On the Level

Ever since its introduction in 1985, the Toyota 4Runner has rapidly gained in popularity among sport utility buyers. With legendary Toyota reliability and ergonomics, the 4Runner has enjoyed fairly decent sales success through the current model year.

While the initial models were fitted with leaf springs at the rear, Toyota opted to soften up the ride in 1990 by adopting a coil spring, multi-link rear suspension system on the 4Runner. While this softened the ride, the new setup did little for handling and seemed to magnify body roll during hard cornering.

To reduce body roll and improve handling, Toyota slightly lowered the rear ride height on '90 to '95 model 4Runners, so the rear actually sits a tad lower than the front on both 4x2 and 4x4 models. The change in ride height, and the addition of a factory sway bar out back, did help reduce body roll but gave the truck a tail-down attitude. When packed with cargo, people, or loaded down with a trailer, the tail-down attitude becomes worse and eventually affects front-to-rear weight distribution and handling.

The easiest remedy to fix the body roll problem would be to install a larger sway bar at the rear, which physically limits suspension travel. Unfortunately, on 4x4 models, limiting suspension travel reduces off-road performance.

Performance Products of Van Nuys, California, has developed an effective solution to level the ride height on '90 to '95 Toyota 4Runners while improving on-road handling and enhancing off-road performance. The heart of its leveling system are 1-inch progressive-rate coil springs for the rear. These German-made coils provide an approximate 1-inch lift to the rear of the truck without sacrificing ride quality. In fact, the progressive nature of the springs provide a stock-like ride, but under load, the spring rate increases, eliminating body roll and improving handling. The springs are direct replacements for the stock coils; the kit comes complete with a brake proportioning rod relocation bracket to accommodate the added lift.

To complement its leveling system, Performance Products recommends upgrading the stock shocks to performance shock absorbers that offer more roll control and damping. The company offers buyers several choices in this department, including the new Edelbrock IAS shocks and the tried-and-true Bilstein gas shocks. For this installation, Performance Products opted to bolt on a set of four Bilstein nitrogen-charged gas shocks on our '95 4Runner. Performance Products even offers upgraded front torsion bars for the 4Runner for better wheel control with oversize tires.

Installation of the leveling kit and shocks took less than two hours at Performance Products' Van Nuys installation center. The end result was a level 4Runner with improved ride and handling over stock.

If you're in the market to dramatically improve ride and handling on your '90 to '95 Toyota 4Runner, and take the factory-induced sag out of the rear end without breaking the bank, look into Performance Products' 4Runner leveling kit.

Stock	Leveled	1. The heart of Performance Products '90 to '95 Toyota 4Runner leveling kit are these German-made, progressive-rate coil springs that replace the stock rear coils. Complementing the setup is a set of Bilstein nitrogen-charged gas shocks.
2. This is what the stock coil spring/multi-link rear suspension setup looks like.	3. The first step of the install was to remove the shocks.	4. After a shot of penetrating oil, the sway bar endlink was disconnected.
5. The brake proportioning valve was disconnected next. The kit provides a new proportioning rod relocation bracket to accommodate the added lift that the new springs provide.	6. A little coaxing and a long prybar got the stock rear spring out of the pocket.	7. Note the difference between the stock rear coil on the left and the new Performance Products' progressive-wound coil on the right.
8. Installation of the new coil was similar to removal of the stock spring, only in reverse.	9. With the new coil spring properly seated and the sway bar links reconnected, the new Bilstein shocks were added.	10. The finished rear install looks like this.
11. Up front, the original shocks were swapped out in favor of the new Bilstein units -- a simple remove and replace operation.	12. The leveling kit raised the rear of the truck approximately 1 to 1-1/2 inches and took out all the rock and roll during hard cornering.