2010-2023 Toyota 4Runner KDSS Trac/PanHard Bar - High Articulation

May 2021 & October 2022: Every single time we run a batch of 12 bars, the cold rolled steel and the water jet service increases in cost. I have no clue why. The water jet more than the steel.

In 2012 we bought a brand New Trail 4Runner with KDSS. While the bulk of or work at that time was with 3rd gen 4Runners (1996-2002), I knew this was one heck of a truck and spent years dreaming up parts to make it better. After installing our current offering and other manufactures suspension offering for these trucks, there was one thing that I felt everyone dropped the ball on.

The Trac/PanHard bar for the KDSS trucks. We all know that the Jeep Wrangler and the American full size pickups with straight front axles had Trac/PanHard bends in them to dodge around things for many years. These bars are all sand cast and difficult to manufacture on small scale, which the KDSS market it.

Will work on a Lexus GX460 the KDSS system is exactly the same. WILL NOT work on a Lexus GX470, the KDSS system is not the same. Will not work with Panhard drop or raise brackets. Will not work with sway bar spacers. This parts does the same thing as these other parts but without limiting the other end of the travel.

After working on this for literally years we found a solution. The original prototype was fabricated out of cut tube and zigzagged all over the place. It was incredibly time consuming to make and frankly looked ugly. But at that point we had a pattern that cleared everything. Full stuff with coils and shocks removed and full drop with shock removed. We now knew exactly how far the KDSS bar would let the suspension move, uninhibited bay the trac bar.

So finally how do we actually make this thing? Waterjet is how. Starting with a 3 foot by 3.5" of Cold Rolled Solid Steel Bar, the Waterjet carves this bar out of solid 1" thick cold rolled steel! The entire bar is a consistent 1" x 1" solid cold rolled steel. It is heavy. On the 4th gen 4Runner, Toyota used 1" round solid hot rolled round stock. So this is not a new idea with the size and material used in this application. The ends are custom polyurethane bushings made for us by Daystar in Phoenix. They have grease grooves and we have made several improvements to the mold over the last 8 years (2010-2018) as we have always made a straight tube Trac/PanHard bar for the 4th/5th Gen 4Runners and the FJC. The adjustable end is a huge 7/8"-16 grade 8 threaded rod into a tube adapter made by Ballistic Fab in Tucson, hollow end of the bar is 1.5" x 1.5" x .120 wall Cold Rolled Square Tube, finally the same bushing setup as the other end. Finally the part is painted with STEEL-IT® super corrosion resistant paint.

The bar will run rear shocks 1.5" longer extended than anything currently offered off the shelf for a 5th gen 4Runner. We are going to work on that with Radflo.

Maximum Extended Rear Shock Length is 25.5". Measured from the center of the 3/4" lower shock eye to the center (where the frame bracket is) of the upper stud bushings, with the stud bushings compressed to the installed torque. If your rear shock is longer than this, it will pull the KDSS plunger apart, resulting in $4000-$5000 repair at the Toyota Dealer. We have a custom Radflo reservoir shock that is sized perfectly to stop with 3/8" of plunger still in the unit. The perfect shock. With the forces of off road, this is sufficient to protect the KDSS equipment. You have been warned. Understand how the KDSS system works and do not make assumptions. You MUST use stock Toyota upper and lower rear links or aftermarket upper and lower rear links that are set to the same length as the stock Toyota rear links for this product to work correctly. It does not matter if they are stock or aftermarket, it only matters that the length of the links is the same as stock.

Install Guide