Is leveling the front really worth it?

110k+ miles on these OEM parts and it has been through glamis several times plus the occasional desert excursion.

 

Is that a 1 inch spacer giving you 2 inches of lift?

 

It's been in there for years, but I think that's what it was.

 

Is a front differential drop spacer and sway bar drop necessary for a 2" strut spacer?

 

NOPE!

 

Is that because it's a small adjustment? Under 2"?

 

Your suspension comes *level* right from the factory.
Level does not mean that the body lines are parallel to the road. Level means that the suspension is sitting at the appropriate point within its range of motion.

If you "lift" the front end to get the body lines parallel with the ground, it means that you are reducing the "sit in" of the front suspension. This will harm your suspension's ability to *drop out* when you hit a dip in the surface you are driving in. In the best case, you will experience a jarring when this happens. In the worst case, your tire could leave the surface of the road, causing loss of braking and steering, which could lead to a loss of control and potentially a collision.

The rear suspension has a larger range of motion. This is necessary in order to compensate for a much greater variability of load. I.e., it needs to sit in a safe amount when you have *no* payload, and it needs to have space to absorb bumps when you are carrying *maximum* payload. As a result, when unloaded, the rear suspension will have a larger space "above" the axle before it hits the bump stops, than the downward range available from the front suspension. This will cause the body lines to angle up from the road towards the back.

Other thing to be considerate of;
At the front suspension on a 4x4, you have drive shafts. These shafts have two CV joints, one at the wheel, and the other at the front differential case. The greater the angle of these joints, the shorter their lifespan. If you search this forum, you will find some references to CV joint and front differential bearing failures, and front differential oil leaks. Most of these probably can be attributed to front end "lift".

And finally, of course, if you are so conscious of how it "looks", throw in a dozen bags of cement with a front end lift. How do you think *that* will look? I'll tell you how; it will look like a dog dragging its ass on the rug, and will fuel the redneck claims that a foreign truck can't handle hard work.

IMO, the only point where it is proper to alter the front springs is when you are changing the load being carried on the front suspension (i.e., adding a snow plow), and it isn't "lift" that you want to give it, but rather an increase in the spring *rate*. That means changing the coils to ones that require a different amount of force to compress the same amount. It may also be possible to compensate by preloading the springs more AND increasing the damping effect of the shock absorbers, especially for springs that have a progressive rate.

 

Or lift the front to level it using one of the many options given, spacer, 5100, OME, and on and on.

The rear is designed to ride higher. Some like the look, some dont. To each their own. Every truck I own from here to the day I die will be at a minimum leveled. I personally am not a fan of a raked truck.

 

Where did you get that ball joint spacer?

 

I have a 2" lvl The ride is not stiffer. It's actually exactly the same as stock. Assuming that you are using a leveling kit above the strut top plate, not a spacer in between the coil spring and the top plate.

I'm 4X4. No vibes.

 

That was like 9 years ago and I think I bought it used on a 4Runner forum.