New Tacoma Owner

Purchasing a new tacoma, first thing I want to do is some lift and tires. Went to the two local places that are known for doing lifts to trucks. Both have been around for a long time.

I have roughly $3,500 to work with for the lift, tires and some accessories.

First shop gives me a price of 3,100 for a 3"level kit in the front, and I believe he said a 2" in the rear, 33"x12" tires.

Second shop tells me he does not like to do leveling kits, leads to too many problems in the front end. He said if I insisted he would do the install but stated it is not if you have problems but when. But he suggests a full suspension lift, which would cost 3,400, that is without the wheels and tires. That is obviously not an option for me.

Now, I am totally confused what to do.

I have been reading the info on the boards, but still feel uncertain.

Has anyone experienced any problems out there with leveling kits and is willing to share?

Thanks for your thoughts and opinions.

Mike

 

$3,400 sounds a bit steep to me for a full suspension lift with install. You can get really good suspension lifts starting at around $750 but if you are looking at going with a full 3" lift you will want to look into getting aftermarket UCA's to get your alignment back in factory specs. If anything I'd go with a good suspension lift and if you dont have enough for wheels and tires at that moment then just keep saving up and get them a different time. Technically a leveling kit is just raising the front to match the back. If you are raising the front and back thats a lift not a level.

 

I don't have the personal experience. But I was recently quoted about $1,900 for a 2.5" lift front and rear on my 2015 Tacoma. This was using an OME brand lift with "full dakkars". I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to this stuff so I don't have a full grasp. But from what I've read that's a beneficial way to do it!

Granted that was without tires. Just the 2.5" suspension lift, labor, freight, and alignment.

 

Thanks for the quick responses guys.

 

Welcome!Enjoy that mod money!

 

Are you going to install the coils, shocks, AAL's or dakars, and UCA's along with anything else yourself? You'll save a lot of money if your willing to devote a weekend to your truck. Personally, I love working on my truck and I cringe at the thought of letting someone charge me $100 an hour to work on my truck aside from alignments but that's just me .

I agree 100% with DeeKay21, seems a bit steep even if that is with the install. Tires should run you around $1000 depending on what size you want and what style. I'd recommend 33's for a 3" lift, you may have a bit of rubbing even with the UCA's and the lift but you can trim if it really bothers you.

OME (Old Man Emu) makes a solid suspension lift for around a $1000 depending on what you choose to go with. I'm about to install mine with 887 coils (3" lift coils), nitrocharger shocks all around, and light racing UCA's, cost me $1100 I believe but I didn't need the AAL for the rear since I already had one to go with the spacer I installed in the front facepalm. Dakars give you 2.75 inches of lift in the rear, they're a bit stiff but allow for much better towing. Otherwise an AAL will work just fine.

Also, like DeeKay21 said, a levelling kit isn't a type of lift, it just refers to levelling your truck. If you're changing your suspension, it's a suspension lift... I want to say he might have been referring to a spacer in the front when he said it does some harm up front because changing your coils and shocks won't harm your truck.

 

OK, looking into further while checking the forum posts to try and understand better.

I am not a guy who has ever worked on cars other than some oil changes, so I need to have someone do the work for me, unfortunately.

 

$3400 installed sounds really high. You can probably talk down the price, just ask for a break (Say something like... "anything you can do for me to get that price down??") and they will probably give you 10% right off the bat. Worth asking IMO. If not, I'd keep shopping until you find a better price. Just for a reference, I paid $2875 for ICON stage 3 kit, including installation. Best of luck with your mods!! and welcome to the club!!!

 

Checked out toytec lift...lots of options, where to begin?

 

Welcome to TW!

 

Spoke to a third shop today by phone, this is what they suggested based on what I was looking to do, and money I had:

Rough Country 3" lift, part #745N2
Nitto Terra Grappler, 265/70/17
KDX Wheels 17x9

 

So they could do all of this for $3,500? Everything installed?

 

Personally, I wouldn't go ruff country. I'd go OME if you want to stick around $1000 or Icon if you want to spend more or the same. Icon has like 7 different "stages" of kits so you can choose which kit has what you're looking for in it along with if the price sounds good.

Terra grapplers are good for the highway in my opinion, I wouldn't take them off road or anything. I'd recommend going with something like BFG's KO2, Goodyear's wrangler duratrac, or nitto trail grapplers. Unless you never plan on getting in a bit of mud or snow, I wouldn't choose a tire like that, get something with some tread to it, doesn't have to be anything hardcore but that's just my .02. Edit: I'd also go 285's (33" tires), they look better with 3" lifts and you don't need to trim but it's good to.

As for the wheels, I googled them and only found Kawasaki's . Are you looking for a wheel that is really "out there" and "wild" looking or do you want something that looks good and doesn't scream at people haha? Some guys like wheels that look like they came off a sports car and some like wheels that are more stock ish looking.

Edit again: You'll also probably want to factor in UCA's, LR UCA's are like $400

I'm planning on getting these myself:

 

Congratulations, wise choice.

 

No, this was a different shop. I have not received their price yet.

 

thoughts on...BILSTEIN ADJUSTABLE LIFT KIT WITH 5100 SHOCKS?

 

Billies are a very solid option, tons of guys run them and they're a very affordable way of lifting you truck. I believe all 4 shocks should run you around $400 and you can adjust them how you want. I think they max out at about 2 inches, I want to say you can go more but it's around 2 inches that they lift your truck.

What else comes with the kit? I'm assuming an AAL for the rear but anything else? And what's the price?

 

Priced out the install of the bill stein kit through toytec. The kit runs about 650, install is 700.