toyota 4runner Race Runner Shocks - front Suspension Gussets - Photo 31284248

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Here are the front suspension gussets we mentioned earlier. Made by Total Chaos Fabrication, they tie the coilover buckets to the frame and double-shear the upper control arm mounts. The upper control arms are fastened to the frame with an uber-long factory bolt that’s prone to bending and just about impossible to extract once bent. These gussets will prevent any trouble before it has a chance to happen.

1108 4wd 01+toyota 4runner race runner shocks+kit

Up front, a pair of Sway-A-Way two-tube bypass shocks are the key to adding position-sensitive control.

They’re specifically made for the Total Chaos 3.5-over-per-side long-travel suspension already in place. The 2.5-inch shock body uses custom bypass tube placement, and the shocks are specifically configured for the right and left sides of the front end. Materials and build quality are top-notch: functional metallic artistry.

Total Chaos makes a secondary shock hoop just for this situation. It’s designed to attach to the top of the factory coilover bucket and arch down to the vertical face of the frame. Welding is required.

The rear suspsension’s configuration makes it tough to get much wheel travel, so the key is to maximize the quality and control. To that end, a pair of Sway-A-Way 2.0 bump stops will provide bottoming control over the bigger bumps. Much more than a pair of factory-style rubber bump stops, hydraulic bump stops are able to slow down the suspension’s movement before they stop it cold. This pair’s stroke has been shortened to 2 inches to complement the rear suspension’s total travel of 9 inches. By changing internal spacers, the stroke can extend up to 4 inches.

Every good bump stop needs a good home, so a pair of Kartek Off-Road bump stop mounting cans perfectly fit the bill. They’re made from seamless tubing and feature dual pinch bolts using F911 hardware.

The contact pressure of a hydraulic bump stop is greater than with a stock-style rubber bump stop, so a dedicated strike pad is a must. Synergy Suspension makes two styles of weld-on strike pads: over-the-axle (shown here) and offset. Both styles are inexpensive and simple to weld on. Synergy Suspension is available through Poly Performance.

Here are the front suspension gussets we mentioned earlier. Made by Total Chaos Fabrication, they tie the coilover buckets to the frame and double-shear the upper control arm mounts. The upper control arms are fastened to the frame with an uber-long factory bolt that’s prone to bending and just about impossible to extract once bent. These gussets will prevent any trouble before it has a chance to happen.

Sooner or later, you’ll need to add nitrogen to either shock reservoirs or bump stops. Kartek Off-Road offers a regulator and hose that’s configured for this exact purpose. To make pressure adjustment exactly right, Kartek’s suspension pressure gauge provides rugged precision. The Kartek pressure gauge’s body is made from billet aluminum, and the gauge is liquid-filled. The liquid filling means the gauge can withstand accidental jolts and bumps inside a toolbox without losing accuracy. Pressures up to 400 psi can accurately be measured and adjusted.

Our rear suspension benefits from a set of Total Chaos links, which use a fixed urethane bushing at one end and a Teflon-lined Heim joint at the other. We’re replacing the Heims with a set of custom Currie Johnny Joints, which isolate the central spherical bearing with a set of custom-molded urethane bushings. As a result, the Johnny Joints run quieter and last longer.

Let the installation begin! For the best access while working, we stripped off the entire suspension as well as the CV axle. We didn’t take the CV axle out of the differential. Instead, we pulled the boot off of the inner CV joint and pulled the joint apart, protecting each side with a plastic bag, a shop rag, and zip ties.

The factory rubber liners have to be removed, too. We’ll probably reinstall them if they still fit with the new shock and gussets in place. This tab has to go either way. A rotary cutoff tool makes it easy.

The coilover bucket gussets are meant to be used with Total Chaos upper control arms (stock length or long-travel) only. They’ll replace the two end washers; the inner washers remain.

The rearmost gussets have a slot that lets you install the gussets without disassembling the brake lines. Since paint has to be removed and the gussets have to be carefully shaped and fitted to each side (factory weld placements vary by frame) the brake lines were pulled out of the way for this installation.

Better fitment means better welds. Considerable time was spent grinding and shaping the gussets at the edges to make sure the fit was ideal. Paint has to be cleaned off, too. Again, factory weld placements vary and you’ll need to grind down the factory welds or grind the edges of the Total Chaos gussets, or a little of both. Spend the time making an ideal fit before starting up the welding machine.

You’ll want to leave the factory A-arm bolt, inner washers, and bushing sleeves in place during welding to keep things from moving as you weld. To make access easier, the inner washers were stacked against the gussets instead of remaining in their usual locations. It’s the total distance that’s important here, not the position of the inner washers. Weld everywhere you can reach on both sides of the gussets. The vertical welds down the coilover buckets were the most difficult.

Time to install the secondary shock hoops. The shock tabs come tacked at each end, so you’ll need to fully weld them before taking the next steps. Long bolts replace the shorties at the top of the coilover buckets, so you’ll need to drill access holes in the fenderwell.

Above the coilover bucket, a brass punch and a hammer were used to massage the fenderwell inward. The fenderwell’s seam also needs to be massaged inward along the top of the shock hoop’s tube run. A pair of wide-jawed Vise Grips worked well for this task.

At the lower end, a pre-notched tube juncture is ready to weld to a short round tube that will in turn weld to the frame.

Being able to unbolt parts makes maintenance easier in some situations. We contacted Total Chaos about changing the lower end of the shock hoop to a bolt-on configuration. T.C.’s Nicole Pitell advised that we’d need to maximize our frame contact area, and that we’d need more than one bolt. Hopefully, this set of pre-cut plates would do the trick. One plate would get nuts welded on and in turn be welded to the frame with the nuts inward. The other plate would be welded to the shock hoop.

There wasn’t room for the full four-bolt plate on this section of the frame. The frame isn’t flat right here, and there’s a factory hole to boot. A corner of the plate was trimmed off, leaving three bolts. Hopefully, the plate would lie flat as trimmed. It didn’t. We didn’t want to weld across big gaps, so we went for Plan B.

The washer with the nut gets welded to the frame with the nut facing inward, and the tube/washer combo will bolt to that. It’s only one bolt, but it’s a big ol’ 3/4-incher. The washers are over 2 inches in diameter. Hopefully, that will be a big enough bolt and enough contact area. We’ll find out in time.

Here’s where the washer needs to go, based on the way the tube runs.

That factory hole in the frame was too close for comfort, making a potential weak spot where strength was needed instead. The hole was erased by cutting out a patch plate, welding it in, and then smoothing out the welds.

The hole was hogged out a bit to let the washer be repositioned if necessary.

The washer was tacked in place, and the tube was then bolted up. This makes a target for the shock hoop tube.

Notching was tricky because not only did the hoop hit the bottom tube at an angle, the hoop had to be clocked correctly as well. Careful measurements were taken, and the correct notch was arrived at with two “bites.”

A no-gap notch is a sign of success. The washer needed to be moved over slightly from its original position prior to final welding.

Final welds on the hoop were completed on the bench.

This washer isn’t going anywhere now!

The hoop’s bolted up and ready for a shock. We’ll finish the rest next time.