New Owner - A few questions

Hey guys, new Taco owner, owned a 1st gen Tundra (02), along with 4 other Toyota trucks (83, 84, 87, 89). I know "use the search", but it seems there's information overload on here... plus at least one question that can't be answered with a search it seems...

Truck is a 2006 Silver Streak Access Cab 4x4 TRD Off-Road, 130,000km on it (about 81k miles), mint condition (only mark on it is a 1/16" by 1/2" red line on the front bumper, probably from a car door or something somehow). Wheels are factory 16" TRD wheels, tires are boring Goodyear something or other with Kevlar (not great in the snow, bad in ice, don't know about anything else yet). It's had all the recalls done, regular maintenance, and I'm super happy with it. Got a few things to fix/mod (any time rear diff lock, change the headlights to a retro of some sort, maybe some sort of DRL mod, definitely fog light mod, maybe a power pop 'n lock, etc). Here are my questions:

1. The PO said that he had put a "daystar leveling kit on the truck", but when I look at the front struts, there are no spacers on them. They are the factory yellow Bilstein struts, and it looks like they have the factory strut plate on top. I'll take pics later if it helps. The rear has blocks under the TSB springs. My main question is, I am putting new tires on (pretty set on Duratrac's) and probably new wheels. I found Duratrac's on sale, and I bought some 265/75R16 because I read that 285's won't fit at all without a cab mount chop, which I don't want to do at this time (no welder right now, no shop right now, and don't want to pay someone else to do it). Now I'm reading some people say they fit 285/75R16's under a slightly lifted taco with only minor trimming of the wheel well, removing front mud flaps, and possibly slight trimming of the fender.

What's the answer? I do go off-road, though nothing too crazy as it's my daily driver. There are times when it'll be flexed decently etc. If I get some 16x8" wheels with 4.5" backspacing, what is the MINIMUM lift I need to run 285/75R16's without doing a cab mount chop?

2. How on earth can I figure out how much my truck is actually lifted, front and rear? I guess the best way is to measure from the center of the hub to the bottom of the wheel well and compare it to people who have a stock truck? Issue is going to be that most stockers have sagged by now, but at least it gives a ballpark I guess? Anyone know what the measurements are for a stock truck?

3. Is the Bilstein 5100 with OME's a good option, if I decide to replace my struts/shocks/coils? Should I also be doing my leaf packs at the same time, or can I get away with the TSB packs for a while with blocks under them? I had 5100's on my Tundra, and I snapped the bottom eyelet off of 3 of them before the truck got totaled by a lady who decided to drive her car in front of me on the road (her fault... yay!). I'm a little soured by that experience with the 5100's, but the bottom eyelet is a totally different design on the Tacoma struts (arguably, however, it looks a lot weaker than the Tundra design). Thoughts? Should I go with another shock? Coil overs are, I guess, a possibility, but I'd rather not bother at this point - as I say, it's a daily driver, and realistically I'm not going to end up wheeling too hard most of the time.

Sorry for the long post, and for the (no doubt repetitive) tire question.

P.S. I know 16" wheels are hit and miss with the calipers - I am also considering doing the Tundra caliper swap, though I'm not totally sure at this point if it's needed with 32 or 33" tires. Either way, Moto-Metal, XD, Fuel, etc, do most of those wheels fit, or does it depend on the exact model?

If anyone has the measurement on the wheel well to hub center, that would be swell, just let me know what lift you have so I have a comparison to go by!

Thanks again!

 

Welcome to TW! Sorry, I don't know anything about lifts, but plenty of members on here do and should be able to answer your questions.

 

If you post pictures of the front struts and rear leafs, the good folks on here will be able to tell you how much its lifted! Welcome to TW btw!

 

Stock measurements are typically 20" front, 22" rear.

Haven't heard of the issue with the 5100's you describe happening with Tacomas.

Not 100%, but I think Daystar is an airbag system for the rear.

OME's have a good reputation around here. Those paired with 5100's is a popular pairing.

Check your measurements, and go from there. If you lift the front, you will likely want to do something to the rear (if you don't already have something you want), whether it be an AAL, or full leaf pack.

 

Here are a couple stock measurements, harder to find than I thought it would be.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/stock-hub-to-fender-measurements.425223/

You can pair 5100's with OME coils, but most reccommend using the OME shocks. Blocks are a 4 letter word around here. At least go for an AAL or 3 leaf Progessive AAL in the back for a better ride than a single AAL. The Dakar leafs are a good option if you can swing the $ for a new leaf pack.

I think anything bigger than 265 75 16 and you are trimming.

 

For wheels, check these out:

https://www.stealthcustomseries.com/collections/toyota

These are made specifically for Toyota trucks, are pretty light, hub centric (pretty rare for aftermarket), and fairly priced. The SR8's are my personal favorites. Would have a set if I had the extra bills laying around.

 

Thanks for all of the help so far. I know for sure that there are no airbags - that's what I thought first when I heard "Daystar". Turns out Daystar does make spacer lifts, they look like garbage (like all spacer lifts...imo), but they do make them. I don't really think I've got that though - unless the spacer is squashed all to hell and doesn't look like a spacer anymore, but I don't think that's possible (their kit comes with extended strut mounting bolts that provide a steel shoulder that prevents the spacer from being squashed).

