That was my first post so I couldn't post links. If you are looking for any of the parts I used just pm me!!!

 

?

When the back-glass is tinted like ours; we see absolutely nothing at night. The rear led bar (or any other light) is a must!

 

Please ask your mechanic to install weights on the inside of the wheels only!

 

Thanks, Commando! It sure can be like night during the day too! And in regards to the wheels, we were at my friend's shop that has a cheetah and they only had external weights. Beggars can't be choosers when putting tires on for free! But next time for sure. ?

Also, do you mind if I ask what front camber bolt set worked well for your front end alignment?

 

Do you mind if I ask what front camber bolt set worked well for your front end alignment?

I used 4 camber bolts (15mm). Exactly like this kit:

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

Here are a few pics I had from the strut install as well as a picture of the shovel/jack mount.

 

Excellent job. I really think these RAV 4.2s are a hidden Toyota gem.

Question: Did you buy these OME rear struts recently? I'm looking for a pair as well and haven't found any for sale. I was thinking they were discontinued maybe?

 

Thanks! I agree that the 4.2's are a gem alright. I think they may outlast the 4.3's for sure and maybe other Toyotas. I got 150,000 miles on mine and it is running strong!

And yup! I purchased all the OME parts over the last two months. ARB was out of the front springs and rear struts for a while. I kept calling them (almost weekly) until they had them in stock. Then I ordered through 4 wheel parts. I had originally placed an order via CarID, but the wait times for the parts were outrageous. Even after ARB had the parts back in stock, I had to keep calling CarID to ask them to ship the parts. The backorder fulfilment date was pushed back 4 times. After waiting a month, I cancelled my order and just went with 4 wheel parts. No BS and the parts were here in a few days.

Here is the listing for the rear shocks:

ARB Nitrocharger Sport Shock - OME031

Whether you're looking to maintain, optimize, or upgrade, we offer competitive pricing on ARB Nitrocharger Sport Shock - OME031 for your Truck or Jeep at 4 Wheel Parts. With our selection of quality brands and expert advice, we help boost your vehicle's performance and make a statement on or off...

www.4wheelparts.com

I just called them before I ordered to make sure they were in stock and would not be backordered.

As for the front struts, I believe they are discontinued, which is why I went with the Monroes.

I think the next step is to get some wheel spacers. Anyone got any recommendations on depth?

 

Please tell your tyre/tire fitter that you're only supposed to use stick-on weights on alloy wheels.

 

Hi All,

I've been snooping on these forums for quite some time but have yet to post! I just finished getting my Rav4 into shape for this coming winter. I ended up lifting by Rav as well as installing a LSD from a 4.1.

Here's what I did so far:

Lift:
-40mm Tema spacers front and rear
-OME Front Springs 1.5" (ARB 2793)
-OME Rear Springs 1.5" (ARB 2795)
-OME Rear Struts (OME031)
-Monroe Front Struts (71454 and 71453)
-Monroe Front Strut Mounts (903995)
-x2 KYB Front Strut Bellows (SB102)
-x2 Master Pro Coil Spring Seat Rubber Lower (FM1918]
-OEM Toyota Dust Cover (goes in between front strut coil spring seat and mount) (oem part number 90303-22049)
-Reused the stock dust covers that include the upper spring seat rubber

Drivetrain:
-Sourced LSD from 1999 Rav with 80k miles (have a second I sourced from another 4.1 rav as a spare or to part out.)

Lights and Rack:
-Cheapo 42" Light Bar from amazon with and prefabbed harness
-Modded cheapo light bar mounts from amazon
-Cheapo roof rack from amazon. Tacked m8 nuts on and painted with two cans of truck liner as well as used silicon on all the joints. Has held up very well.
-Cheapo hi-lift jack and shovel mount from ebay. Modified the shovel holder to fit. Welded m8 coupler nut into shovel so that an m8 bolt threads into shovel to hold it in place. Didn't need to mod the hi-lift jack mount. After mounting, tacked nuts on and painted with truck bed liner.

