Lifting a Gen 1 RAV4: What the OME + KYB Setup Actually Gives You

Catalog copy for first-generation RAV4 lift parts is a fog of approximations, so here are measurements instead. This is the most thoroughly documented Gen 1 lift in the Cerch Garage guide: Old Man Emu springs, installed by Lab Coat Paul as part of a full suspension refresh, and then measured on the car after it settled. If you are deciding whether the job is worth it, these are the numbers to decide with.

What the tape measure said

Catalogs list the OME springs at roughly an inch on their own. The documented car gained more than that, and the honest explanation is in the job description: this was springs plus a full refresh of tired 25-year-old suspension around them, not springs dropped into worn struts. Expect your result to depend on how sagged your starting point is. Either way, the clearance gain is the figure that matters off-road, and going from 7.25 to 10.5 inches at the tank is the difference between picking your line nervously and just driving it.

The parts pairing

The pairing splits front to rear. OME supplies the lift springs (2793 front, 2794 rear) and the rear shocks; it makes no front strut for the XA10, so the front runs KYB Excel-G struts in the 2-door spec (334241 right, 334242 left). The OME rear shocks are part of the kit as sold, not an add-on: the site owner's own kit came with them, and both of his lifted trucks (a '97 and a '98) run exactly this pairing today. Owners like the 2-door-spec KYB front struts for a reason: they are about 2 inches taller than the 4-door units, which lets a 4-door run OME front springs with no spacers at all.

It's not about strut length, it's about travel. KYB's specs: the 2-door strut has 7.24 in of stroke (extends to 22.76 in), the 4-door has 4.73 in of stroke (extends to 20.47 in), and the compressed lengths are basically identical at 15.51 vs 15.74 in. So yes, it is about 2 inches longer, but only at full extension, and that extra length is exactly the extra travel. Toyota gave the 2-door more travel because it's the short-wheelbase one: a shorter wheelbase lifts a wheel sooner on uneven ground, so the extra droop keeps the tire in contact and the truck moving off-road.

Cost context, dated 2019: the OME kit ran about $450 through Rocky Road Outfitters. The documented owner's full restoration around the lift came to roughly $4,000, but that was a restoration, not a lift bill. One supply warning from the guide: if the kit is out of stock at Rocky Road, it ships from Australia and can take over a month.

Two fitting rules that decide whether it works

Torque every rubber-bushed joint at ride height. Do the final tightening after a settle drive, with the truck sitting on its suspension. Rubber bushings do not rotate in their shells; they twist. Clamp one down at full droop on the lift and it spends its whole life pre-twisted at ride height, which is how new bushings die young and rides turn harsh.

Expect the alignment printout to be imperfect, and know which line matters. An alignment after the lift is mandatory. But front caster may sit slightly out of spec afterward, and on these cars caster is not adjustable; that is a known outcome of the lift, not a shop's failure. The guide's general guidance also stands: stay at or under about 2 inches of total lift, because beyond that the CV axle angles start causing vibration and binding.

The safety rule that has nothing to do with springs

One entry in the guide matters more than everything above. Never grease bolt threads to "stop corrosion." On the documented car, greased threads let the rear differential mount bolts work loose within a month, the strut bolts loosen by about 1,000 miles, and then a caliper bracket bolt fell out entirely at 15 mph over a speed bump, locking the wheel solid and gouging the rim. A lifted truck is a truck whose fasteners you have personally touched; that makes this your rule too. Threads go in clean and dry, torqued to factory spec (the guide's torque cheat sheet exists for exactly this). Blue threadlocker is the insurance. Grease belongs on adjuster shafts and sliding surfaces, never on a threaded fastener.

Open the full interactive 1st-Gen RAV4 guide for the complete Lift Kits tab: every documented kit and owner setup, the torque specs for the job, and current for-sale listings.

Compiled from the Cerch Garage 1st-Gen RAV4 guide (Lift Kits and Common Fixes tabs), which draws on Lab Coat Paul's documented OME build and owner-group reports. Kit price as documented in 2019; verify pricing and stock before ordering.