Pros and Cons of Leveling kits

I'm looking at installing a 3" leveling kit in the front and 1" in the back, and I've heard some mixed reviews about whether or not its overall a good idea to have a leveling kit installed at all. Looking for a little insight from the knowledgeable.

 

What's your purpose to get one?

You can't consider the 'mixed' reviews when not everyone has the same reason for getting a lift kit.

Sometimes people get lift kits for all the wrong reasons and they're not happy. Sometimes people buy the wrong/bad quality products giving them poor results.There are far more people who are 'happy' with their own decisions and the products they went with.

If you were to buy one.... What do you expect the results should be? What do you want out of it?

 

I'm looking at putting on bigger tires than the stock, and also for appearance. I go offroading every once in a while, but mostly its a rig that gets me from A to B. I've just heard horror stories with spacers and issues that come up after extreme roading and I'm not sure to believe the hype or not.

 

Hey man . I'm on the same boat. Just want it for looks. Is 3 inch and 1 inch leveling it? Or 3 inch and 2 inch?

I wanna put 20s and 33 inch tires. I don't off-road at all. Just for looks for my truck. Let me know tacoma world.

 

Here's what spacers can do:



http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/345272-why-exactly-front-spacer-lifts-bad.html

My recommendation at the very least is 5100s on stock coils and an AAL out back. That is a lift on a budget. If you have $1000 to spend on a lift, full OME with Dakar leaf pack in the rear. And it goes up from there depending on what your budget is.

There are many stories on here where guys went with the spacer lift because it was cheap and easy. They regretted it because of the crappy ride and went with a true suspension lift. From what I have gathered for people who went this route is; If you are looking at a spacer lift, don't do it. You will regret it. Get a true suspension lift from the beginning.

The point I am trying to make is do it right the first time; buy once cry once. You wouldn't put a $200 lift kit on a $35k truck would you?

 

Those horror stories are mostly accurate. Back many many years ago (1st gens) - there wasn't much available for the tacomas. Like anything else, spacers had their glory days. Rear lift blocks and Add-a-leafs had their glory days.

Research research research......
Front spacers could result in many damages depending on the size of the spacer and where it was placed. But mostly...broken shocks in the coil assembly. When the shock breaks, the suspension can't hold the truck up.
Rear lift blocks are a bad idea all around - too much throttle and they come flying out. I've seen the results of that. Add-a-leafs can sag and damage your leaf pak because of the irregular arch.

Your best bet.... for front: Adjustable shocks like Bilstein 5100's with your stock coils. OR a set of new coils and new non-adjustable shocks.

Your best bet....for the rear: New leaf paks and new shocks

 

Well, I'll make that point but from a different perspective. Before I knew more info from the Skewl of TW, I went the route of a spacer. Readylift to be exact. It's been on the truck for 2 years and to be honest it's been totally fine. Rides exactly the same as pre-spacer lift. Never had a single issue. Only issue is that it's not ideal if you want to do any actual offroading. Many of the pics from these broken shock pics are the same pics over and over again which are also seen in threads showing springs that are too stiff for different shock setups. The result of the broken anything is the result of improper use of selected components. Spacer is basically for street use and that is about all.
Now that I've got the bug to do some actual wheeling I'm now switching to a real suspension upgrade. As many have mentioned throughout the site bilstein is the next cheapest option and allows for more forgiveness offroad. Best of luck with your decision

 

i have an 05 dcsb and have had my lift setup with a few different configurations involving 5100s. Started out with 5100s @ 1.75 with 1.5" aal in back (this setup barely looked different side by side with other tacomas), then i added ome 885 springs and ride quality was relatively unchanged but height was added, i also added a 1" block in back to keep it from being nose high. (if i were to do it again i would get a new leaf pack right from the start in back, my leafs are w shaped now because of how much they have sagged. I now have my front setup with the 5100s at .85 and the 885 springs. If i were to do this all over again i would just get the full ome kit with dakars right from the start like i should have done.

 

Just wanted to throw this out there. 3" in the front and 1" in the rear will most likely leave you nose high.

My last tacoma had the 2+1 rear leaf and I went with a 1.5" rear aal and 2.5" setting on the 5100s up front. That left the truck with a level stance.

 

The other thing that I am worried about with a lift is drive line vibration.This seems to be a hit or miss depending on the truck. I was going to 5100 with 884's in the front with wheelers 3 leaf pack until I read about all the vibration issues -- not because of the listed components but because of the lift. I think I am back to 5100's with stock coils to level the front and leave the back alone... I don't want any new issues because of a 2.5 inch lift...

 

I wanted a leveling without much lift, and went with Bilstein 5100s on all corners, and some Hellwig half springs. The front 5100s are up 1.75. I had to add the half springs because the rear 5100s are too soft when compared to the stock yellow Bilsteins causing excess body roll; now it's stiff around corners and about a half inch higher in the rear. Also helps with the UTV hauling, no more sagging backend. I'm changing the tires to 75 profiles in the stock 265 width. This will give about a half inch of added tire radius (one inch tire diameter increase) which won't call for any severe modifications, but will make the truck sit up a little more.

I take my truck through desert double tracks that are too narrow for the modern jumbo-sized trucks. Raptors would roll off of cliffs where I drive...

 

If u level the back with spacers can u still two jetskis?

 

Huh???