vehicles is interchangeable. The rear suspension of the 4Runner and FJ Cruiser is plug and play as well, while the Tacoma is the odd one out with leaves instead of coils for rear springs.
These trucks have proven themselves to be capable and reliable vehicles for years upon years, from city streets to barren wilderness, to dunes and even tracks. That said, like every other amazing vehicle, push it hard enough and something will fail… unless you’re prepared! If you’re taking your Toyota truck’s suspension to its limits, upgrades are worth your time and your money. If you’re using this article as a guide, our part recommendations are based around the four wheel drive FJ Crusier and 4Runner, but everything for the front half and most for the rear should also apply to the 2003+ Tacoma! If you’ve got fitment questions or need help finding something, let us know.
What exactly are we covering here?
Your suspension system has a few major jobs. Firstly, it needs to maximize the amount of contact that your wheel makes with the ground. Your tires can’t do their thing if they’re cambered at some ridiculous angle. This is also important while offroading: if you don’t have enough travel, you might end up hanging on three wheels, or bottoming out on some rocks! Secondly, suspension needs to provide stability. If you’re cruising on the freeway at 65 miles an hour and hit a bump, you want to feel the bump, but not get bumped off the road out of control! Last, it needs to ensure your comfort. Because if we didn’t want to ride in style, we would still be going everywhere in covered wagons.
Leveling/Air Lift
If you’ve ever towed something, you’re probably familiar with the sag and sway that comes from loading the tail end of a vehicle. When you’re adding an extra few hundred (or few thousand) pounds onto the back of your vehicle, whether you’re on stock suspension or the most badass remote-reservoir coilover setup out there, the back of your car isn’t going to handle the same.
Air lift suspension makes towing and loading your vehicle safer and more comfortable. These adjustable air bags fit inside the coil springs of your vehicle in place of the stock bump stops. They can be inflated or deflated to the necessary stiffness to help level the rear of your vehicle while towing a trailer or carrying a heavy load. They inflate with just a standard air compressor connection, just like inflating tires! On a lifted vehicle, the pressure hoses for the air bags can be routed through the center of the rear suspension crossmember. Instead of smacking the stock bump stops every time you go over rocks and uneven surfaces with a heavy load, an air leveling kit can help you ride in comfort and safety!
Springs
Springs absorb the energy created when your vehicle hits a bump. When you’re driving along the highway or crawling over rocks, the springs in your suspension compress to let the wheels move up into the body without creating body roll or upsetting the balance of the car. Upgraded springs use different tensile strength loads and length to change the way your vehicle rides. Shorter springs let your vehicle sit lower, which increases stability while cornering. Longer springs lift your vehicle up, allowing for more suspension travel and ground clearance. Higher loaded springs will stiffen the ride quality and make your vehicle more responsive, while looser springs will soften bumps better and make things more comfortable at the cost of some body roll.
Given the Hilux-base’s worldwide appeal, there are tons of brands making cool offroady stuff for your truck. It depends on exactly how you’re looking to treat it: is your 4Runner a family tow hauler? Is your Tacoma a trophy truck? Is your FJ Cruiser a go-anywhere overlander? Whatever the case, there’s a spring option for you. For a mild lift, Pro Comp’s got coil springs that can bring your truck up 3 inches. They come pre-stressed and ready to roll, and aren’t super stiff or too soft, so they’ll ride more or less like stock. If you want a softer or stiffer setup, you can choose from a number of different spring rate options offered by ARB. ARB’s Old Man Emu springs come in soft, medium, and heavy load variants, making sure you’re ready for any cargo and any terrain.
Shocks
Springs are great at absorbing energy, but bad at dispersing it. Shock absorbers, also called dampers, absorb energy from bumps and convert it to heat. When a shock absorber is compressed, a piston moves down into a tube full of hydraulic fluid, softening the blow from compression and then responding with like rebound (thanks to the magic of vacuums). Shocks determine the amount of travel– how far up and down your wheel can go on the suspension– as well as how the suspension responds to both compression and rebound. Tighter valved shocks will be slower to compress, leading to a firmer ride and flatter cornering; loose valved shocks will compress faster, making things smoother but a little more wallowy. Upgraded suspension usually offers more travel and different valving, which changes the way your vehicle handles over bumps and uneven surfaces. High end shock absorbers sometimes have remote reservoirs for hydraulic fluid, or trade fluid-filled shocks for gas ones. Both of these systems can end up saving you unsprung weight.
If you didn’t opt for a TRD Pro 4Runner or Tacoma, you don’t already have rad remote-reservoir, internal bypass, long travel shocks. The good news is that you can still get in the fancy suspension game! Fox is Toyota’s go-to for hot-model truck suspension, and they have plenty of aftermarket options as well. They have adjustable 2.5” remote reservoir shocks with almost 10 inches of travel available for the rear, and a full coilover set for the front with almost 5” of travel. If you’re looking to get everything in one package, Skyjacker, Pro Comp, Old Man Emu, and more offer full kits that include shocks, springs, and all of the mounting hardware you need for a ride height lift and more suspension travel.
Limit Straps and Bump Stops
When your suspension compresses and rebounds, it hits a limit at either end of the stroke. Or, at least, it’s supposed to. If you’re repeatedly or suddenly compressing and rebounding your suspension, you might break that limit, and break something else in your suspension along with it. This is especially common in trophy trucks and off-roaders that get jumped a lot. As a vehicle goes off a jump, the suspension rebounds to its maximum-extended position, even further than it normally does with the vehicle resting on it on the ground. Then, once it hits the ground, the several thousand pounds of vehicle above it is amplified, slamming the suspension back down into its maximum compressed state.
Limiting straps are bindings that loop around the bottom of your control arms, and catch your vehicle’s unsprung weight as it springs down to full extension during a jump. Bump stops do the opposite, softening the blow on your shock absorbers as your suspension hits full compression. With a good set of limiting straps and bump stops, you can reduce the shock to your components and surprise to your passengers when you’re jumping your Toyota Truck, and hopefully make it harder to break something.
Where can I get all this cool stuff?
If you’re looking for suspension upgrades for your Toyota, check out the Motoroso Marketplace! There are tons of high-quality springs, dampers, and chassis reinforcement parts for your TRD Off-Road Premium 4Runner, base model Tacoma, or any other vehicles you need to set up for the road, track, or dirt. If you’re looking for some help putting things together or need some inspiration, take a look at the Motoroso YouTube channel. There, we’re upgrading tons of install guides, must-have-mod lists, and build showcases to help you figure out exactly what you want to do with your vehicle.
