Lift recommendations for an 06 LC (1 Viewer)

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Looking forward to getting to getting my 100 handeling as good as my Q7 :)

Should certainly be in the shop less ;)

You're going to LOVE the FoamCellPros! They are excellent shocks.
 
Should certainly be in the shop less ;)

You're going to LOVE the FoamCellPros! They are excellent shocks.
Very true...though my wife says I work on my LC more then the Q7. I say not because I half to.
 
@Vector7

I just purchased the Iron Man Nitro kit. I’ve seen positive reviews here and there on this forum and the web regarding both the Nitro and Cell Foam Pro.

My reason for going with the Nitro was the cost savings over the Cell Foam Pro.

From my research, the ride between the two is apparently engineered to feel the same. The big distinction is the cell foam pro’s ability to better manage the heat dispensation more effectively than the nitro when exposed to extended periods driving on rough terrain.

I haven’t installed yet, but I’m doubtful I’ll ever punish them hard enough long enough offroad to wish I had the Cell foam pro's. TBD.

Here are some of my sources comparing the two…


From an online chat with Ironman sales rep:

My question: With typical urban driving/cement roads, is there a difference in smoothness between the nitro gas lift and the cell foam lift?

His answer: No, not really. Nitro-gas has a 2” shock body which is bigger than most, twin tube which results in a more durable shock, high grade oil and a low nitrogen charge which produces a smoother response from the shock and puts less stress on the seals vs a high charge you see from other brands. If your vehicle is a daily driver, you head off road onto trails at the weekends it’s a great option.

Foam cell technology removes the nitrogen gas in place of the foam cell sleeve, this reduces all internal stress on the seals, it also allows for more oil and zero chance of emulsification from overheating. Foam cells a a 3” shock body, huge oil capacity, twin tube and built like a tank. If you do all of the above activity and more, a heavy rig, multi week touring foam Cell’s will just eat it up.



From an Ironman employee posted on another forum elsewhere on the web:

Foam Cell shocks by their design aren't harsher or firmer on a lighter vehicle - that all comes down to the valving of the shock absorber.

As an example, whilst the technologies are different between a nitro gas and a foam cell shock - we attempt to valve them as closely as possible so that it's near enough as makes no difference - in fact you'd need to be very sensitive to the feel of your vehicle to tell the difference in valving of our nitro gas to foam cell shocks - and things like a change in tyre pressure would be more noticeable.

Saying that a foam cell shock will perform better for longer offroad than a twin tube nitro gas shock as a general rule. This is because the foam cell design allows for more oil, which means it doesn't heat up as quickly and can cool down faster.

Please post your thoughts on their nitro kit after you get it installed and have some miles on it. I'm now leaning towards their foam cell kit, but I'm still curious to hear your fedback on their nitro kit. Did you pick up upper control arms and front diff drop kit? It seems like people recommend getting aftermarket upper control arms when installing a 1.5" or greater lift to help with alignment. I've also read that some people recommend getting the diff drop kit so that your front CV joints aren't at extreme angles.

I'm lifted on the ToughDog 53mm front/45mm adjustable rear foam cell shocks. They ride on the ToughDog TBs and extra heavy dual rated coils. My rig is very heavy and I run corrugated gravel roads a LOT in addition to daily driving and towing. My needs required a higher volume, foam cell shock. For most others, the nitro shocks valved correctly will be more than enough. The IronMan Nitros would be a kit I'd put on any 100 Series that was expecting to be moderately off-roaded and moderately built out (front bullbar, winch, drawer system, possibly a RTT and sliders). If someone were to add to all that a dual swingout bumper, underbody bash plates, dual battery and more, then I'd go Foam Cell all day long. If your budget is enough, then go Icon Stage 2-3. But those are roughly 2-3x the cost of a solid Foam Cell such as IronMan and/or ToughDog. The main thing with your lift to consider is do NOT overspring the rig. Don't get heavy coils if you're not truly heavy. Don't get the 32mm TBs if you're going to just run stock....get the 28mm OEM Toyota TBs. If you're going to just run a bullbar and winch, get the 30mm OME TBs. 32mm TBs are for heavy rigs (bullbar, winch, dual battery and steel skid plates).

I appreciate you reinforcing the issues with overspringing. For now, I'm not planning on adding a lot of weight adders. So, I'm planning on going with springs for stock or light weight.

