Treaty Oak Offroad KDSS Spacers Overview for the 5th Gen 4runner

Treaty Oak Offroad KDSS Spacers

Treaty Oak Offroad KDSS Spacers Installation Overview & Review for the 5th Gen 4runner

There is a clear difference in road manners when it comes to driving a KDSS equipped 4Runner versus a non-KDSS model. But after lifting a KDSS equipped vehicle one can encounter a lean towards the passenger side which looks terrible and affects the ride quality.

So, I had to address the issue after I lifted my 2021 4Runner and my research led me to Treaty Oak Offroad KDSS spacers.

Find It Online

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Treaty Oak Offroad KDSS Spacers - 5th Gen 4Runner - Rear View

The quality and finish of the product are very good. The kit comes with 3 KDSS spacers (1 for the front passenger side and 2 for both rear passenger and rear driver). Its made out of 6061 aluminum, type 3 hard coat anodized in black, and comes with new hardware.

In my opinion, the kit is priced extremely well for the value it provides and it looks very stock to a normal eye.

What is KDSS and KDSS lean?

A little bit about KDSS first.

KDSS stands for Kinetic Dynamic Suspension system, a technology that is borrowed from Lexus GX and Land Cruiser series. It optimally adjusts front and rear stabilizers based on a set of interconnected hydraulic cylinders. The interconnection is made up of hydraulic piping and a control cylinder which is located at the frame rail. KDSS, which is fully mechanical, can disengage the stabilizer bars (the bars are jointed, allowing movement independent of one another). This system will not engage during normal driving conditions when hydraulic pressure is equal. In off-road conditions, KDSS activates when it senses that a wheel has dropped.

One of the problems with this KDSS system is “the lean”. KDSS lean is where the passenger side sits a little lower than the driver side thereby generating a lean and this is developed after you lift your vehicle. The reason for this is when your vehicle is lifted, the cylinder extends as the vehicle is raised, but the passenger side can’t due to that rigid link.

Why do you need KDSS Spacers?

There are a few things that can be done to get rid of this lean. A cheap alternate would be to add some strut top spacer plate that can be added to the passenger front and rear taller coil spring for the passenger side to offset the lean. At the time of this post, only Dobinsons offer different length coil springs for the rear side for KDSS equipped trucks if you plan to go this route.

The other option will be KDSS spacers, which extended the length of the passenger front bar by adding a spacer in there and adding 2 spacers in the back on both sides. The latter option will not only correct lean but will also add some droop to the suspension travel adding to more articulation while off-roading.

TREATY OAK OFFROAD or  BLACK GATE CUSTOMS?

Treaty Oak KDSS Drop Spacers on 4Runner

There are 2 options for KDSS spacers out there. Treaty Oak Offroad and Black Gate Customs which was previously covered on Trail 4Runner. The guy who created the product can now be found on Instagram and goes by the handle; @Dr_KDSS. He does not claim to be the KDSS doctor though, his initials are simply DR. But, with that said, DR. KDSS applies because he fixed major issues with KDSS. He also manufactures the KDSS on/off switch. As the name implies, it allows you to turn KDSS on/off with the push of a button.

Both Black Gate Customs and Treaty Oak Offroad achieve the same thing in the rear but Black Gate Customs does not offer a spacer for the front which is strange.

Because of this, I went with the Treaty Oak Offroad kit.

Install Overview

KDSS Drop Bracket Install Overview

The kit comes with the 3 spacers and some bolts.

(Use hand tools only for this install)

Start with parking the vehicle on level ground in order to normalize the pressure between KDSS hydraulics. Now remove the front skid plate next to give yourself more clearance to install the front KDSS spacer.

Treaty Oak’s instructions mention to loosen KDSS shutter valves 2 turns which are located on the driver side (Don’t forget to remove the top cover first) but I did not want to mess up with the system so I skipped this part and had no issues. In that link, you will find some documentation on how to loosen the KDSS accumulator assembly.

FRONT:

Place a floor jack under the sway bar under the driver-side link. Jack up the sway bar and put a little pressure on the bar. Now carefully loosen and remove bolts on the passenger side fixed link.

Lower jack slowly, lower until there is room for the spacer to be installed on the link side. Jack the sway bar back up to get the sway bar/bushing to sit in the spacer. Next, install the collar on the bottom of the sway bar, and start both bolts by hand. Lastly, tighten bolts (alternate back and forth) and torque to 30 ft/lbs and remove the floor jack.

