Replacing the front shocks and coil springs is not difficult to do. However, it’s very important to understand how your front suspension works before doing this. Just like I did, I’d recommend reading guides, watch videos, and do as much research as you can when dealing with compressed springs in a suspension system. Here’s my guide for replacing the front coil springs and shocks using the “No Spring Compressor Method” on the 4th generation Toyota 4Runner.
There are a variety of reasons for needing to change out rear coils on any car, but there are typically two main reasons for changing them out on the 4Runner. One is to simply replace damaged or worn coils for factory stock coils. The other is to lift the vehicle to a higher ride height. Changing out the rear coils is very easy to do and doesn’t require much time nor tools.
After five years of running on stock shocks and struts, it was time to upgrade the suspension on my 4th generation 4Runner. I went with Bilstein 5100 shocks and FJ Cruiser springs all around with the front adjustable shocks set to 0.85″ height in order to even out the factory rake. I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.