I just order the ironman foam cell plus. That sale price was to good to pass up. I have a bone stock daily driver. It might be a bit over kill though I did not want to need to upgrade again in the future.

Looking forward to getting to getting my 100 handeling as good as my Q7 :)

As mentioned, this is the kit I'm leaning towards now. Did you order aftermarket upper control arms and/or a diff drop kit? Also, please post your feedback on your kit after you have a few miles on it, especially comparing the ride quality with your Q7. I really like the way my LC rides now. So, I really don't want to install a kit that will negatively affect the ride quality significantly.
 
I appreciate you reinforcing the issues with overspringing. For now, I'm not planning on adding a lot of weight adders. So, I'm planning on going with springs for stock or light weight.



As mentioned, this is the kit I'm leaning towards now. Did you order aftermarket upper control arms and/or a diff drop kit? Also, please post your feedback on your kit after you have a few miles on it, especially comparing the ride quality with your Q7. I really like the way my LC rides now. So, I really don't want to install a kit that will negatively affect the ride quality significantly.

My lift is an "effective" 2" lift. Supposed to be 2.5",but the compressed weight makes it 2". I went with NitroGear UCAs (mainly because my OEM UBJs were shot). I do like the greasable ports on the NitroGears (and even SPCs). I think a diff drop is added benefit as it does keep the CVs closer to stock angles which reduces wear. The $200 I spent on the diff drop has paid itself off IMO as I HATE doing CV axles. If I can gain more usable life out of my CVs thanks to a diff drop, then it's a wise investment IMO.
 
My lift is an "effective" 2" lift. Supposed to be 2.5",but the compressed weight makes it 2". I went with NitroGear UCAs (mainly because my OEM UBJs were shot). I do like the greasable ports on the NitroGears (and even SPCs). I think a diff drop is added benefit as it does keep the CVs closer to stock angles which reduces wear. The $200 I spent on the diff drop has paid itself off IMO as I HATE doing CV axles. If I can gain more usable life out of my CVs thanks to a diff drop, then it's a wise investment IMO.

What are your thoughts on installing longer front and rear swaybar endlights? I've read that the aftermarket longer endlinks allow the swaybar to sit flat like OEM. Lastly, I noticed in our signature that you are running 275/70/18 KO2s. Are you getting any rubbing with your setup?
 
What are your thoughts on installing longer front and rear swaybar endlights? I've read that the aftermarket longer endlinks allow the swaybar to sit flat like OEM. Lastly, I noticed in our signature that you are running 275/70/18 KO2s. Are you getting any rubbing with your setup?

I like the extended links a lot. I have them front and rear. I do feel it helps the rig feel more planted. Zero rubbing with 275/70/18 KO2. Keep in mind, my wheels are aftermarket and 12mm offset vs the 60mm of the OEM Toyota wheels. So, my tires are slightly more outboard than stock which can have some influence on that. I ran 285/65/18 Terra Grapplers on stock OEM wheels previously. Believe it or not, their effective diameter was less than a 1/4" smaller. They never rubbed in stock configuration in neutral setting on my previous AHC.
 
Please post your thoughts on their nitro kit after you get it installed and have some miles on it. I'm now leaning towards their foam cell kit, but I'm still curious to hear your fedback on their nitro kit. Did you pick up upper control arms and front diff drop kit? It seems like people recommend getting aftermarket upper control arms when installing a 1.5" or greater lift to help with alignment. I've also read that some people recommend getting the diff drop kit so that your front CV joints aren't at extreme angles.



I appreciate you reinforcing the issues with overspringing. For now, I'm not planning on adding a lot of weight adders. So, I'm planning on going with springs for stock or light weight.



As mentioned, this is the kit I'm leaning towards now. Did you order aftermarket upper control arms and/or a diff drop kit? Also, please post your feedback on your kit after you have a few miles on it, especially comparing the ride quality with your Q7. I really like the way my LC rides now. So, I really don't want to install a kit that will negatively affect the ride quality significantly.
Yes. I did SPC UCA, slee diff drop and was just recommended that I do torsion bar hanger extensions as well. I was not expecting the $715 for the UCA. All in all less then $2k for a very well rated suspension is a very good value.

I should have the parts in a week and installed in another week. Once in I will post my thoughts.

I had an 80 that I put and OME on and promptly removed the shocks. Very rough on midwest cracked up roads. I went with OEM shocks for the better ride unfortunately the 80 was slightly boat like.