REAR:

Move the floor jack to the rear sway bar just to the right of the cylinder. Jack up and put pressure on the sway bar, loosen bolts, and remove it. Now, lower sway bar and install driver side spacer. Jack the sway bar back up, install collar, and alternate tightening new bolts to 52 ft/lbs. Next, move to the passenger side, jack up the sway bar just to the left of the cylinder, remove bolts. Lower jack/sway bar and install spacer between link and sway bar. Jack up and position sway bar inside the spacer and install collar and alternate tightening new bolts to 52 ft/lbs just like you did with the front. Finally, rock the vehicle side to side and allow it to settle.

Final Thoughts

Adding these spacers will equalize the pressure in the system that are utilized within the KDSS system itself and return the angle of the sway bar back to OEM angles after a lift has been installed. In turn, this will dramatically reduce or eliminate your lean. This will help with ride quality as you’re correcting the geometry after lifting your vehicle and will also help with the articulation while off-roading.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

14 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Jonny80s
Jonny80s
6 months ago

Oddly enough I got the lean when I replaced the OEM shocks/struts after noticing the rear was starting to sag. I went with bilstein 5100s and replaced the rear springs as well. After doing the rear springs and shocks my rear was lifted .75-1″ and level side to side. A week later I did the front but kept OEM springs, brought it up 2″ to level the body. But now I have a lean with 1/2″ difference in the front and about a 1″ difference in the back. I bought the spacers, but was under the impression that this mild lift wouldn’t cause a lean. No other major mods besides a full SSO roof rack.

I’m thinking maybe a fluid equalization will get me back to level?

Thoughts?

Tim W
Tim W
2 years ago

I just did mine last weekend. Here are my observations:

I did not do any equalizing. To get the rear spacers on I completely disconnected the sway bar so it would swing down – this makes it real easy to fit in the spacers. You will need the jack to get the sway bar back up and pushed into the sockets so it will be easy to tighten the bolts.

For the front – absolutely need to take off the skid plate and that “bowy” bracket that is below the sway bar. You will do this on the side with the solid connector – not on the side with the piston. After putting the spacer on – my skidplate was running 100% on the swayer on the non-piston side since it was now much lower. I had to cut a piece off my skid plate to make sure that the sway bar clears the skid plate. I will keep an eye on the other side to make sure it does not rub a lot over there…

Last edited 2 years ago by Tim W
Kristopher
Kristopher
2 years ago

Dose this lift your vehicle up?

Vill Van Der Merwe
Vill Van Der Merwe
2 years ago

Kyle makes some amazing products and has great customer service. It means a lot when companies step up even though issues caused by shipping company is not their fault. We have been using these on all our KDSS builds.
-KRave automotive

Roger
Roger
2 years ago

When doing the front KDSS spacers. Does the vehicle need to be flat on the ground or can it be on a car lift? Here it says on the ground and Exit off-road says on jack stand suspension hanging. Is there a difference between both process.
when installing front spacers is it on the fixed side that is removed or both side. Will the piston side line up after spacer is installed.

Melinda Moore
Melinda Moore
2 years ago

Is this a better way to go, or with the Dobinsons route? Trying to figure the difference.

Jordan
Jordan
3 years ago

I am planning on installing Bilstein 6112/5160 on my KDSS equipped ‘18 4R ORP, doing a 2.5in lift in front, 2in in rear. Is the KDSS spacer necessary? Or should I wait to see if this lift causes droop before I install it?

Dave
Dave
2 years ago
Reply to  Jordan

Did you install this setup yet? I have a ’21 4R ORP and i plan on installing 6112/5160 2.5in. Front 1.5in rear. Im curious how yours ended up and if you installed spacers or not.

Jordan
Jordan
2 years ago
Reply to  Dave

I did get it installed. I did 2.5 in front and 2in in the rear (Icon 2in springs). I love how it looks and it performs excellent on the trails. No need for the KDSS spacer or diff drop on this lift. The angles in the CV axels are fine. The only extra thing I did was installed a new needle bearing from ECGS. It wasn’t necessary but since you’re in there might as well and it will prevent a nasty grinding noise from happening after a lift.

Waleed
Waleed
1 year ago
Reply to  Jordan

what is a needle bearing?

Balbir Singh
Balbir Singh
3 years ago

Well done !!!!

Karl
Karl
3 years ago

Would this kit be beneficial for a mild lift (1 to 1.5 inches ) front and a half inch in the rear?

Drkdss
Drkdss
3 years ago
Reply to  Karl

It’s really not about the lift per say. It’s more about the droop travel. You may not have a lean when lifted, but if shocks allow for certain amount of droop. Then the dont spacer will benefit. Not only got kdss lean

Arsh
3 years ago
Reply to  Karl

I don’t think you’ll see a considerable difference with that slight of a lift.

14
0
Questions or Comments?x
()
x