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Lift Kit for 2020 RAV4 TRD Off Road model.

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#41 ·
Hey everyone. New to the forum here, I installed a RC 2.5" kit of my wife's 2021 Trail/ Adventure edition and we are having a slight issue. There is a small vibration when accelerating from a stop at around 15mph. Has alone has this issue before? It's in the front end specifically and RC called it a drive line vibration.
A mechanic friend seems to think the 2.5" might be putting stress on the transaxle during turns and heavy acceleration.

When we purchased the kit, the Rough Country website only said it wasn't compatible with TRD models and now it lists any of the vehichle with Torque Vector AWD. They must have sold hundreds of these and I'm curious is anyone else has had the same experience or anyway to fix or repair.

We're not really sure what to do.
TIA!
 
#42 ·
There's been a few people on here that have had this issue. It's not only with the RC kit, but others also. I'm having the same issue with the 2" TORQ Engineering kit on my TRD with 245/60/18s. Some have taken the kits off and others leave them on. I've had mine on for the last year and no real issues so far. Supposedly this happens when you go bigger than a 2" lift, but there are people on here that have gone bigger with no complaints. It's something about the Adventure/Trail/TRD/Limited AWD not liking to go over 2" in lift. Not too many complaints from the XLE AWD people. So far, there isn't a real fix except to remove it, go with a smaller kit, or live with it.
 
#43 ·
The Adventure / Trail / TRDs are already lifted about .5" above the base models. The front axles don't like more than "2.5" of lift over the base models. Simply put, the RC puts these specific models at around 3" of lift, which causes vibrations in the front axles. Unfortunately, RC does not seem to understand this.

Torque vectoring us not a factor here.

Your only real options are to go down to a 2" front lift spacer, or find some coils from an XE / XLE / Premium / Limited model.
 
#44 ·
Lunar_Lander said:
We just got the Rough Country lift + RNOFIT real coils installed a few weeks ago and the combination has been great. No vibration, no shaking, no issues whatsoever.
Before the installation our lowest point was at 7" (lower than advertised due to rooftop tent weight, and sagging in the rear which you can see in the top photo here). After the installation our lowest point is now the front skid plate which is at about 10". Looks like we gained about 3" total, though the gain in the rear is over 4".
View attachment 161506
Click to expand...
Is this the TRD Off Road?
 
#46 ·
Lindenwood said:
The Adventure / Trail / TRDs are already lifted about .5" above the base models. The front axles don't like more than "2.5" of lift over the base models. Simply put, the RC puts these specific models at around 3" of lift, which causes vibrations in the front axles. Unfortunately, RC does not seem to understand this.

Torque vectoring us not a factor here.

Your only real options are to go down to a 2" front lift spacer, or find some coils from an XE / XLE / Premium / Limited model.
Click to expand...
Actually, the max lift up front is around 2.2 inches. This is a combined lift. Whether you mixspacer with lift spring, you can only add 2.2 inches of combined lift and that’s with 245s.
 
#47 ·
We have the RC spacer lift + DENDOFF stiffer rear coils + 245/70/17 tires and we have no issues whatsoever. We have had this set up for quite some time now and it has been great. Been on long road trips, off-roading, in the snow, and use the car as a daily driver. No vibrations, wobble, or anything weird like that.
Image
 
#48 ·
pawnsay said:
Actually, the max lift up front is around 2.2 inches. This is a combined lift. Whether you mixspacer with lift spring, you can only add 2.2 inches of combined lift and that’s with 245s.
Click to expand...
Can you please elaborate? Your assertion is unclear, but if you are saying 2.2” is the maximum up front lift, you are incorrect. The Rough Country adds 2.5” of lift through the suspension, not including anything gained by increased tire diameter.

Btw, is there any particular reason you have quoted 4 of my posts in different threads within a few minutes of each other?
 
#49 ·
Lunar_Lander said:
We have the RC spacer lift + DENDOFF stiffer rear coils + 245/70/17 tires and we have no issues whatsoever. We have had this set up for quite some time now and it has been great. Been on long road trips, off-roading, in the snow, and use the car as a daily driver. No vibrations, wobble, or anything weird like that.
View attachment 177142
Click to expand...
You should not have any issues with 245s with your current setup. If you upsize your tires… that’s where the CV axle binding comes into play because you exceed the angle of operation for the CV axles at both the outter Joint and the transaxle inner joint.
 
#50 · (Edited)
pawnsay said:
You should not have any issues with 245s with your current setup. If you upsize your tires… that’s where the CV axle binding comes into play because you exceed the angle of operation for the CV axles at both the outter Joint and the transaxle inner joint.
Click to expand...
I am sorry, but tire diameter does not at all affect CV angles.
 
