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Introducing the Sienna BE

24K views 19 replies 17 participants last post by  MHQ 
#1 ·
That's BE for Baja Edition! Love my Sienna but hated bottoming out EVERYWHERE. So I decided to fix it and here is the fruit of my labor and $$$$. 2yr project thanks to a hip replacement and finding people who could actually work with me. Front clearance 10.5" at the bumper, 14" in the rear on heavy dute coils and home built shock extenders. Adapted struts up front (lots of magic/tears). 225/75 tires on stock wheels.
Oh and lots of looks, even had people taking pics of it parking lots!
 

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#9 ·
Great job!
This is the reason/vision that I have when I got my 05 AWD. But I was not be able to go further than putting on a set of RX300 wheels with AT tires. It has been hard to figure out what fit the Sienna...It would be great if OP can help with these:
1. Have you come up with some recover points? I found out the hard way that the Sienna does not have any tie down/tow hook. It is beyond me that Toyota did not put so much as a some tie down on AWD vehicles.
2. Could you share some info on the parts that you use? As I mentioned above, it have been hard to find out what fit. I have looked into same flatform models (RX350, Highlander). But it seems not many people mod these vehicles.
 
#10 ·
"recover" point ? I'll assume you mean a hard point to attach a tow rope. With the new front bumper we had to weld on some brackets to bolt on bumper so I now have somewhere to attach to. Now that I have so much clearance in the rear I'll be putting the tow bumper back on and I'll weld on some sort of tow bracket.

The back was very easy. I got longer coil springs from you guessed it coilsprings.com. Mine are 20% stiffer and 3" longer. They use your specs and make a perfect fitting coil. You cold easily go shorter 2-2.5 would make it a little easier installing as the 3" was right at the edge. I home made the shock extensions, super easy on new Monroe shocks.

To put the taller tires on the front you have to use Highlander struts. The Hankook Dyanapro ATM 225/75's I have are are 28-1/8" under load and leave 1.5" inches of clearance about the same as the original 215/65's. That's enough room to still put chains on. I'll be adding new Cragar Black D Window wheels soon which will give some more room "away" from the strut and give me a little wider stance.

I had to use Toyota orig struts as they didn't have any after market when I started the mod. They are now available and almost half the price even if you source stock parts on the web . I wouldn't use after market strut mounts though as they are not near as well made as stock toyo parts. That could also be true of the strut/coil assembly as I have not seen one (you could probably get a good used stock set through a parts recycler). You'll have to adapt Hi-Lndr strut to your Sienna. I used aluminum and had it machined. The original was too flat(thanks to some bad advice) and had to be re-machined. It was still a pinch too flat and I had to shim them to get the camber right (interesting we had to shim the drive side quite a bit more). The measurements you see on the wood mock up are what I would use now.

Here's a link to a lift and shock extension method. I don't think you could use his lift method (though when I do another lift I will do something "like" he's done). By welding a Sienna mt to the Hi-Lndr mt. I think it might give you too much lift(by about 1/2"+) and make it really hard if not impossible to get the camber right. My lift was right on the edge but his shock extension method is almost exactly the method I used on the rear end. http://toyotavanpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5992&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

The strut mt on the left is a Hi-Lndr (crappy after mkt one) Sienna on right. The photo from above the strut mts. The Sienna mt is the one with the red dot. You the see the different shapes where the strut rod inserts.

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Product Auto part Wood Circle
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#12 ·
great vehicle. have an fj as dapurak does but don't off-road as I used to ...having kids and not enough time, but now having van like that I would dig to take kids on small adventure with tent and stove away from paved roads. my 06 awd limted xle with crazy leather seats would be perfect (as long as I cover the seats). thanks for the write up.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Really cool rig. Awesome for sharing. Did you deck out the inside too?

Quick bit a research shows your OEM was probably 215/65R16 (27" diameter) tires on a 2nd gen rig. You don't say your new ones are on larger rims so I'm assuming they are 225/75R16 (29.3" diameter) tires so 28.1" underload would probably make sense. 4x4Cal said he got 235/60R18 (29.1" diameter) tires on his 3rd gen rig (OEM 235/60R18 28.2") changing the springs but not the mounts but had to install spacers to change the offset to stop rubbing.
 
#16 ·
Mudd, The lift is all I did. I went as far as I could to still be able to align the front end. I've had no issues with the CV joints other than a leaky boot. FYI if you ever have this problem some guys like to just replace it with after market CV joint kits. Don't do it. We tried two and they both wobbled at low speeds. They had already tossed my original CV joint so I had to buy a recycled Toyo part.
cheers and thanks for all the kind words. This mod is totally doable. An AWD would be nice and easily done.
 
#18 ·
Hi
I have a sienna le FWD. 2004
the trailer hitch hits the floor every time I go on bumps. So I changed it to 17" tire. Did help a bit but don't think I can carry a trailer behind it with out the thing hitting the floor. I need stronger spring Coil in the back (one of the is broken) and lift the rear only. Can u give the specs that u used to order ur spring from the Coilspring.Com website. I just need to make the rear stronger and higher so I can carry a 4x8 trailer.
 
#19 ·
Hi
I have a sienna le FWD. 2004
the trailer hitch hits the floor every time I go on bumps. So I changed it to 17" tire. Did help a bit but don't think I can carry a trailer behind it with out the thing hitting the floor. I need stronger spring Coil in the back (one of the is broken) and lift the rear only. Can u give the specs that u used to order ur spring from the Coilspring.Com website. I just need to make the rear stronger and higher so I can carry a 4x8 trailer.
I have towed a 5x10 trailer quite a few times with my 09 LE FWD and only have problems scraping the hitch when going into driveways and such; even then, when I take it at an angle and slow, it doesn't scrape. And that's with the Toyota 1.25" hitch with a 1.25" to 2" adapter, making the hitch stick out quite a bit further. I wonder if just replacing the worn out springs with (stock) new ones would fix the issue? I am on 16" rims, 215/65/R16 tires.
 
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