I am hoping for performance and soft ride.
 
I like the extended links a lot. I have them front and rear. I do feel it helps the rig feel more planted. Zero rubbing with 275/70/18 KO2. Keep in mind, my wheels are aftermarket and 12mm offset vs the 60mm of the OEM Toyota wheels. So, my tires are slightly more outboard than stock which can have some influence on that. I ran 285/65/18 Terra Grapplers on stock OEM wheels previously. Believe it or not, their effective diameter was less than a 1/4" smaller. They never rubbed in stock configuration in neutral setting on my previous AHC.

Looks like I'm going to add the extended links now too. Thanks for the feedback. I'm bought the truck with fairly new 275/65/18s. So, it's going to be a bit before I swap tires. But I appreciate the feedback on the tire sizes.

Yes. I did SPC UCA, slee diff drop and was just recommended that I do torsion bar hanger extensions as well. I was not expecting the $715 for the UCA. All in all less then $2k for a very well rated suspension is a very good value.

I should have the parts in a week and installed in another week. Once in I will post my thoughts.

I had an 80 that I put and OME on and promptly removed the shocks. Very rough on midwest cracked up roads. I went with OEM shocks for the better ride unfortunately the 80 was slightly boat like.

I am hoping for performance and soft ride.

Out of curiosity, why did you go with the SPC UCA and slee driff drop. From my research, the SPC UCAs have been around for awhile. But offerings from Total Chaos, Nitrogear, and others are starting to become popular. In terms of the diff drop, does any manufacturer have an advantage over another? They seem to be around the same pricewise.
 
Looks like I'm going to add the extended links now too. Thanks for the feedback. I'm bought the truck with fairly new 275/65/18s. So, it's going to be a bit before I swap tires. But I appreciate the feedback on the tire sizes.



Out of curiosity, why did you go with the SPC UCA and slee driff drop. From my research, the SPC UCAs have been around for awhile. But offerings from Total Chaos, Nitrogear, and others are starting to become popular. In terms of the diff drop, does any manufacturer have an advantage over another? They seem to be around the same pricewise.
I don't recommend uniballs on LC100. There's really no need for them, it's never remotely ever going to be close to LT or mid travel. And along with the annoying squeak squeak squeak on a trail.
 
Looks like I'm going to add the extended links now too. Thanks for the feedback. I'm bought the truck with fairly new 275/65/18s. So, it's going to be a bit before I swap tires. But I appreciate the feedback on the tire sizes.



Out of curiosity, why did you go with the SPC UCA and slee driff drop. From my research, the SPC UCAs have been around for awhile. But offerings from Total Chaos, Nitrogear, and others are starting to become popular. In terms of the diff drop, does any manufacturer have an advantage over another? They seem to be around the same pricewise.
I looked at each. I heard positive and negative on each. Some have issues with squeaking bushings. SPC had high failure rates in a previous design. Once the new design came out it seemed that a number of people gave positive reviews. ....and Slee sells them. I have a lot of faith in their product choice.
 
I don't recommend uniballs on LC100. There's really no need for them, it's never remotely ever going to be close to LT or mid travel. And along with the annoying squeak squeak squeak on a trail.
Do the new SPC UCA have the uniball set up? What would you go with? Just got a message from yotateck saying their UCAs are one back order.
 
@Vector7 Getting back to your question, I finished up the Ironman Nitro lift kit installation this past weekend. I've only driven it on two shakedown runs around the neighborhood on paved roads but I am very pleased. I would call the ride firm/smooth-ish, and is by no means harsh.

My LX with AHC had 149K on it, and compared to that I would say this is comparable to the medium setting in terms of smoothness but the cornering is WAY better. Night and day. My LX had serious lean around corners and I could feel the gravity leaning the rig with the AHC. It stays nicely planted now.

The excessive dive during breaking is greatly reduced. Compared to AHC sport, the Nitro shocks are smoother.

Also the handling is improved. I would have characterized the handling as moderately unsettling with the AHC before but that is noticeably improved now too.

I'm quite pleased.

lxside.JPG
 
@Vector7 Getting back to your question, I finished up the Ironman Nitro lift kit installation this past weekend. I've only driven it on two shakedown runs around the neighborhood on paved roads but I am very pleased. I would call the ride firm/smooth-ish, and is by no means harsh.

