The favorite TW lift! The 3' inch Spacer lift!

Shit I love my spacers and I don't get the stupid "bro lean"

 

I have spacers myself in the front of my 2013, and added 2 leafs to the rear springs since i had the worthless 3 spring pack from the factory on my "30k" truck.

I personally would never run blocks (front is a safety issue, rear is a spring wrap issue) but sapcer on the coilover is a different story.

I also hate body lifts.

I have them because they are cheap ($60) and easy to remove 30 minute or so i could have gone more expensive but i ran them for 75k on my 2008, and never had an issue. i was MUCH harder on that truck then i ever will be on my 2013.

most people who have ever drove a stock tacoma offroad knows it sucks for ground clearance, and the small gain from a set of spacers is a huge improvement. And without abuse i would recomend them as a starting point for anyone. they are not the best by any means but they are cheap and they serve a purpose.

risk<gain if treated properly.

if you want to go to pismo, or catch some big air or keep up with the hardcore wheeling rigs then spend more. If you want to gain some ground clearance over stock and have the option to go down the trail to drag your broken play truck out like i do. then spacers are perfect. Besides, i bought a TRD Offroad package and paid extra for the factory bilsteins so why not drive on them for awhile.

And for what its worth my 4runner with 5100's has 80k miles mainly on the street and it has way more alignment/bushing/squeeking/ride comfort issues than my 2008 with stock and 75k spacers had. I am not saying that the 5100's are worse, they are probably better im trying to show that its all grey area and you cant make certain cases into fact or rules for the matter because every situation is going to be different. If you like it, then you spent your money well. If not you spent $60-200 more than you would have before and you gained experience. Just dont expect your spacers to perform like a full long travel kit and you wont be dissapointed.

 

i agree 100%

 

i would say moderate offroad as well.

that and i have had 3 sets of the procomp soft ride full length add-a-leaf's and they de-arch and dont last very long. the short time they do last the worked pretty good. i have since found a cheaper set that are 1" longer and better made (durability). I have been running them for 5 months without issue, however they are slightly stiffer but i generally have a pile of shit in my truck, so thats where they win out. If i didnt haul, and tow often i would rather the procomp leaf

 

Ready lift on my 2wd with no problems. Light off road use, and that's mainly caliche roads here in south texas. No problems what so ever. I don't understand the guys who put in a 3K lift and never off road, basically mall crawlers. The ride is stock, no different than stock. Also most of the issues I've seen from the pics of the broken shock have been 4wd. I don't ever see the problem affecting the 2wd. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

My front spacer lift has served my 1st Gen well for a lotta years of 4x4. I had to replace my front coils recently and could have easily went with a more "appropriate" spring/shock lift set-up, but decided to buy OEM coils again. Stock springs with the yellow billies and a 2.5" spacer has served me so well for 10 years, I'm sticking with it. Good ride, good strength... never an issue.

 

Skipped the spacers. Straight to the good stuff.

 

That's easy to do when you're only spinning 2 wheels

 

what if I didnt pay 30K for my truck? Is a spacer lift ok then? I dont off road, wheel, etc... I just want the look with out breaking the bank on new suspension setup.

 

i dont care what you payed in any way unless you got an awesome deal i could possibly get then i may care a little.

But IMHO unless you plan to abuse it, spacer is great.

If you do plan to wheel it, (i know you said no, but others may) just be mindful that its not jounce stops and long travel, and you will be fine!

if you take it off road i would say give some thought to not using the diff drop kit, i have seen them cause extrememly expensive damage and CV shaft are much cheaper.

If you keep it on the street Deffinately go with the diff drop kit as well, it helps save things that would wear faster without it, and since theres no risk of you causing extra damage with it then why not!? it comes free with most spacers

one more thing to consider is 1-2.5 inch spacers still give you lift but cause less stress. 3 inch spacers do make some parts wear faster, so does every other 3 inch lift. UCA and other upgrades can help same as with springs and coilovers, but you save some coin to buy those by using spacers and can use them as a stepping stone.

 

thanks, the closest I will be getting to "off roading" will be going down the dirt road to the training center of my FD, or the red clay road to my property. I only have a 2wd so i am not interested in messing up my truck trying to go through huge mud holes or going down logging trails and the such. besides, I dont want my truck all scratched up, I like to keep it looking nice.

 

Diff drop? OP doesn't have a 4wd.

 

That was my oversight for sure.. short term memory is not my friend

No worry's then.

