Lift Questions

Okay, tomorrow I plan to order some 285/75/16 mastercraft courser MXT tires with Method Standard 16" wheels. I have a few questions before I make the purchase right away.

First thing, will I be able to go ahead and install them without the lift if I'm only doing highway driving until I purchase a lift?

Second... The lift.... I was all set on purchasing a "readylift" spacer kit but after lurking through the forums that seems to be an awful thing to do(even though I wont be doing too much off roading). So I've decided on Bilstein 5100's. For the desired effect of the 3" front 2" rear should I get just the front shocks, or get the front and rear Billsteins. If so, would I keep my current springs and still have close to 3" lift? How much rubbing for minimal offroading should I expect with that setup with method standards at 4.5" backspacing?

Last question, I promise.. If I inevitably at 888 springs to compliment the Bilsteins will that give me more lift, reduce the rubbing and enhance the offroading experience, or would front and rear 5100's set to max give the same effect? Thanks!!

 

I would buy a lift coil to put on those Billies.

That way you can leave them all the way on the bottom clip for a better ride quality.

at 3" - You are in the realm of possibly needing after market UCA's for alignment purposes.

I would wait to throw those wheels and tires on until its lifted.

 

Thanks for the quick response. First of all, in reference to your signature with the quote" you fucked up when you joined the site"... I feel I did exactly that. LOL

Okay.. So, I'll go ahead and purchase the 888 springs for the front and 5100 hundreds all the way around.. Or would it suffice to go cheap for the rear and just add 1" blocks or AAL ? I'm assuming with the 888 and Bilsteins set at 0 I wouldn't necessarily REQUIRE an aftermarket UCA, but MAY benefit from one, and would just have to see how it plays out?

 

Definitely lift first. Lots of times those rub even with a lift. Especially when you use a rim with more negative offset. Mine is lifted with the same size tire and it rubs a lot. Mostly because the offset of my wheels, but still. I think it would be really bad without a lift

 

887's ftw

 

HAHA!!! yeah, thats the almighty Bob.

Im not even sure what the '888' coils are to be honest.

I think you should be looking for an 885 coil IIRC

What I would do is put together a budget and pick up the phone and call Marie @HeadStrong Off-Road

I cant say enough about this vendor.

Answered all my questions, and sold me EXACTLY what I needed, and none of what I didnt.

 

..... Not to knock headstrong, but wheelers off-road helped me. They are good people to work with as well

 

I have 285/76/16s on my truck. Expect to have to perform a cab mount chop in order to be able to fully turn those tires regardless of height. I have about 2.5 inches of height on mine and I had to cut them out. If you can, I would consider looking into a 255/85/16 tire as these are skinnier and wont rub.

Coot

 

Okay, so it seems this going to be the type of thing I have to piece together overtime and personal experience. With that being said... I know for a fact I can afford the rims/tires and front 5100's right now.. Maybe next paycheck and whenever I get my tax return I can start adding more pieces, like the springs, or rear AAL.

What do you guys think.. Buy the 285/75/16 tires, Method Standard wheels at 0 offset 4.5 backspace and front 5100's and have it all installed at once as a starting point?

 

As far as making the tires/wheels a priority...is it that they are hard to get in stock or is there a deal currently on them? Nothing wrong with buying them and then stashing for a few weeks until you get the suspension figured out, but having all sorts of rubbing on stuff can get old fast. I would make a good front and rear suspension set up a priority. Considering what you are looking to do with your truck some bilsteins for the front and rear should work out. I would of went with wheelers as well, had I not went the SUA route as they have some good leaf packs ranging from 0-4 inches in ride height. If you go with wheelers, ask for Dan...he is pretty knowledgeable with their suspension products and should be able to point you in the right direction. Also, I would look into seeing if you could have a shop/buddy to do some minor cutting on the front cab mounts so that you can run 285s without rubbing.

Coot

 

Well, there is no specific reasoning behind making it a priority. I just absolutely hate the stock wheels and tires with a passion and want to replace them ASAP. I got the worst of the worst in regards to stock rims\wheels. What made me want a Tacoma was one with a 3" rough country lift that had massive tires, which I later discovered to be 285/75/16... Of course I never asked about rubbing or anything of that nature because I was clueless at that point.. I just knew I wanted a Tacoma and I wanted it to look like that one, LOL. Petty, I know... But sometimes it's the small things in life which satisfy us.

 

Its all good man, Im sure many of us have some moment similar to that unless we were born around the Baja. Anyway, if you type in the tire calculator you will see that 285's yield 32.8 in overall diameter. If you type in 255's, you will see they are 33.1 which actually makes them slightly bigger. I recommend going this route as well as 285s can be a lot more tire and possibly eat more on your MPG along side the rubbing you will have to deal with. I would of went with 255s for my tires, but the KO2s only come in 285 so that was that for me.

Coot

 

Whats lifting the rear 2"? You mention it but just changing shocks wont do it. If you are doing aal or blocks you will want different shocks as the length of stocks ones is ment for stock height. If you dont change the rear shocks you will be at risk of wrecking them when they bottom out

 

Another thing...I just recently put on my tires after about 2 months of running the stock tires with my suspension. These trucks do a pretty good job of being lifted with stock tires if you are worried about the look in the interim.

Coot

 

So to clarify, purchasing the Bilstein 5100 rear shocks which claims to add 1" of height will require something additional in order to get the extra inch of height in the rear?

 

Where are you seeing they add lift? Think they mean for vehicles lifted roughly an inch. Lift comes from springs or spacers, shocks just control the rebound of springs and compression of bumps.

 

Yep, assume you were to park your Tacoma and completely remove your shocks. What gives it that height alone is the leaf pack in the rear. As others have said, you will need to either change your leaf pack, add a leaf to it for more height, or put a block under it for more height (I do not normally recommend this, cheaper method though). Once you have your ride height figured out and the according leaf pack/additional leaf/block, then you should get shocks that have extended lengths for the rear that will fit that set up. If you get shocks before getting the pack without knowing what amount of height you will want, there is a good chance the shock wont be the right length to accommodate and will be over flexed and stuff which can be blow them out pretty quick. I would talk to Dan at Wheelers, or headstrong and just get a gauge for what is available so that you can make a better determination of where you want to go as its good to get a base for what you want and then build it from there.

Coot

 

Okay... I'm confused.. So adding Billstein 5100 adjustable shocks and setting it at max doesn't provide 2.5" of lift in the front?

 

Jesus... I might as well get the Readylift spacer kit. LOL. I see why people do. 300 bucks versus 1k plus