Unknown Lift Kit

You have 2 options. 1. Buy a while new 6” lift or 2. Goto a shop that can re weld in the oem cross member then revert to stock hight then buy a simple 3” lift for that.

 

The idea is to get rid of the spacers that extend your balljoints and your shocks - a truly terrible design that never should have existed. Since every lift kit is designed slightly different, it would be hard to say if you could just get another 6" lift, like Procomp/Fabtech or something, and just bolt it in based on the crossmember modifications needed to install your current lift kit.

I don't have personal experience with installing any 6" lifts, so I can't comment intelligently (doesn't stop me from trying, lol) on the specifics of what would need to be modified, but I wouldn't be surprised if you end up with some fabrication no matter what you do - even if you go for another 6" lift.

That said, a "good" 6" lift can be rather expensive; ~$2500+ for the Fabtech, and that one still has a crappy (IMO) block lift for the rear. For that kind of cash, you can get some pretty sweet high end coilovers (Fox, King, ICON), upper control arms, diff drop kit, and fully custom (or even just "plain" aftermarket ones) rear leaf springs/shocks that will out perform any 6" lift on the planet.

IMO, the benefits of a 6" lift just don't outweigh the cost (both monetarily and functionally). 6" lifts really don't change the performance of your suspension much, they mostly just make it higher.

I would do the fabrication necessary to bring it back to "stock", and stick with a 3" or less and you can still easily fit 33's, even 35's if you're willing to and

 

Ya I work in Vernon. Kootenays are cool I'd love to live out there. Too many people here haha.

You are running 32s and 31s. Both don't even need a lift on a stock tacoma. Certainly not a 6" lift. I run 285/75/16s (roughly 33/11/16) on a 3" OME suspension lift.

As said above, those are your options...

 

If it were my truck I would fix the cross member get a 3in kit and some upper control arms.

 

What would you guys recommend for a 3 in lift kit for it?

 

I would be looking at OME for something good but economical, but that is only a little over 2" of lift I think. Should fit your tires, though.

 

Depends on your budget. 3" lift is hard on CV axles. But 2." Is about the maximum. On the cheap get some toytec coilovers with light racing uca's for the front. and for the rear all pro makes a rear lift kit. I'm running the coilovers and the expo leaf spring. But my uca's are Camburg uniball.

 

What is your budget?

Probably the "best" all around budget friendly "kit" is a set of Bilstein 5100s and OME coils, and an add-a-leaf in the back. That'll run you maybe $350 for x4 5100's, then another $160 or so for the coils, and $150 for an add-a-leaf. There are a few other odds and ends you usually end up needing, but for around $800 you can end up with a really good setup. The cheapest way to go is to skip the OME coils and use your stock springs, and move the adjuster clip on the shocks up to lift it. It's not ideal, but it's cheap, and I ran that setup for 6+ years and was quite happy with it. It was a daily driver, so I didn't "need" top performance, and only used it occasionally off-road. Now it's my play truck, so I upgraded...

The next step would be something like the OME complete 3" kit. iirc, they're about $1200, but you get almost everything you need, shocks and springs for all 4 corners. Some suppliers include an extended rear brake line with it, but you'll need a diff drop kit, too.

Hey, they're on sale now! Here's their diff drop kit: From there, if you really want to look at some nice performance improvements, start looking at better coilovers, like Fox, King, or Icon. All-pro makes some good kits with good parts. Expect to pay $1500 to $3000. My extended travel Kings (front coilovers only) cost about as much as the entire OME 3" kit I mentioned above. But they are adjustable, have more travel, and have vastly better performance. You get what you pay for... I went ahead and got uniball UCAs and a diff drop, too. All in for the front I'm running <$2k. The rear had to wait, lol

If you don't off-road a whole lot, or aren't sure what kind of performance you "need", stick with the 5100s or the OME kit. I usually say buy once cry once, but I don't regret for a second getting my 5100s then later upgrading to Kings. It wouldn't have made sense to spend $3k-$5K on suspension for a daily driver and occasional off-roader. I call those rigs mall crawlers or pavement princesses.

 

They make diff drop kits for that...

 

Best to let him know so that way he expects it and plans to correct it either way

 

I did

 

You run 31s on a 6” lift? Oh boy you probably get alot of people looking at you with big smiles on there face lol

 

also don't "need" aftermarket UCAs for 2-3" lift. they are just candy. only really need them if your alignment cannot be brought into spec, or if you are needing more articulation than the stock UCAs can give for off-road.

 

I read somewhere that the stock ball joints offer more articulation than a uniball anyway. If that's the case, articulation isn't usually the limiting factor in either case, it's the alignment... Uniballs are just stronger

 

No the uniballs offer more articulation, stronger. Main problem is that there more exposed to the elements more and require more maintenance cause of it.

 

OP - I'd be shocked if someone in your local area doesn't have a set of factory shocks and coils or 5100s laying around their garage. Used factory parts should be easy to find on the cheap if you're just looking for a short term solution. Check craigslist and a local for sale or B.S. thread on TW.

 

But I read it on the internet. Must be true!

 

Dont get used suspension parts from 20 year old vehicles since you have to get upper control arms spend a little bit more and get some SPC upper control arms and get your alingment corrected, trust me its worth it.

 

Are you a mechanic? Is this something that you would be willing to do?