- First Name
- Steph
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2025
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 15
- Location
- Philadelphia
- Vehicle(s)
- 2025 TRD SPORT
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi ALCON,
Just wanted to create my own build thread to share some of the things I've done, and lessons learned.
My 4RUNNER is the non-hybrid (gas), TRD Sport. That being said, I regret not getting the hybrid & the larger radio/JBL setup...my wife got the TRD Sport Hybrid 2025 Tacoma with the nicer radio, two days after I got my 4R, and it straight up rips. WAY more fun to drive than my 4RUNNER/gas model...guess that means I need to pull the trigger on a tune & intake?? Lol.
I have owned & built many lowered cars, and a couple of race cars...but never a lifted vehicle. Coming into the 4R from a Sierra, and before that a 644whp Subaru...With that, came some anxiety & uncertainties that made me question everything on the 4R. It's no racecar, but in sport mode, it's pretty dang fun for an suv.
Months and months of indecisive nights & research, as well as asking around online for input, here's where it left us:
Went with
* 285/70R17 SL Mickey Thompson Baja AT's. SL's because I, straight up, have zero interest in off-roading this 4R. It is my daily driver, and wanted the slightly softer vibe/comfort. We may be moving to a rural area where unpaved roads will become more frequent, and the SLs should do just fine (I think...)
* 17x8.5 +0 offset Racelines. My justification for going this wide, is merely just that - I wanted to go wide. I prefer the look of this aggressive stance, by far. Not measured, and only given an ocular pat-down, I'd say it's about 2" wider than the TRD Sport stock fenders. On cloud nine in rock chip heaven, and happy to be here.
* It was driving me nuts - I couldn't find anyone who went into detail about the required lugs needed for Raceline wheels. THEY NEED CONICAL ET SPLINE LUGS 14X1.5. I originally bought regular non ET gorilla spline conical lugs, but they only threaded on about 5.5 full turns on the front. This car needs about 7.5-8 full turns to safely drive/sleep at night. Raceline customer service confirmed that their wheels are bored with Toyotas in mind and needing the ET style spline lugs. The Coyote ET lugs I bought on Amazon, got a few more turns than needed. I believe the ET portion is 0.62" wide, and fit in the raceline lug bore just fine. Wasn't touching the wheel's bore hole-wall per say, which is good to avoid the known issue with ET lugs snapping due to seizure while touching the wheels. But, there was in fact a tiny tiny gap, yet very tight & precise fit. Fingers crossed on longevity & reliability.
* A lot of sleepless nights on what to do with the lift... went with the Westcott pre-load collar lift, stock UCAs, (but opted in to not install the top hat spacers to ensure the front-end stance stayed where I want it - in a slightly downward rake as I like VS reverse-rake that I've been noticing on some). Ended up with about 2.25" higher in the front & 0.7 in the rear. The shop that installed it, did the same lift on a SR5 the week before, and shared photos..... it looked ridiculously reverse-raked, which I wanted to avoid at all cost. The shop also agreed, and highly suggested we not install the top spacer...that was 110% the right decision IMO.
* Crash brackets removed - even with stock mud flaps removed, these tires were still rubbing the flat crash plate behind the mud flap, so I removed all four from the front end.
* Installed the ARK delete cover kit
* Installed the front & rear ARK wheel-well liner splash guard kit, too
* Front air air dam lip removed.
* Front lower well-liner moved & re-screwed about 1.5-2" forward: this was where the wheels were catching l, even after the lift, when the steering wheel was fully turned. There's now about 0.5" of room at full turn. No trimming anywhere.
* Stock mud flaps removed (they rub the tires big time) & replaced with the external mount rally RB'z to make more room. These things are sweet. Looked goofy with the stock wheels/suspension, but they buttoned up the look, for the better, with the new wheels & lift, IMO.
* ARB red front recovery hooks
* Tried the stickerfab wireless charger, but that was a big POS, and didn't fit with my phone, nor did the actual charger on it, work/charge. Couldn't return it. With how much room it takes up, I'm surprised it works with any phone at all.
* Added the "above the push-start button" magsafe phone mount/charger. The stock one in the lower center console is a useless POS. Doesn't charge my phone (OnePlus 15 or 12), and was sliding all over the place when making turns. Useless. So I bought one on Amazon for like $60 bucks (15W). Doesn't charge quickly even when plugged into the quick usb-c ports, but the location & strong magnet are what makes it worth it's weight in gold compared to the stock wireless charger. Again, stock one is a big POS.
* Stock wireless charging pad is a big POS.
* My car had cloth seats, but I paid to have a shop nearby remove & replace with black leather
* Added the Canvasback interior liner on full rear floor, side walls & cup holder covers, and rear hatch cover. I have two big dogs that I take everywhere, and one drools like crazy. These covers actually wipe up pretty well, and hair vacuums up easily too. The double sided tape worked well for about 4 months, and is now starting to peel away - that's my biggest complaint with these.
* Added a rear seat grill bar/guard to keep the dogs in the trunk & stop them from leaning over the rear seats. Really happy with this one.
Drives way better, now, than with the stock wheels/pre-lifted...thinking it has to be the nice beefy tires helping take the bumps better, and the wider stance too. The tires are also whisper quiet, I repeat, whisper quiet, so I'm definitely happy about that since I wasn't sure what to expect with tires like this. Can't wait for Winter/Snow. Steering feels the same. No major noticed change in body roll (maybe slightly better from the wider stance), or front end nose dive while hard braking. Not at all a problem, but I noticed that if you let off of the gas to just glide, it slows down a bit quicker than with the stock wheels.
Final complaint - the shop gave it back to me with the alignment in spec, but steering wheel cocked to the right at almost 1 o'clock. I took it back a couple days later to have them correct it (they have a shop around the corner who actually does it for them), and they gave it back to me the second time saying the the front driver's side was actually off a bit & it was corrected - gave me the print out of the alignment too - all in spec yet again. Drove it home, and steering wheel is now to the left at about 11 o'clock, so, the opposite way than the last time it was aligned. It's driving straight and not pulling any which way, at least. I'm more annoyed than anything at this point, and don't want to waste another trip for them to try a third time - one time should have been enough. I will just get it aligned by someone else who can try and get me back to 12 o'clock on the steering wheel (or at least closer than it is after these last two attempts, SMH).
Will aim to get a nicer front skid plate & higher-wall'd front all weather mats for winter to avoid the salt staining the carpet from my boots. Lasfits aren't doing it for me. Tune & CAI is really the next big ticket item.
Regardless that I haven't saved money at all since I bought this lol, I'm overall super stoked, and I'm proud of it thus far.
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