My LX with AHC had 149K on it, and compared to that I would say this is comparable to the medium setting in terms of smoothness but the cornering is WAY better. Night and day. My LX had serious lean around corners and I could feel the gravity leaning the rig with the AHC. It stays nicely planted now.

The excessive dive during breaking is greatly reduced. Compared to AHC sport, the Nitro shocks are smoother.

Also the handling is improved. I would have characterized the handling as moderately unsettling with the AHC before but that is noticeably improved now too.

I'm quite pleased.

Thank you so much for following up after install. Your truck looks great! How did the install go? About how long did it take? Any issues? Any tips or tricks? I've read on ih8mud that one person observed one side of their truck was higher than the other and they needed to swap the torsion bars because they were designed for RHD not LHD. Did you have this issue?
 
Will vote for KONI RAID shocks for your build.
361B4D61-EC19-4950-AC1A-AF4DA0A28390.jpeg

Hydraulic filled, adjustable.
This was the same shocks used on the Hilux that traversed the North Pole expedition by Arctic Trucks. Your first and last aftermarket shocks.
 
@Vector7 If you know what you're doing I'd say the kit install should take about 20 hours. It took me 45 hours. That does not include removing AHC lines and such (which I have yet to do). It shouldn't have taken that long, but the lift install was by far the biggest mechanical project I have ever undertaken. I wasted hours with moving jacks around and making a questionable second jack work. I avoided drilling the floor to get to the top rear shock mount point, so plenty of time was spent removing the rear jacks. I also spent a good deal of time cleaning while I had parts off, and also installing the springs 2X since I ran into the right vs left side issues that you mentioned and had to swap them. Bleh.

Ironman is Australian (LHD), and their documentation for which side of the rig to put parts on is a cluster because they only give a vague explanation that side may vary based on vehicle market. At the end of the day I put the taller spring on my drivers side, which is correct from my research on iH8mud and such.

For the TB's I put "LH" on the Driver's side and "RH" on the passenger side, which I am also confident was correct based on where they had the splines pre-painted.

Overall though I'm thrilled with the result and the ride is even smoother now with 285/70r17 wildpeak tires which I have since installed. I would recommend the Nitro lift, having had it installed for a few weeks now.

This video was my main guide on the install: and supplemented by plenty of searching on ih8mud.
 
@Vector7 If you know what you're doing I'd say the kit install should take about 20 hours. It took me 45 hours. That does not include removing AHC lines and such (which I have yet to do). It shouldn't have taken that long, but the lift install was by far the biggest mechanical project I have ever undertaken. I wasted hours with moving jacks around and making a questionable second jack work. I avoided drilling the floor to get to the top rear shock mount point, so plenty of time was spent removing the rear jacks. I also spent a good deal of time cleaning while I had parts off, and also installing the springs 2X since I ran into the right vs left side issues that you mentioned and had to swap them. Bleh.

Ironman is Australian (LHD), and their documentation for which side of the rig to put parts on is a cluster because they only give a vague explanation that side may vary based on vehicle market. At the end of the day I put the taller spring on my drivers side, which is correct from my research on iH8mud and such.

For the TB's I put "LH" on the Driver's side and "RH" on the passenger side, which I am also confident was correct based on where they had the splines pre-painted.

Overall though I'm thrilled with the result and the ride is even smoother now with 285/70r17 wildpeak tires which I have since installed. I would recommend the Nitro lift, having had it installed for a few weeks now.

This video was my main guide on the install: and supplemented by plenty of searching on ih8mud.


Thanks for the info. I'm 95% sure my friend, who used to be a mechanic, and I will tackle the job ourselves. Luckily, the LC isn't my daily driver so we can take our time. Fortunately, my LC doesn't have AHC so that's a nice step I can skip. I didn't pull the trigger when the kits were still in stock. So, I'm now playing the waiting game until Ironman's inventory is replenished, hopefully by the end of the month.
 
@Vector7 I avoided drilling the floor to get to the top rear shock mount point, so plenty of time was spent removing the rear jacks.

...meant to say "removing the rear SHOCKS".
 
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...meant to say "removing the read SHOCKS".
Removing the top bolt on the rear shocks is the main tim consuming challenge. Can't imagine doing removing the ceased top bolt 10 years ago with when ratcheting box end wrenches were not available.

The more I start to get into the tougher terrain the more i am glad i did this upgrade. 0 regrets!
 

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