I've attached some pics here so everyone can see what is going on. Sorry for all that road salt looking crap - it's been nasty the last few weeks, and even with washing it every few days, it's gross right away again. Amazing how quickly surface rust appears in these conditions... *sigh*

I'm very much leaning towards keeping the 265/75R16 Duratracs that I bought already... I'm thinking that the difference between 265 and 285 really isn't much, the truck should still look good with the 265, and I can't imagine that I'd ever notice the difference when I'm off-road (about 1 inch wider tread width, and a small amount higher sidewall.. just can't see it mattering).

Can I put the 265/75R16 on the TRD Offroad wheels, or do they not have a large enough backspace?

If I found some 16x9 wheels, can I also go with those? I assume backspacing would still have to be 4.5" in order to make it work, right? If I understand correctly, we need 4.5" between the mounting surface of the wheel and the inboard side of the wheel, right? Changing the wheel width would cause a change in offset, but not backspacing, right?

Here are the pics:

 

I saw those and I really like them... they're pretty expensive wheels though, and I don't think he's got much stock of anything. I have to find something soon... I need to swap over the tires asap with the way this winter has been going!

 

Looks like a small spacer up front.

 

Yup - Toytech half inch spacer IMO

 

If it's just a small spacer like that, wouldn't the lift be smaller? Or maybe I'm just crazy, but it looks like the truck is fairly level (maybe a very small rake, but could just be the ground it's on). Comparing to stock height trucks, i feel like it looks like it's more than just a 0.5 to 1" lift up front... I'll go measure the fender to hub distance and see what I get.

 

Half in spacer like that yields 1" of lift

1" spacer gets 2" lift and so on

 

In short, the PO used spacer up front, and a block in the rear for your lift.

Each tire and rim combination has different dimensions. Your truck may fit a tire wheel combination under 1 brand, and not another. If you keep it stock or where it is now... you won't have the trouble of pouring money into unknown rub/scrape/fit problems. <-- IMHO.

 

Thanks for the help and advice so far.

Here are what I've measured the fender to hub distances to be. I also included a pic showing where I positioned the tape measure, and to get the measurement I put the camera lens on my phone directly in front of the center of the hub, then moved it straight back until I could see the tape (trying to keep it vertically in line with the center of the hub), and taking a photo when I was far enough back that I could see the numbers on the tape measure.

The snow on the ground wasn't totally even, especially on the back wheels, so the half inch difference between the rears might be from that.

But at the end of the day, I measured 23 inches up front and about 24.75 (splitting the difference between the two measurements) out back. If that's accurate, it would imply a 3 inch lift up front, and a 2.75" lift in the back.

What do you think I'm missing here? I know the thickness of the spacer up front is half of what the lift it gives, but even if there is a half inch spacer in there, that doesn't explain why my measurement is 2 inches higher than one would expect. Out back, the block looks very much like it's about 1.25-1.5", which leaves me with 1.25-1.5" of "missing" lift - how would the rear be that high, unless the spring pack isn't actually stock. It sure looks stock though, and I don't think there's an AAL on there.

Any thoughts on what the heck might be installed? I'm really seriously wondering if there's aftermarket coils up front, but the rear is a conundrum - the leafs don't look aftermarket, though then again I could be very wrong there.

 

Your spacers look to be above TOYOTA coil-overs, and still looks to have a spacer block between the leafs and your axle. Your coil-overs, and leafs look to be OEM from all the salty pictures I see.

 

Stock coils had paint markings when they came from the factory. I've never seen where anybody cracked the code as far as what they mean. If I remember right, the markings vary even between model years.

If yours have markings like these, then you have stock coils. I just don't know with the amount of salt that has been on them if you will be able to see them anymore if they are on there.

 

I will be taking it through the wash again today (good lord I hate winters in this city - wash the truck every couple of days or face the wrath of salt), and I'll have a closer look at the springs to see if they have paint marks. I recall my Tundra had yellow paint marks on it.

I do see what you guys are talking about re the front spacer. It does look like there's something mashed in between the rubber bumper above the spring and the strut mounting point on the truck.... but even so, it couldn't be more than a half inch thick I don't think... I'll see if I can get a caliper or maybe take an estimated measurement with something, and get a better idea of how thick it is.

Do OME (or any other companies that make coils for this truck) mark their springs, or are they somehow identifiable at all? Like, if there are no paint code markings on these springs (in my experience with the Tundra, the paint didn't come off easily, and the road salt and other grime didn't do a darn thing to it except cover it up until it was washed, so I'm positive I can find the paint markings if they are there), is there any way to tell what type of aftermarket springs they might be, or would it just be a shot in the dark?

Either way, at 23 inches it sounds like there is between 2.5 and 3 inches of lift up front, correct? And at between 24.5 and 25 inches out back, that should be between 2.5 and 3 inches of lift back there too, yes?

 

Hi and welcome. Nice truck. Have fun with it and beware, your wallet can take an incredible beating here. LOL. Good luck.