Spacer lifts - How bad are they really?

I have had the oppisite experience, my friends spacer lift rides WAY better than my truck with 5100s, 887s and dakar leaf packs. I honestly regret spending all the money on my set up when his truck rides night and day better and it only cost him 300$

 

If i could get some stock coils again i would love it. The preloaded stock coils on 5100s rode WAY better than the ome coils. There so hard to find it seems tho other than the MOOG brand coils but im not sure if they are exact oem spec coils like what came on the TRD Sport

 

Whats your review on the 5100s?

 

Is there a limit to how large of a spacer you can get before you lose contact from the bump stops. I.e. would I risk any damage with a 1/2 in spacer (1 in lift)? I rarely off-road and like the factory ride, but don't want to introduce a weak point in the trucks suspension either.

 

So you used just bilstein shocks on stock coils to obtain a lift and then eventually swapped out the coil too, but it made it worse?

 

No. Some improve it, some degrade it and some are placebo.

 

5100s and ome coils ride like dog shit

 

i put a 3/2 leveling kit on my '17 and aside from the rumble (haven't replaced the front diff bearing yet) and I haven't had any problems. the guy that helped me put the lift on sold me some bigger OME to prevent blowouts but the struts are still stock. moved to 285's last week and don't have any problems rubbing. yeah gas mileage went down a bit and I only do the occasional off road and nothing too serious since its my daily driver. i'm doing a real budget build and not what some people call a 'budget build' and end up spending thousands of dollars...

in the end, its whatever the person wants to do and frankly people will always have their own opinion. I was always taught opinions are like assholes: everyone has one and they all stink

 

Added front spacers; hated the ride and started to hear the infamous grinding noises after a couple of months. Switched back to stock and noticed the ride is much smoother and feels solid, no grinding and no bro-lean when my yakima tent is on the back. Not bitching at spacers or anyone that adds them, but it didn't work out for me and think the truck is better in the long run.

 

Don’t do it man. They are TERRIBLE.
They ruin ride quality and will make your brand new truck ride like a wooden wagon.
You will find favorable opinions from some, but don’t believe them.
Doing it the right way is a little more expensive, but not much.

By the time you:
1. remove the sway bar and other interferences to remove the stock suspension
2. Take it to have the springs compressed
3. Put everything back together
4. Get an alignment

You’ve just wasted all that money because you will inevitably upgrade and feel like a dumbass.

Buy once, cry once. Do it the right way.

 

1- everything can be removed without touching the swaybar. fact.
2- most spacers go on top of the hat, no disassembly required.
3- easy for most.
4- alignments are cheap. fact.

Now im not saying spacers are better than lets say kings or fox or ads, but 300ish dollars vs a couple thousand just to achieve the same amount of lift. some people don't need flashy suspension. they just want a little ride height.

 

Not sure how your Ford Ranger is set up; but this is your typical Tacoma spacer lift. 2” up robs you of 2” of down travel I’d estimate that you might have 3/4” of down travel max after this lift. This was my truck from the factory. Removed it immediately and made them refund my money.

Removing the sway bar is not required, but makes it a lot easier than removing tie rods or linkages.

I’m not saying Icon, King, Fox for everyone. There are plenty of other Coilover setups for under $500 to achieve ride height ride without sacrificing ride quaility.

If you can’t afford a real lift, don’t lift your $30K truck. And sure as hell don’t cut to fit 285’s with a spacer lift. I’d spend $1000 on suspension and rock 265s before I spent $100 on a spacer lift and $1000 on 285s + $$ wheels and hacked my truck up.

BUT it’s the OPs truck and his choice. I’m just providing a solicited opinion.

AND cheap alignments are cheap.

I had these up for sale locally over the summer. I will post in the BST forum in a few weeks. $650 shipped anywhere in the continental USA

 

ive been running a 6 inch RC DB spacer lift and ive had no issues. Over 10k miles on it and no issues. took it to tahoe, offroading, and my daily commute to work is 50 miles each way. I know ill probably get alot of shit for running this kit but I think as long as you get it installed from a good reputable shop, youll be ok. No weird sounds, or vibrations here either

 

Just wanted to add my 2 cents..

Ive been in 3 separate vehicles with spacer lifts. 2 of which I went over 60k miles with them on. Neither one of them saw any trails or rocks. And at first, yeah they ride pretty decent on road. Almost like stock. But what I will say is after some time (maybe 30-40k miles) they turn to shit. Things just don't feel right under there anymore. The front end feels sloppy, lots of bump steer. And yes, I know these are issues from ball joints, tie rods, bushing, etc. But after that kind of miles, those things shouldn't be worn out so fast. ESP since those vehicles didn't see ANY off road time. One of them was a 2016 4Runner, so it wasn't past issues before the spacers. As of now, I recently purchased a 2013 DCLB that has a spacer put on by the previous owner. Currently has 143k miles. It rides horribly, I believe its 2 inch blocks on the rear. No idea what's up front. But it almost feels dangerous. Ive already ordered a whole new lift, along with tie rods, upper control arms, even new wheel hubs.

My point is, in my PERSONAL opinion, either go with a full lift done correctly, or just keep it stock. The spacers bring on long terms issues you just shouldn't and don't want to deal with. And it may be some financial savings to start, but it'll get expensive down the line.

 

My 18" rides like a Lincoln on 5100's OME 885 front, 5100 rears with Firestone air bags. I was really surprised at the ride and ability to be less harsh over bumps and dips. I set shocks at 0.

Another local Tacoma with the 5100's on a high notch rides quite differently and rougher.

 

Let me ask you this, what do you want to be the part that limits suspension travel; the BUMP STOPS? Or the SHOCK ABSORBER?

And now you understand why spacer lifts are so bad.

 

I've got spacer lift and the ride is same as stock. I've taken it off-roading and yes I broke something... but it was my running board that I caught on a rock (me being an offroad Newb and my spotter kinda let me down a bit, but hey got rid of the annoying running board)... the suspension did fine. That being said, I have almost 36k miles on it, and I do feel that my occasional use of the truck as a 1 ton, plus the spacer lift on oem springs and shocks is starting to take its toll on the oem components, the ride is getting rougher and I'm in the process of trying to figure out what I want to do next.

 

what do you run/recommend? Coil spacer or top plate spacer?

 

Mine only cost me 20 bucks

Spacers destroy upper ball joints if you go full droop often on 1st gens

 

Buys whatever hundred dollar control arms doesnt get $50 cv rebuild kit

Shiny parts > maintenance