Tires:
-General Grabber AT/X tires 225/75/16


Future Plans:
-Rear light bar/led lights for reversing in the dead of night.
-Universal front camber bolt kit to dial in the front alignment. (Anyone have any tips on this one?)
-Deep cycle battery
-2.4 Swap
-Ripping hard in the desert and mountains, snow or shine... ¯\(ツ)/¯

I don't have too many pictures of the install or process, but you can tell the big difference in before and after the lift. It seriously doesn't even look like a Rav4 anymore up close. Kinda like a 4x4 Hotwheels toy. But it rips so hard on the trails, I have no complaints!!! I did 80+ miles this last weekend on forest and 4x4 roads! I know many people that have come before have used many of the same lift parts, but hopefully, others out there won't have as tough a time finding all the necessary part numbers!

Thanks to all the helpful posts and people on this forum!!! I wouldn't have been able to do it with you!!!



View attachment 145786


View attachment 145787

Before lift:

View attachment 145788


View attachment 145780
View attachment 145789


After Lift:
View attachment 145779 View attachment 145783

 

Hi I have MK1 rav and just bought a MK2 diesel rav should I keep my old rear diff? is it a straight swap for mk2, how do find the ratio between the two does it drive better with lsd thanks

 

Hi, I have MK1 rav and just bought a MK2 diesel rav should I keep my old rear diff? is it a straight swap for mk2, how do find the ratio between the two does it drive better with lsd thanks

Hi Rupedeville,

The 4.1 (MK1) and 4.2 (MK2) Rav differentials are interchangeable. The gear ratio is also the same at 2.93. I wouldn't swap out your mk1 diff to your mk2 unless it has the LSD. If you don't know if your mk1 has the LSD, you can contact Toyota to see. Or try the VIN lookup. Hope that helps!

As far as driving with the LSD, the only difference I have noticed is more traction on gravel mountain roads. We'll see how it does on the ice/snow this winter, but other people on this forum have mentioned a lot of positive things about the LSD's performance on the ice/snow.

Wish we had the diesel Ravs in the states. I'm very jealous of the mpg and torque!!! You'll have to share some pics!

 

Thanks for quick response unfortunately the vin check doesn't work for my UK car does the diff have lsd stamped on it somewhere like my supra does, I must try crawl under it and have a look. Very helpful info thanks not much point pulling a like for like diff out, I kinda took it as all MK1 must have had lsd as standard. I will get some pics on once I clean up the 4.2 and get my bigger tyres on I am running 235 Kumho semi off road tyres on the MK1 which will be coming off it, does give it a good stance sadly never got around to lifting it, but had some great fun in the snowy mountains in winter and with MK1 central diff lock it really surprised me how capable the little rav can be, hoping the MK2 will be even better, as far as the diesel is concerned I got 22 miles per gallon in the mk1 with the big tyres on and 29 without, only used the MK2 once so far and it read 44mpg, which is a big improvement, and then there is the torque which is a little added bonus.

 

Sorry to hear the vin check doesn't work for no US cars. That is how I have been able to locate LSD's in junk yards. And like Commando Says, you gotta pull the cover to see if it is LSD or not. In my 4.2 I noticed some torque loss with the larger tires. But I don't go up to many steep grades, so hopefully, it won't be an issue. Seems like with a running start the Rav is very capable, and perfect for my weekend camping adventures. An engine swap may be in my future. We'll see.

Like I said before. Wish we had the diesel models in the states! So cool!

 

The only real way to know if your diff is LSD, is to remove the cover and see inside.

As for the the 4wd system, the 4.2 is much better than the manual 4.1... when NOT locked. When the manual 4.1 is locked, there is no possible speed difference between the front and rear differentials and this is wonderful off-road. The 4.2 viscous center-diff is excellent in most situations, but is not as efficient off-road than the c-diff lock.

 

Hi All,

I've been snooping on these forums for quite some time but have yet to post! I just finished getting my Rav4 into shape for this coming winter. I ended up lifting by Rav as well as installing a LSD from a 4.1.

Here's what I did so far:

Lift:
-40mm Tema spacers front and rear
-OME Front Springs 1.5" (ARB 2793)
-OME Rear Springs 1.5" (ARB 2795)
-OME Rear Struts (OME031)
-Monroe Front Struts (71454 and 71453)
-Monroe Front Strut Mounts (903995)
-x2 KYB Front Strut Bellows (SB102)
-x2 Master Pro Coil Spring Seat Rubber Lower (FM1918]
-OEM Toyota Dust Cover (goes in between front strut coil spring seat and mount) (oem part number 90303-22049)
-Reused the stock dust covers that include the upper spring seat rubber

Drivetrain:
-Sourced LSD from 1999 Rav with 80k miles (have a second I sourced from another 4.1 rav as a spare or to part out.)

