Tacoma suspension lift help

I recently bought a Tacoma and I've been looking at 3" lifts because I want to fit some 33" tires. I've ruled out spacer lifts because they give a rough ride and can damage your truck and I don't want that because I do a lot of trail riding. I would like to just blow 4k and get one of those bad ass kits from Fox buuuut that's a bit out of my price range so I found this kit here: https://bilsteinlifts.com/shop/toyo...zZ7F1jSSoq-lzpUlapAlfK03aTxhqoAxoCWPUQAvD_BwE

From what I've read stock tacos have about 3" of wheel travel and when you put on a lift like that it takes it to close to 1" (found out that's wrong after posting this)
is that true? I feel like with that little wheel travel it would give a very rough ride

I want a good lift for a good price with a good bit of wheel travel. As you can tell I'm not very knowledgeable about lifts so I'm hoping y'all can help me get what I'm looking for.

 

Ride quality mostly depends on what options you choose for the kit. You can get HD struts and springs (usually required if you have heavy offroad bumpers) or you can get softer if you plan to leave bumpers stock. I have OME on mine with 887x coils and HD Dakar leaf pack which is the most firm you can get (I think) and it rides slightly stiffer than my worn out stock suspension did which is surprising especially for me to have no OR bumpers, but I like a stiff ride as long as Im not bouncing all over the place but I have yet to test travel and offroad performance. If I could have chosen what I got (i bought it used) I would have gone 885. Also look at the options and what they recommend. You need to get different rated coils if you have a 4cyl or 6cyl and reg cab vs double cab. also with a 3" dont bother spending the extra for the shims for the diff drop, you dont need that. Im not super knowledgeable in suspensions either but I have learned a lot just by reading this forum and reviews of the lift.

 

3" of wheel travel??

Tacos have more like 8-9" of wheel travel stock. The effects lifts have on wheel travel is a little tricky. I've done my own research and have yet to find convincing data but I've come to my own conclusions. It would seem that the adjustable coilovers basically allow you to move the resting ride height up or down within the shocks travel. So when you go up you lose droop travel relative to resting height but gain up travel. And vice versa. The thing is that even before you lift it the limit for up travel is really determined by the bumpstops on the LCA, not necessarily the limit of the coilover. And when you add preload to the coilover to lift it you don't move the LCA anywhere thus your up travel is still limited by the bumpstops and has not increased. So when you go up you sacrifice available down travel for zero usable gain in up travel. Therefore overall you do lose wheel travel when you lift.

As far as I understand it non-adjustable coilovers such as the OME suspension you linked work the same way. Their preload is just preset and permanent. Now that being said it is possible that they utilize a longer shock which could compensate for the lost droop travel. This is where the "extended travel" coilovers come into play. They just add an extra inch of travel onto the shock but you need better UCA's to handle the extra travel. Either way you shouldn't lose or gain any up travel as long as the LCA and bumpstop stay the same. It is however possible and likely that you will lose some droop travel when lifting.

TLDR and/or didn't understand: Tacos have a lot of wheel travel stock. You will probably lose a little wheel travel with a lift but it won't be massive.

 

Okay i understand that now thank you very much for taking the time to explain that. So if I were to get that OME kit would it be worth the time/money to upgrade my LCAS and UCAS?

 

I'm not completely set but I think I'm going to be getting OME kit. How much did you spend on your lift - installation? The full kit by toytech with 885 coils from bilstienlifts.com is $909 with free shipping

 

UCA's are generally recommended for 3" lifts. You may struggle to get back to factory alignment specs without them. Don't bother with LCA's. They are stupid expensive and come with a host of other requirements.

 

Me and some other guys put the lift on ourselves. Took roughly 5-6 hours. Most shops will charge around ~$60/hr so it would depend on how long the lift says it will take to install. And what @Doggman said. Mine has light racing UCAs and makes alignment much easier and keeps better angles. The cost of my lift with all its options was around $1700 but like I said I got it for a good deal. My original choice was 5100s, eibach coils and Toytec AALs. It with the options was around 850 and thats not including UCAs.