 

"Preloading" takes place when the spring is compressed within its original area between the spring hat and spring retainer on the bottom of the shock assembly. There is no additional spring preloading with a spacer because the dpacer is not assembled within the boundaries of the spring but on top ofe the spring and shock assembly.

Just a little clarification. ;-)

 

ok i bought a LRT

$90 2005-2015 Toyota Tacoma With 4L Right Petrol intake air snorkel kit high performance system compatible kit Replacement black Rotational Molding (2005-2015)

2005-2015 3/1 Leveling/ Lift Kit for Toyota Tacoma from lowrangeoffroad.com
it has spacers for top of strut and blocks for rear it also has a spacer for the bump stop and differential drop so should i be worried when i install it? i dont do any off road riding i want the slight lift for when it snows and dont want my duratracs eating the wheel wells.

 

Correct for the most part.....Let me add a little to that....

As is usually the case, much of the comment on "spacers" is rumor, innuendo, disinformation, and pure nonsense. The bulk of the negative comments are from people who have absolutely NO experience with spacers whatsoever, and they just parrot what they've heard some other know-it-all spouting off about.

That said, there are TWO distinctly differet types of spacers. One is a coil spring spacer. They DO add preload to springs, and have some inherent problems. The other is a top plate spacer, which simply moves the strut down away from the upper shock mount. Due to suspension geometry, spacers usually raise the truck 125% to 150% of their actual thickness (ie, a 1" spacer might raise the truck 1-1/2"....)

With a spacer, you run out of shock travel (in compressed mode) before you run out of suspension travel. That CAN cause problems. One way to eliminate that issue is to space the bump stop an amount equal to the thickness of the spacer. A few people have managed to break shocks with spacers. That takes abuse to a certain extent.

To support my "addiction" to 4wd's, I do quite a bit of work on other folks trucks. I've put on (to this point) 7 spacer kits on GenII and GenI Tacomas. Not one has had issues. (All have had bump stop spacers installed at the same time) One is on a truck that belongs to a kid who lives just down the road. He absolutely hammers his truck He's shattered rims, broke frames, bent rear axles, etc...and no bent/broken shocks....I'll let that speak for itself.

Top plate spacers do NOT alter spring rates, and use the stock shocks....So ride is uneffected. You simply RAISE what you already had.

My current Tacoma came with a Toytech BOSS kit in a box in the back seat. I put quite a few miles on the truck with that kit, which is a highly regarded suspension kit. Recently BOTH front shocks started leaking. This is my daily driver. I had to do something in the interim until I get these shocks back to Toytech, or whatever I decide to do long term. For now, I removed the Toytech shocks, and re-installed my stock Bilstien TRD Off Road package shocks and coils with a 2-1/2" lift top plate spacer and a 1/2" home made "Taco Lean Eliminator" poly spacer. I'm so pleased with the ride I'm considering keeping this arrangment for a while. This setup rides MUCH better than what I was running. (Although I now believe there was something wrong with the shocks I was using)

Long story short, I blew out 2 shocks that were amongst some of the better quality shocks available. Would it then be fair to say ALL high dollar lift kits are garbage because I broke these? No, I don't think so. In the same line of thinking, because someone bends or breaks a shock with a spacer, in spite of the fact THOUSANDS use 'em with no issues, it's disinformation to say you'll bend a shock if you use a top plate spacer....

There are people who think the more money they spend, the better a product is.....Then there are people who would have YOU believe that. Simply not a carved in stone reality.....

I'm NOT looking to degrade the high end suspension parts....Quite the contrary....They usually ARE higher quality. But....There is no shame in using a top plate spacer if that serves your purpose. Some people are on a more limited budget. Others have higher priorities with regard to their money. (kids, family, homes, etc....)

All that said, I do NOT like spring spacers. You get a preload condition that isn't adjustable. You get what you get. I DO like the option of various spring rates, even adjustable shocks. If you can afford it, high dollar coilover shocks are all that and a bag of chips! But spacers aren't nearly as evil as some people would have you think. They work within certain limitations.

JMHO. But based on actual experience with the items described rather than echoing someone who just wants to brag about being in a position to spend thousands when others can only spend a couple hundred.

 

thanks bluegrass taco

 

Just throwing this out there. My dealer sells AND WARRANTIES the Tacomas they sell that have the spacer lifts installed. Anything 3"s or less and as long as they are toytec they will fully warranty them. Just throwing that info out