Lights and Rack:
-Cheapo 42" Light Bar from amazon with and prefabbed harness
-Modded cheapo light bar mounts from amazon
-Cheapo roof rack from amazon. Tacked m8 nuts on and painted with two cans of truck liner as well as used silicon on all the joints. Has held up very well.
-Cheapo hi-lift jack and shovel mount from ebay. Modified the shovel holder to fit. Welded m8 coupler nut into shovel so that an m8 bolt threads into shovel to hold it in place. Didn't need to mod the hi-lift jack mount. After mounting, tacked nuts on and painted with truck bed liner.

Tires:
-General Grabber AT/X tires 225/75/16


Future Plans:
-Rear light bar/led lights for reversing in the dead of night.
-Universal front camber bolt kit to dial in the front alignment. (Anyone have any tips on this one?)
-Deep cycle battery
-2.4 Swap
-Ripping hard in the desert and mountains, snow or shine... ¯\(ツ)/¯

I don't have too many pictures of the install or process, but you can tell the big difference in before and after the lift. It seriously doesn't even look like a Rav4 anymore up close. Kinda like a 4x4 Hotwheels toy. But it rips so hard on the trails, I have no complaints!!! I did 80+ miles this last weekend on forest and 4x4 roads! I know many people that have come before have used many of the same lift parts, but hopefully, others out there won't have as tough a time finding all the necessary part numbers!

Thanks to all the helpful posts and people on this forum!!! I wouldn't have been able to do it with you!!!



View attachment 145786


View attachment 145787

Before lift:

View attachment 145788


View attachment 145780
View attachment 145789


After Lift:
View attachment 145779 View attachment 145783

Ronald, this is awesome! I love the condensed off road feel this is giving off.

One question...what kind of seats do you have in your interior there? They look extremely comfy and I've been looking to replace mine for a while now as they remind me of slippery couch cushions...

Keep on ridin'!

James

 

Hi James,

Thanks for the kind words! The other people on this forum are the real stars tho, especially @Commando

If it weren't for his rad thread, I would have never figured half of this stuff out.

As for seats, I just have the stock seats that came in the car. They are cloth. Ill find a picture and post it later!

 

Thanks very much guys for your help and inspiration on my new (not new) RAV4.2 hopefully get some pics up in next few weeks of my mods I say new not new, cause I just bought it with 211000 miles and she purrs along very nicely. It really does drive like half of that mileage.

 

Hello, what wheel size are you using? They look awesome

Any reasons why you took Monroe front shocks? To make a lift(OME plus spacers 40mm) is there any need to change them?

 

The wheels are the stock 16" wheels for the 2001 Rav. Not sure all the details on that one. The tires are 225/75/16 General Grabber AT/X. They are great tires for the price! Next time I am going to go wider though. Thinking something in the 235/70/16 range.

As far as Monroe struts, any stock size front strut is compatible with the OME lift springs. My old struts were blown out, so I needed to change them anyway. The Monroes seem to be good struts, not sure how long they will last though. So far I have about 7k on them.

 

I have the OME lift kit with the OME rear shocks and KYB front struts. I had to cut the rear end links off to replace the rear springs and replaced them with MOOG problem solver links. When I go off roading and sometimes when I run over the edge of a curb, there is a thump on the right rear. Anyone experience this? The end link on that side is very close to the spring and I'm thinking it may be hitting it.

I love the way it handles in the snow and can drift it around corners. I've been interested in the LSD swap and researched it a bit. From searching on the web, it looks like if you jack up the rear and rotate one of the rear wheels and the opposite wheel spins in the same direction then it has a LSD. Mine spin in opposite directions when I do that. Why do some say the only way to identify LSD is to take the differential cover off? Is there something different with the way Rav4 rear differential works?

 

From searching on the web, it looks like if you jack up the rear and rotate one of the rear wheels and the opposite wheel spins in the same direction then it has a LSD. Mine spin in opposite directions when I do that. Why do some say the only way to identify LSD is to take the differential cover off? Is there something different with the way Rav4 rear differential works?

RAV4 LSD is a Torsen type. It acts like an open diff when one or both wheels are airborn. Both wheels need a minimun of resistance for the Torsen to transfer torque to each wheels.

The ''same direction trick'' applies only for clutch and viscous LSD (and some specific Torsen).