 

The OME 3" is what I have installed and I love it. Everything was purchased from headstrong off-road for $1771 if I remember correctly. We basically have the same truck, so I can give you some pretty accurate insight. I went with 885 coils and the 1/4 top plate spacer, along with the drivers side 10mm trim packer to correct the "taco lean". For the rear I chose dakars, and in my opinion they greatly outperform the front lift. The rear rides extremely well and has more than enough travel. The front can be a little stiff (by stiff I mean slightly more than stock) over speed bumps but off road it hasn't given me any issues. As far as travel goes, in extreme situations off road at full lock and stuffed I do hit the cab mount, but I will be doing the cab mount chop to correct this soon. For me the travel is sufficient, ifs is not notorious for being flexible so I'm happy with what I have. I did install spc uca's and aligning the front end was no issue. I'm running 285/75-16's and I did have to do minor plastic trimming on the front (nothing noticeable) and remove the mud flaps. As far as install/time goes, I would highly recommend using power/impact tools. A buddy of mine and myself used his garage and start to finish everything took 3.5 hours (I would not expect this to be everyone's time frame, we are both helicopter mechanics). If you are a mechanic/mechanically inclined it should be fairly simple. Old parts come out, new parts go in. The most difficult part was installing the passenger uca as there is some bending/wire harness removal required to get the bolt out. If you do end up going with the OME kit, feel free to message me with any questions. Here are some pics of before/during/after the lift to give you an idea of what to expect:

Before:



During:









After with some flex pics:

 

Thanks for the reply man. A buddy of mine is reclassing to a UH-60 mechanic. He's going to South Korea. Can I keep the stock UCAs? The website I was looking at for the OME lift doesn't suggest anything like that

 

My last lift was the OME with 887 could and fill Dakar packs out back and LR uca's and it was a good.lift,did nt11 like the squeezing rear leads much bit I got over it lol.ge a hold of Marie at headstrong off-road and ahe will lay it out for you so you have all the options and the customer service is second to none....

 

Good ol South Korea... tell him to have fun in that shithole! As far as the uca's go, you may be able to keep them and you may not. For me, I figured I might as well replace them while I was there. Plenty of people have done 3" lifts and gotten away with running 285/75-16's. The most important thing in regard to clearing stock uca's seems to be the wheel backspacing, 4.5 is the magic number you are looking for. I'm running method nv's with 4.5 backspace and I probably could have done without uca's but like I said I didn't want to chance it. All up to you! Headstrong off road has uca's for the lowest price I could find and can include them in a complete kit for you

 

Me and you have the exact same suspension except I have 887 coils. Id like to ride in one with softer coils to see how much of a difference it is. I have yet to test my flex or offroad performance but I dont have a sway bar (makes the 887s a little better) so Im sure its still good. UCAs are expensive but highly recommended and will pay for themselves over time. All of mine came from Headstrong offroad as well.

 

I always wonder what heavier coils would have rode like... it was a tough call between 885's w/ top plate or an 886/887 to achieve the same lift. I came from a 1985 Silverado with a rough country 4" lift so I REALLY didn't want a rough ride. I've been doing some research and I think I will be ditching the sway bar the first chance I get to take it off, everyone seems to enjoy the ride and off road improvements that come with removing it.

 

I'm gonna try to get away without new UCAs. I wanted to get some wheel spacers because I think they look cool, do you think with some 1.5 spacers I'd be able to clear the UCAs? Do you (or anyone else) have any experience with wheel spacers?

 

I've considered putting wheel spacers on my truck but I'm not running any yet. From what I can see it would definitely clear the uca's with a spacer, but I would be concerned about it rubbing more on the inner fenders/cab mount. Bora makes spacers for our trucks from .75"-3", maybe a .75" or 1" spacer would be the best option?

 

Don't forget a 1/4in top plate spacer to compensate for the Taco lean

I went with 5100s, 887 coils, and JBA UCAs up front. Icon AAl in the rear. I don't flex or trail ride so I'm saving up for the alluminium Fox 2.0s since I frequent the beach.

 

My last truck was a 98 Z71 with 6" and 37s, I know what youre talking about and mine with 887s still rides 10x better than my chevy did. My girlfriend has ridden in both and she says it rides better and isnt much different than it was when it was stock. Noticeable but it doesnt wear you out to drive it for long distances. Plus if I ever did want an offroad bumper (doubt it) I wont have to change coils. And the purpose of the UCAs is to make it easier to align. The factory ones run out of alignment room when you change their angles that much. Different UCAs have more adjustment.