#53 ·
pawnsay said:
It does when you get lift from the tire diameter. You really don’t know what you’re talking about and it shows…
Click to expand...
The only reason that tire diameter might change anything about CV angles would be if the tires were ludicrously taller than the vehicle. Triangle math says that 10 foot diameter tires with 89° camber (nearly vertical) you would extend the hub horizontally away from the transmission...drum roll...0.087275" at the 5 foot midpoint. 2° off vertical is a horizontal pull of 0.174605". Obviously this is crazy and these tires do not exist for our vehicles. The CV angles are only changed by changing the angle of the control arm, not the height of the vehicle as an entire unit.
 
#54 ·
ermac2014 said:
Is the rough country any good for the TRD? they mentioned it's 2.5". Also I'm thinking about combining it with Eibach suspension lift 1.2". Both combined would add 3.7" which in total would give 12.3" ground clearance in theory..
Click to expand...
Not compatible with Torque-Vectoring AWD is the problem. Also, it's 2.5 in the front, less in the rear. I am also thinking of combining Eibach springs (1.2 front/1.1 rear) with Torq Engineering spacer kit (2" front, 1+? rear...) I know they say the TRD has 8.6" clearance; I just measured mine and it's spot on 8" - I don't have any extra weight in or on the car as it's still pretty new. I think the best we're going to hope for is 10-10.5" clearance, maybe more depending on wheels... so maybe 11.5-12" with a good tire, say 265/65/R17's. I love where your head is going with that though as that's exactly what I want to achieve. TBD...
 
#55 · (Edited)
ermac2014 said:
There's one guy on youtube combined both and he claimed he didn't have issues with installing both. Although he has an XLE model:

I did contact Rough Country and still waiting for their response about the TRD. Although, they've mentioned on their page the TRD is not supported, I'll double check that with them.

The TRD is similar to Trail/Adventure models, as you mentioned only the coils and maybe shocks tweaked/upgraded. However, from the research I've done, there are some of people complained about ReadyLift kits giving them vibration on low speeds. So far the only lift kit that has good feedback with no issues is Torq Engineering and it does support TRD models.

Just out of curiosity how did you reach to 5.8" height?
Click to expand...
One of his videos, he mentions that he also has a custom lower control arm, or some sort of custom drop sub-frame... (?) I have yet to find a follow up video of his where he talks about it directly in any detail.
 
#56 ·
I think I have settled for whatever lift the Eibach springs provide; it seems like the overall easiest solution without getting into serious custom suspension. However, I do not like the saggy butt look I have seen in most pics... Has anyone tried Eibach springs with rear-only spacers (say just the rear-half of the Torq Engineering kit)? Am I completely loony for thinking this/ will this completely screw things up with the AWD? Just trying to get even ride height and despite all the advertisements about factory "nose down" appearance, I feel the opposite (factory is too nose up).
 
#57 ·
LoonYotaLander said:
I think I have settled for whatever lift the Eibach springs provide; it seems like the overall easiest solution without getting into serious custom suspension. However, I do not like the saggy butt look I have seen in most pics... Has anyone tried Eibach springs with rear-only spacers (say just the rear-half of the Torq Engineering kit)? Am I completely loony for thinking this/ will this completely screw things up with the AWD? Just trying to get even ride height and despite all the advertisements about factory "nose down" appearance, I feel the opposite (factory is too nose up).
Click to expand...
I'll be able to report on this pretty soon. I've been on Torq's lift for a while and I like it but have added stuff and things that resulted in some sag on the rear. I just tried Dendoff's 310 springs but that didn't last long as I don't have enough weight for that, and it pushed me so far out of alignment I would have had to get different control arms and such. I'm on the cusp of checking out Eibach's or Northwoods next so I'll bring back what I find.
 
#58 ·
Mr_Flux said:
I'll be able to report on this pretty soon. I've been on Torq's lift for a while and I like it but have added stuff and things that resulted in some sag on the rear. I just tried Dendoff's 310 springs but that didn't last long as I don't have enough weight for that, and it pushed me so far out of alignment I would have had to get different control arms and such. I'm on the cusp of checking out Eibach's or Northwoods next so I'll bring back what I find.
Click to expand...
Please do give a report, I am curious. I think I am going to give the Torq's a try... I am also putting them on a TRD-Off Road, so I already have a bit stiffer springs. (one of the reasons I am shying away from Eibach's- I hear they are softer than TRD's.) I just went out and measured, and I'm seeing about 32.5" (R) and 32" (F) to the bottom of the wheel-fender, and despite Toyota's 8.6" claim, I am only seeing 8" to my front skid plate... 8.5" of clearance next to the rear wheel. I have almost zero extra weight on the car from factory (Toyota installed tow hitch is all). We shall see what I can achieve with just a spacer kit and wheels first. I have no particular timeframe set yet, but spacer kit probably within the next few months, only 10K on the car so probably going to burn through these tires first before I upgrade those... Unfortunately, Northwoods will not work on the TRD, ...supposedly.

