What should I lift my tacoma with?

Ok guys and girls I am wanting to lift my 2004 tacoma SR5 4x4 but I don't know how to go about doing it. Can some one please help me. I am wanting 4 to 6 inches of lift because it want to put bigger tires on. Keep in mind I am an 18 year old kid that likes to go off road often.

 

You'll want a 3" since you off-road often. That will get you the most clearance due to the drop bracket on the 6" lift restricting clearance.

What size tires are you looking to get? Also, what is your budget?

 

I was looking at 33" tires. My budget for the lift is like 700. Should I do a suspension or a leveling with a coil over?

 

^this. Big 6" lifts are for show. Simply upgrading to Bilstein 5100 shocks with Eibach springs in the front and adding an AAL in the rear will be perfect for offroading AND allow you to put 33's on it. You could also use the OME lift...same thing, different company...both are great and can be done for well under $1k

 

^This.

 

There is a wealth of information on the topic. The search button is your friend.

 

$700 is not much of a budget for a quality kit, especially if you factor in labor cost to install it. Unless of course you plan to install yourself?

 

Here are a couple of quality options that avoid spacers... and I'd go with the AAL in the rear instead of blocks as well.

$600
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/Bilstein-lift-kit-with-5100-shocks-_p_1137.html

$735
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/Old-Man-Emu-Tacoma-suspension_p_225.html

You also need to factor in the cost of getting the front struts assembled, generally around $100 from what i've heard.

 

It's not hard to do yourself. It took me a couple hours. I paid around $600-$700 for everything and like $70 for the alignment and that was it.

You can rent a spring compressor from most parts stores for free for assembling the front shocks and springs.

I went with your first option, except I didn't get rear shocks, as they're not needed. I also went with the AAL's.

OP, AAL > blocks

 

Thanks everyone I do plan on doing it myself. So labor isn't a problem.

 

ome, toytec or 5100s seperate, and a lesser used but good kit is the skyjacker one with lift struts and aal. If you still feel like that isnt enough lift you can install a smaller body lift for a couple hundred. Those drop bracket lifts are almost useless. Theres a guy in town with a 10" lifted durmax on 40s and since center crossmember and torsion bars get dropped so much my little 2.5" lifted taco has same amount of ground clearance.

 

lol

 

Am I going to have to rebuild my gears?

 

You shouldn't have to with 33s... Most guys don't. If you went any bigger it would be a good idea. I'm running stock gears with 33s no issues.

 

Won't hurt anything, but totally unnecessary