What materials are good for rear lifting blocks?

Hi there, this is the first time i ask something here, sorry if there is a thread that already talks about this. I have a D/C 2011 Tacoma 4x4 Off Road, yesterday I received a set of Bilsteins 5100. For the moment i will set them for 2.5" lift with stock springs and 1' rear blocks. I have a couple doubts about the blocks thou:

1) Will a 1" block give me a leveled stance (3 leaf leafpack)?

2) What would be the best material for blocks? (Most i've found are cast iron, couple cast steel)

Also:

3) With 2.5" lift, is it necessary to install the differential drop kit and sway bar relocator?

Thanks for any advice or related link you can offer.

 

Everyone will tell you blocks are bad, don't listen. A 1" won't do anything. That being said, and I am sure you know this, there are much better options which I recommend. An AAL will be the same amount of work to install and give you a better ride and load carrying capacity and they are only $100-$200 more.

As for the material used, any metal will work fine.

You do not need to relocate the sway bar and a diff drop is usually considered not needed.

Do a search for all this stuff, it has been covered many times and will help shed light on what you need.

Lastly, I bought my truck with a 2.5" front spacer and 1" block in the rear and it is noticeably nose high with the tsb 4leaf pack.

I would set the Bilsteins to 1.75" with a 1" block on the 3 leaf. Plus it will ride quite a bit better. Bilsteins at 2.5 are stiff.

 

Thanks Vantage, i know blocks are the least preffered option for lifting, I'm considering it because of the budget, yet i don't want to throw under my truck the first thing i can afford on the moment. I've read good and bad things about AALs also, i think opinions vary also by the use each one give to their truck. I'm not in a hurry so i'll keep looking.

Anyway, have you had any problem with the lifted truck and VSC?

 

A 1.5" block or AAL would be better. You might be a little nose high with only 1" rear lift and the front set at 2.5". The best way would be to measure the difference in the front to back height and go from there. My truck needed a 1.5" rear lift to match the front at 2.5. I never had any VSC problems.

 

Diff drop dont do it, if anything do the ECGS bushing for the front diff if you have vibes. Swaybar relocate is not needed for the most part... i just took mine off though.


Blocks are a joke... dont do it, spent the extra couple bucks, hell a 1.5in single aal is like 80 bucks... that will reduce axle wrap and provide more payload handling...

hell get the 2inch single aal (its 10inches longer overall than the one above) this will reduce axle wrap even more so!

same price

 

If you do go AAL.

A single AAL is very stiff. I hated mine

I switched to a 3leaf AAL from icon, and it rode great.

Then I switched to OME Dakars which were by far the best investment for those wanting a good ride, hauling ability and zero axle wrap.

 

This was my experience with a single aal also. Rode horrible.

How would you compare the ride quality from factory to your OME Dakars?

OP, 1" in the rear with 2.5" in the front will be nose high. My last Tacoma I had 1.5" in the rear with the 3 leaf and 5100's at 2.5" in the front and that was level.

 

Dakar's rode a lot better than the stock leafs.

I have a cap so I think the extra weight helps them ride a little less harsh, but they were fantastic.

If you have a trailer, or haul weight go with Dakar's.

If you don't carry heavy loads, the Icon 3leaf AAL rides really well and provides a nice lift.

 

If you do any offroading......DO NOT GET BLOCKS!!!

Certain offroad situations where you're applying a lot of torque on the wheels - the first thing to 'break' is the blocks. I've seen it happen. The blocks break in half/pieces and those pieces go flying and almost hit a guy in the groin.

 

everyone says they are overly stiff. the 2in wheelers AAL i have on my 3+1 leaf pack added stiffness yes. but maybe 10-20% The truck rides proper now, flexes great and is a SHIT TON less stiff than my buddy that had the dakars on his truck.

But hey i like my truck to actually be truck like and handle a load.

 

I will say his Dakar's can easily handle more load than a stock pack+AAL.

My Toytec 1.5AAL would sag under my trailer weight with 3+1 TSB leafs.

My Dakar's didn't budge. I also found they were smoother on road than the AAL.

Everyone is different.

 

i guess. The dakars on my buddies truck road stiffer than my 2001 Chevy 2500hd 1ton... and that chevy was BONE jarring stiff. He ended up going with allpro standards and they are a SWEET spring.

 

Good to know that he likes the Allpro standard leaf pack. That's the one I'm going to install on my truck this week.

 

How much and how much lift do they provide?

I'm looking for a new set of leafs for my new truck.

I just checked Allpro. 3" lift on the rear springs is a lot, I prefer the 1.5-2" on the Dakar's.

 

I think the Dakars have almost the same lift as the Allpro standards. There's no way you'll only see 1.5" with the Dakars unless you remove leafs from it.

 

Thanks everybody for the replies, since i don't do any towing, usually don't haul heavy weight and do a lot of highway driving i think the Icon 3 leaf progressive AAL pack would be a good option for my truck.

 

this.

The lift was essentially the same between the two... the dakars lifted his truck A LOT probably close to 4 inches but that was from the stock 2+1 leaf pack which is about an inch or so less in height than the 3+1 stock pack. I think we measured right at 3/8ths of an inch less lift from the all pro standards vs the dakars (he had one overload removed) but he had 3/8ths in thick or so degree shim. Either way close enough... the all pros are A LOT more plush.