The one main reason I was considering the Eibach's is that I feel it would increase articulation as well as clearance. However, less so on the clearance, and I really don't have the approach angles (YET) to consider articulation as a limiting factor... and the clearance is definitely more of a limiting factor, both for general clearance, but also approach and departure angles. Therefore, I think a kit that focuses more on clearance should be my primary goal, and unfortunately I would only gain 1.25" with the Eibach (theoretically) on the TRD. For now, my solution is to get a set of quick release sway-bar end links and gain a couple of inches of articulation on the high side (I have heard it doesn't change the low side) - by simply removing the sway bar end links before hitting the trail.

Good luck on your project!
 
#59 ·
LoonYotaLander said:
One of the reasons I am shying away from Eibach's- I hear they are softer than TRD's.
Click to expand...
This idea has been picked at on other threads and I'd encourage you to check them out; "mark@eibach" has reported that their testing of the OE Adventure rears are 186.2lb/in and Eibach's replacements are 204.8lb/in, so slightly heavier spring rate. I wish they had the spec online but say that the OE springs were 16" and Eibach's were 18", and also 175lb/in (they are not, this is only for an example). They would be 11.2lb/in softer in spring rate, but by the time you compress it 2" to fit into the same space you've preloaded an extra 22.4lb per spring for an additional 44.8lb total more upward force. It is entirely possible to have a softer spring which, if longer, would lift you up higher.
www.rav4world.com

NEW Eibach Pro-Kit for the Rav4

Eibach just installed their new suspension lift kit in my 2019 Adventure this week. Lifts the Adventure +1.6" in the front and +1.1" in the rear (non-adventures Rav4's will have higher numbers). The kit will go into production immediately and should be available no later than February. Check out...
www.rav4world.com www.rav4world.com

LoonYotaLander said:
The one main reason I was considering the Eibach's is that I feel it would increase articulation as well as clearance.
Click to expand...
You'd have to get new shocks to truly increase your total articulation. If new springs push the car upwards you're reducing the amount of downward travel before the shock tops out and it can't go any lower. If a shock has a total of 5" travel on each side of center and you raise the car 2" through spacer or spring lift, you've taken 2" of available downward hub travel and turned it into 2" of additional upward travel.

LoonYotaLander said:
Good luck on your project!
Click to expand...
Thanks! Hope I can get some info to share soon. I plan on making a post that has all the data I've taken through each configuration I've tried, hopefully that'll help someone else out in the future.
 
#60 ·
Mr_Flux said:
This idea has been picked at on other threads and I'd encourage you to check them out; "mark@eibach" has reported that their testing of the OE Adventure rears are 186.2lb/in and Eibach's replacements are 204.8lb/in, so slightly heavier spring rate. I wish they had the spec online but say that the OE springs were 16" and Eibach's were 18", and also 175lb/in (they are not, this is only for an example). They would be 11.2lb/in softer in spring rate, but by the time you compress it 2" to fit into the same space you've preloaded an extra 22.4lb per spring for an additional 44.8lb total more upward force. It is entirely possible to have a softer spring which, if longer, would lift you up higher.
www.rav4world.com

NEW Eibach Pro-Kit for the Rav4

Eibach just installed their new suspension lift kit in my 2019 Adventure this week. Lifts the Adventure +1.6" in the front and +1.1" in the rear (non-adventures Rav4's will have higher numbers). The kit will go into production immediately and should be available no later than February. Check out...
www.rav4world.com www.rav4world.com



You'd have to get new shocks to truly increase your total articulation. If new springs push the car upwards you're reducing the amount of downward travel before the shock tops out and it can't go any lower. If a shock has a total of 5" travel on each side of center and you raise the car 2" through spacer or spring lift, you've taken 2" of available downward hub travel and turned it into 2" of additional upward travel.



Thanks! Hope I can get some info to share soon. I plan on making a post that has all the data I've taken through each configuration I've tried, hopefully that'll help someone else out in the future.
Click to expand...
Lots of good stuff here, thank you for all of it... Yes, I have read through many many of those threads that go back and forth and yes I have read what Mark@eibach says about the spring rates... however, they have only talked about Adventure springs, and according to Toyota, the TRD springs are stiffer yet, but yet Eibach won't comment about how theirs compares to TRD springs... I have tried reaching out to them several times. I think the TRD springs are rated at 210. (anyone have any thoughts on that? On this forum I have seen claims that the TRD springs rates are anywhere between 134 and 270... at this point, all those other threads are more confusing and misleading than useful, and I have already spent weeks reading them and getting nowhere. Your comments are some of the only truly constructive stuff I have found! (Thank you for not devolving) ... I truly look forward to a compilation of numbers and configurations.)

You are absolutely correct about the struts/articulation... my comment about considering Eibachs was based before I understood that... (silly me!) and IS NOW one of the two main reasons I am leaning against the Eibachs. The 2nd main reason I am leaning against the Eibachs is that they only gain me a little over an inch in clearance... but that was based off of the claims that the TRD has an 8.6" clearance and I am measuring only 8.0... basically, for $360, what am I gaining? Anyway... I also looked at Bilstein strut/shocks and springs, but apparently they do not make them for the Gen5 (yet...?) ... cheers!
 
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