Need help deciding on a lift

I have a 2014 TRD Sport. I will be running an All Pro rear bumper and will have a ranchhand type grill guard on the front (have them both on order right now). I'm looking for a decent quality lift. I don't off road often just hunting, fishing, and camping (maybe 1 or 2 weekends a month) and nothing hardcore.

I'm thinking keep it under 3" so I don't have to change out the UCA's. I'm just looking for some additional height. This truck is my daily driver.

What's the lift with the best bang for my money?

 

daystar 2.5

 

Thats easy, 5100's all corners, Front: set adjustment clip to desired height, Rear: AAL, this should yeild about 2"-2.5" for around $400

 

This is perfect or little extra get Old Man Emu

 

No. Unless you really don't want to put more than a $100.00 POS lift on.

This^^^^

Or this^^^^

 

As said go with Bilstein 5100's all around and call it a day. I did and I enjoy them as do countless others. There's also lots of other options, such as AAL or even new leafs in the rear, if you are towing when you go off camping. Other considerations could include switching the front OEM coils out if you prefer a "smoother" ride and changing out the UCA's if you find the spring is getting banged up when you go on the odd off road trail.

 

If you want the best bang for your buck and you don't offroad often, a spacer is the best way to go. It maintains the factory ride and is inexpensive. I've had 5100s and they are great quality but they preload the spring and make the ride really harsh. The OME lifts are good but it depends on how much you want to spend because they're around 700 for a full lift. A lot of people here have group jerk off sessions to full suspension lifts to justify spending extra money but the truth is for the average person with a daily driver an inexpensive spacer lift is just fine... If that's what you're looking for.

 

I'd say 5100's all around and avoid spacer lifts. You have a nice truck so might as well put a descent lift on it IMO. Even if you say you dont off-road a lot you still use it for camping and things like that.

 

The preloaded spring is actually gives a nice ride for some. I like the rougher ride since offroad it seems to be a lot more stable than stock. The ride is harsher but my fiance never complained when she drove it home from the shop and she notices everything.

Spacer lifts effect the geometry of your suspension system, and if you cross a good sized curb the wrong way you can cause some real damage! As taken from TacomaHQ, this is because the increased length of the coil assembly isn’t 100% compatible with the stock suspension – ball joints, cv joints, cv axles, the sway bar, and the control arms should all be changed or lengthened if the coil length changes. Otherwise, they are all outside of factory design limits at full down-travel. Outside of factory limits is not a good thing in this case...

So if you ever extend out your shock to max travel you can do real damage, so why not go to a 5100 lift or OME lift and avoid the hassle? If he wants a nicer ride he can always change out his stock springs which will help a lot.

 

If he does 5100's up front, he could reuse the stock springs and still adjust the lift on the shock?

 

Stock suspension travel is around 8 inches FYI

 

I'm a noob and I'll assume the OP is also.

Is that telling us yes you can use stock springs with 5100's or no?

 

I wasn't initially referring to your post, but yes, he can. A lot of people choose the cheaper route of doing that... you get a nice shock, but that's also why the ride quality suffers because your truck is resting on a more compressed slinky than a bouncy one

 

That's full range of motion FYI . If you hit a good drop (more than a few inches lets say, but far less than 8 inches) you can over extend the suspension and damage a CV joint.

I know what you're saying and your point is valid for a thrifty mall crawler. For me and those who like to offroad even a smidgeon a spacer lift doesn't make sense, and my reasons are valid. 90% of people with a spacer lift will never have a problem, but with my luck I'd be part of the 10% that does.

 

Yeah man I wasn't trying to start an argument. I run a preload spacer from toytec and have no complaints. I just really cant see someone breaking suspension components with a cheapo spacer unless they're either rock crawling or moving at a high speed but I do neither of those offroad so who knows

 

Your toytec lift is a combination of a above coil and in coil lift if I remember right, which minimizes the issues found with using either one or the other type of spacer for 3" of lift. They come Toyota dealership recommended for that reason, well and a few others. Readylift and a few others are not a combination system, and thus are a higher "risk" product. The OP will be off road, if he checks his GPS for a second and goes through a 4" pot hole at 15 miles per hour then he should feel confident his suspension can take it.

I'm not arguing, I'm not that sort of guy, I'm trying to help the OP with a good ole spirited discussion .

 

Thanks for all the feedback. Sounds like the 5100's and an AAL are an option or a toytec. The toytec, is that what Toyota recommends??

 

Yes and no.

From my understanding Toytec is the lift most commonly recommended by dealership shop departments. They are often registered Toytec dealers. There spacer product has a high profit margin, low consumer price, and doesn't change the ride much, making it a popular but not necessarily outstanding option. Toytec also supplies Bilstein 5100 and Icon Stage 3 lift kits, so those are also commonly available too. The Bilstein is usually within a hundred bucks of a Toytec spacer lift, while a stage 3 Icon system gives you superior results it is VERY expensive (a few grand).

If you search around on here I'm sure you'd find more OME (old man emu) and 5100 lifts than Toytec spacer lifts, anything that see's repeated offroad use has probably has one of the first two options or something better.

 

Any body else have any suggestions??