Is leveling the front really worth it?

I've had a spacer on mine for about 4 years. The truck drives the same and has no vibration issues. I don't drive off road a whole lot but when I have it's been fine. I really like the look it gave my truck. I did take about a 1mpg hit with the level and the slightly larger tires I put on. Was it worth it? Yeah I think so cause I've enjoyed it a lot since!

 

I prefer a level truck. I didn't notice any loss in mpg after I leveled. I believe spacers are fine as I've ran them on multiple vehicles with absolutely zero issues. There are a lot of rumor spreaders on the interweb.

 

Well said Justin. Things really get blown out of proportion on here. I'm sure somewhere along the way someone put on a spacer lift and tried to crawl up a 10' cliff and broke something. Then all of a sudden spacers are bad, and it spreads like wildfire. If you don't believe me, dig around and find where the "don't do a diff drop" originated.

 

I put a 3" OME lift on my Tacoma. My MPGs were unchanged.

 

I have 265/75 BFG AT KO2s on my 2014 DC OR with 5100s set to 1.75" and I'm happy with the setup after about 5k miles. I was able to get around 20MPGs highway stock and I'm now getting around 18 MPGs on the same commute. Ride is just a touch rougher, but not bad though, and no changes to performance or handling on the road. The tires I chose are great off-road and the leveling kit may have saved my bumper a time or two.

 

I love the way mine looks after installing my 5100. But get ready for your front end diff to start vibrating until you install the aftermarket bushing to fix the problem.

Also after installing mine at 0.85 my ride was some what better compared to stock. It may feel a little stiffer. I honestly couldn't tell much of a difference.

 

Leveling the truck WILL affect your MPG only slightly while driving around town. You will notice it more at highway speeds. I speak from experience...

 

Just raised mine, and we took a 450 mile trip, ALL interstate (@ 70MPH) and another interstate only trip (335 miles) where I ran closer to 80 the entire trip. I figure gas mileage religiously....I got the EXACT same mileage as I was getting on road trips prior to lifting....

 

So basically you're telling the OP that his front end diff is going to vibrate with just a leveled front end simply because you had an issue?

Please be careful offering blanket statements like this. I've been lifted at 1.75 and 3" and no front diff vibration. But I'm not going to come out and state that every truck WON'T have vibrations. All our trucks are different. You need to make your decisions on the percentages.

So 99% don't have an issue, I'll take those odds over the guy with a 1% issue telling you its going to happen to you since it happened to them.

 

This

I had the bearing vibe as soon as I lifted the front. The 265/ 75 tires look great on a stock truck - fills the wheel wells nicely. If you lift, you could start running into issues that will cost more money. I say leave it and enjoy the truck, but that's not what I did...

 

How is it I lifted mine 3" front and back with no change then?

 

Which brand of spacer do you have?

 

Mine is via a Toytech "Boss" kit. It was in a box in the back seat of my truck when I bought it. Had it not been included, and I knew then what I know now, I'd be doing a top plate spacer. Got a neighbor who had me to install a top plate spacer leveling kit. (Revtech????) Same results with his.....Same mileage as prior with same tires. BTW, I always space the bump stops an amount equal to the thickness of the spacer. Shock doesn't bottom out that way.

 

Maybe you would like to educate us all with FACTS as to why spacers would be a problem for the OP given his intended use?

I love how guys will bash spacers, then go out and buy a set of OME'S with 885's and throw a spacer on top of those.

Like I said before, for what the OP wants, a spacer is CHEAPEST and fits his needs 100%. I'm not going to tell him he needs more than that if he doesn't.

 

I can't help but notice how almost every argument for full suspension lift/against spacers will always mention PRICE....It's that age old "This cost more than that, so this MUST be better in all cases" logic. I've found in life there are very few "absolutes".... What's best for one isn't always best for all....

 

Rock Lobster, this quote is the entire basis of my recommendation. Like I said, for the intended use of the OP, and not blanket advice to every user on the forum, the spacer is the best bang for the buck.

I'm open to hearing your opinion on why a 5100 is required or better suited for the OP.

 

I leveled an f-150 with a spacer and it acted completely different than stock. I know that we are talking about a different truck but I will never put a spacer on when is not much more to change the shock. I believe @Rock Lobster is saying "why even take the risk when its just a little more for it to be done properly and eliminate the risk of having to do it twice." Piece of mind is worth something.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the labor will be the same price either way. So its just a little more for the shocks.

 

I don't think the OP ever mentioned spacers here to begin with... lol

 

@Rock Lobster, this is my entire point, we see a rare instance of a bent shock so all spacers are bad. What a blanket statement. How about the 10's of thousands of guys out there running spacers on mall crawlers that have never bent a shock? Hazards are always there on the road as well.

I'm not arguing that the 5100 is a better solution, but I'm directing my answer to the OP directly based on his needs. A spacer will work, 5100's are better.

@bigfoote13, Cost on installation depends on if the OP is buying materials and DIY or having it installed. Most likely more cost with the 5100's just due to swapping the springs/assembly.

@Rock Lobster I have 60k on my diff drop and 0 issues. People don't come on and start threads about "i have a spacer lift and 0 problems" or "I dropped my diff and it works great, no problems". Threads get started when people do have a problem. I'd really like to see statistics of guys running spacers and diff drops vs the % that have had serious issues because of them. I bet those numbers aren't much different at all than those of us on 5100's, OME's, Icon's, etc.

A front set of 5100's is gonna run between $180-200 vs a level spacer which could be between $65-120. What is "a little bit of money" for some is not the same as others. I'm going to think before I recommend someone to spend twice the money on something. Installation cost is going to be a little higher with 5100's as well depending on how the garage is going to charge you for coil assembly, be that extra time or a charge to assemble.

Like I said before, I'm not arguing which is a better solution, but which is the more efficient and cost effective solution. The majority of the lifted Tacomas I see around Charlotte are on some type of front spacer lift, and clearly have been on them for some time.

 

@Nighthawk that's a pretty darn good point. He mentioned 5100's and if the cost was worth it as well as describing his truck use. That's where the whole, spacers are good enough for what you want argument.

The reality is there's two groups on here in the suspension world. The guys that think spacers will destroy your entire truck and you have to run at least 5100's, then there's the guys that run spacers and are happy. I'd say there's guys in both camps that have had issues due to their lifts that balance out regardless of that issue.