[varsity90]

Hey everyone,

So I've been contemplating a lift for some time now, and have done a TON of reading and I think I've made the decision to go with the Toytech BOSS 3" lift. I've never had a lifted vehicle before, so I wanted to run this by the forum and get some opinions. My goals for a lift:

1: 3" so I can eventually put some 33" tires on
2: I want to maintain or improve the ride quality, I DONT want to compromise ride just for the lift
3: I will never wheel this hard as its my DD, however, I do like to go off on trails every now and then
4: I don't want super cheap, but I cant break the bank, I want to do it right the first time and if that means spending a little more money then so be it, but my goal was to be around $1500 or less (without including UCA's: which I plan on getting later).
5: I will eventually add a bumper to the front

So after looking through purefj, the lift thread just posted (https://www.fjcruiserforums.com/for...sting-comparison-theyre-all-here-updated.html ) and google in general, I'm leaning towards the Toytech BOSS. With the goals I posted above, what are your opinions? Thanks!

 

[debFJVT]

Hey fellow Vermonter, welcome to the state! You’re definitely doing your research well, and have made an excellent choice :rocker: You may not be able to postpone the UCA but you’ll find out after the lift goes in. Only thing about that, you’ll have to go back in to add the UCA, so putting it on with the suspension makes one less garage session. I’m in central VT and would be happy to show you some nice local trails to try out your new suspension on....after the snow and after the deep mud...so a bit later :grin

 

[Primer]

Like deb said, you should upgrade the UCA's when you add the lift and larger tires. You'll need an alignment after the new lift is installed, and after the UCA's are installed, or just once if you do it all at once.

 

[mikey]

Looks like you have done your home work and have made a good choice.

As others have said - UCA at the same time if you can.

 

[varsity90]

Ok so it sounds like the lift choice is solid, and I’m gonna have to do the UCAs at the same time. With that being said, I have two more questions:
1: any preference on UCA? I was contemplating the total chaos, don’t really know if it’s worth the extra 200 over some other choices. Thoughts? Again, I’m not doing any crazy wheeling and it’s my DD.
2: where can I find the best deal? Where has everyone gone to get their lifts?
And Deb I would love to take you up on your offer! I haven’t found any good trails near me yet.

 

[SilvFx]

for what you have described your use...the boss kit is a good choice or the Toytec Ultimate Lift kit. I am running the ultimate on my 10 FJ and my daughter's 3rd Gen 4Runners. She does a pretty good amount of offroading....me not as much since I am more of a dirt biker.

I like the ultimate better because it comes with Bilstein shocks...but for all i know the Toytec Boss shocks are just private labeled for Toytec.

On control arms, take a look at the JBA. I still have my OEM control arms (running about 2.5" lift) and have the SPC/Light Racing controls arms that I bought a ways back that I havent installed. If I were to do it over, I like the JBA control arms with the bolt in replaceable ball joint.

On Toytec....they sometimes run sales with 10% off and I think they give forum members a 5% discount everyday if you ask for it.

You can also look over at the TacomaWorld and Toyota-4runner.org forums and sometimes see good pricing during group buys that you can join in on or during Black Friday type of sales. They may have some type of tax return sale coming up for all i know.

 

[debFJVT]

Ok so it sounds like the lift choice is solid, and I’m gonna have to do the UCAs at the same time. With that being said, I have two more questions:
1: any preference on UCA? I was contemplating the total chaos, don’t really know if it’s worth the extra 200 over some other choices. Thoughts? Again, I’m not doing any crazy wheeling and it’s my DD.
2: where can I find the best deal? Where has everyone gone to get their lifts?
And Deb I would love to take you up on your offer! I haven’t found any good trails near me yet.

Because I know “our” weather I highly recommend you stay away from open uniball style UCAs like Total Chaos. I have SPCs with their booted balljoints and new closed xAxis bushings and am extremely happy....no greasing bushings necessary! Toytec is an excellent company that really stands behind their products, offers great tech support, and give forum members a discount :wink
Look forward to wheeling with you - and you live close to some of the best offroad trails in Vermont :blueblob:

 

[101Firedog]

Here's my opinion on the ToyTec 3" BOSS lift kit, after over a year installed.

Satisfied except:

1. 3" is the maximum for a stock vehicle at stock weight. If you go adding a bunch of armor, bumpers, and camping gear (RTT, etc), you'll get less than 3" out of it. If you adjust it up to compensate, you might blow out a shock.
2. You can't adjust the ride height while installed.
3. You can't adjust the stiffness

And that's all the bad I have to say about it. Those last 2 bullet points are pretty premium features anyway, I think. (Just, their 4runner kit has a stiffness knob but the FJC kit doesn't... so close.)

I also ran the ToyTec Ultimate kit while the BOSS shock was being warrantied. I found the Ultimate kit to be way smoother than the BOSS, especially when hitting bumps at speed with the front wheels. There's more travel on them with softer springs... I am quite heavy now (will be crossing 3 tons unladen soon), so I have to accept some stiffer suspension in exchange for height.

Additionally, the BOSS is rebuildable, the Ultimate is not. If you don't plan to beat the crap out of your suspension, you probably don't need to worry about that.

 

[Cholerabob]

For UCAs SPC is a good choice with balljoints ( Uniballs don't survive our winters ) I've run Camburgs for 10 years with out any problems, they use MOOG ball joints, so it's easy to find replacement parts.

 

[mikey]

Uniballs are not the evil monster they are made out to be.

All they need is a quick rinse/shot of water when you are washing the FJ and they will last.

If you believe mother nature is the only one to wash your FJ than Uniballs may not be for you.

For reference - I've had mine on for almost 6 years now without any issue. No squeaks, rattles, etc. We have nasty winters here and they love to use sand and various forms of salt at the slightest thought of snow.
Last time I checked my unibalss was less than 2 weeks ago when I replaced my front LCA and tie rods. A little maintenance goes a long way.

They were still good. So I am holding off on replacing them even though I have spares.

 

[FJFool]

I bought the ToyTec BOSS with SPC UCA's here for about $2,100 including tax & shipping after the forum 5% discount.

I haven't installed it yet, so I can't speak firsthand to the quality.