Need help with lift/suspension suggestion

let me preface this by stating, my tacoma is the first truck I've ever owned - I left the bmw world and joined you guys....that being said, I want to lift my truck. I'm really only looking for 2-3 inches. It's purely aesthetic and I will probably never do any hardcore off-roading. (send all of your hate, I love it) I just want it to look cool and be able to put some beefier tires on it. So - assuming everything I've read about spacers is nothing but disgust and hatred - what're some other options or am I limited to spacers with the height/look I'm going for?

 

Bilstein 5100s , Eibach 650lbs coils , 2” AAL , Bilstein clip set on 0 Fronts , Or get the New Eibach pro lift kit stage 1 with wheelers 2”AAL And Eibach rear shocks... I’m wanting the Eibach setup myself. But if your loaded Kings all the way $$$$

 

Depending on your budget, there are a lot of options out there. You can achieve 2-3” with spacers and it’ll be the cheapest option but it’s not something most people recommend. What’s the budget you’re working with?

 

Wow, those Kings are pure sex but that price tag hurts my heart. I'm leaning towards the Eibach setup

 

I'd like to keep everything under $2k, including labor/installation. I'm also kind of leaning towards the TRD wheels for the time being since my tires are brand new but I'm not sure what the consensus on TRD wheels is.

 

I’m liking the Eibach kit myself I just hope it will hold up in the snow/salt I may go with Fox shocks for the rear 2.0 aluminum housing.

 

What is the consensus on Icon shocks?

 

I would coat them with Sharkhide, or another protective coating. They will corrode fast in snow/salt conditions.

 

Sharkhide looks like it’s for aluminum surfaces on boats ,, how would this work on powder coated coils? I never even herd of this product. Sounds intriguing

 

ADS all four corners! Check out them next to the TRD PRO shocks lol

 

Eibach, and Bilstein say the are zinc coated. But coating is very poor. The sharkhide is for aluminum, it works great. I have a Bennington pontoon, and two Aluma trailers, 1 open, other enclosed. All 3 coated with Sharkhide, pontoon came coated by Bennington (option). They are all over 5 years old, and look like they just came off showroom floor.
My trd pro suspension looks 20 years old after 3 months of snow/salt driving here in WI. I wish I would of known their coating was crap. I would of coated trd pro suspension, before installing. Don't think it would do anything, on something powder coated.

 

Thanks for the info I’ll make sure to coat the shocks with this sharkhide!!

 

If it’s just for looks, I suggest billet spacers and a 2” add a leaf throw on you wheels and tires and bling your ass off.

Practical me actually suggest you do no suspension modifications until you have had the truck for a year.
You may learn what you want the truck to do better, or maybe you learn to wheel and would appreciate a performance suspension. In the next year instead of having spent money on a lift and tires.

Fiscaly practical me say fuck mods until you have the title in hand. Spend that money burning a hole in your pocket for a lift and beefier tires on principle of the loan. When that truck is really yours you will be able to mod it with all the money you saved on intrest. Seriously unless You got 2% or less on financing you will save thousands. Then the ki gs are yours and you won’t have payments. That’s how you get loaded.

 

This is pretty good advice even though it will be scoffed at by half the crowd here that drive their truck off the lot and stop at a tire shop on the way home. I waited until 25k for my suspension upgrade and 28k to upgrade my tires. Armor went on first because that didn't involve replacing any stock components besides the pie tin under the truck. Plus giving it a year to make sure you didn't get a lemon isn't a bad idea then you don't have to fight the dealer blaming every problem on your 'lift.'

 

This is actually next level wisdom. There's a war raging inside me that just wants to buy ALL of the mods...then there's the adult me saying "chill the fuck out dude, you just got it a month ago." You're probably right though, I can live without a lift for a year and the fiscally practical me says, the tires are brand new, why would you get rid of them already?

All that being said, since wheels/tires go hand in hand with lift/suspension, would it be a bad idea to get the PRO wheels while I wait on the lift?

 

You and Bryannccfshr are droppin some wisdom bombs. I never even thought about what the dealership would say should anything go wrong and it needs work. And like I said to Bryannccfshr, part of me does cringes at the thought of replacing brand new tires. So I'll ask you the same question I asked him, would it be a bad idea to get the PRO wheels while I wait on the lift?

 

I just did a lift with Bilstein 6112 front (2 inch front lift) and Bilstein 5160 rear, and Dakar leaf pack. But you could do an AAL rear instead to save on money.

I also kept stock 16 wheels and got KO2’s an inch taller than stock 265/75/16. Which are typically cheaper at $188 a tire

That setup will give you much better performance than stock and not break the bank.

With an AAL (essentially a poor man’s icon stage 2 kit, with similar performance)
https://offroadwarehouse.com/i-2303...ion-stage-3-for-2016-toyota-tacoma-6-lug.html

With Dakar leaf pack (also extra lift, idk of those are the medium or heavy Dakars though, EL095R va EL096R)
https://offroadwarehouse.com/i-2303...ion-stage-4-for-2016-toyota-tacoma-6-lug.html

 

Part of the benefit of delayed gratification is knowing you really wanted something before committing to it.
Right now everything is new, you see all of these mods in person and online and it is very tempting to start doing things. With time you will either want the trd pro wheels more, or you may have a new direction you want to go and be glad you didn’t get them. They will still be around in a year. Or perhaps something you don’t even know about right now will be more attractive or utilitarian.
When you start modi g a new truck you want to know what the end goal is and why.
Enjoy the new truck!

 

Since you're out of the closet about being a mall crawler and not gonna do any offroad action then why not go with the spacer lift? The reason spacers get all the hate they do is cause they weren't meant for serious off road action but some dummies took them offroad and used them in ways they weren't designed to be used and parts broke. Ya, you could get a pair of Kings or something to look real cool but never take it beyond a fire road (like a few people here) but what does that get you? For your application, a hole in your pocket. You could get a medium price suspension like Bilstein and that'll give you better potential if you ever decide to go off road.
For the back you have 3 basic options too. Get blocks, it'll give you lift without affecting ride quality but keep in mind that if you try to drive it like a BMW you may get axle wrap under hard acceleration. You could get an AAL that will give you lift and make the truck a little stiffer in the back but also let you have a higher load carrying ability without the ass end sagging. Last option is getting replacement spring packs. You will get added carrying capacity with a better ride (supposedly, I have no experience with this bolt on option although I welded some Chevy 63s on a different Tacoma and that was a HUGE improvement)
Take it with a grain of salt but if it was my truck and I was going to use it strictly on road I'd go with spacers as my first option and Bilsteins as the more expensive but more versatile option if there is the possibility that you'll end up doing some actual off roading.
For the back, if I wasn't carrying anything except small stuff infrequently I'd use blocks and I'd use AALs if I was gonna carry heavier things more often. Change springs if you plan on carrying a consistent load in the back. I'd probably upgrade the rear shocks to 5100s regardless of what rear lift I use

 

If you like the pro wheel look you can black out your off road wheels with plasti dip and see how it looks for a while. That will only cost $10 or so and an hour.

If you really like it after a few months then paint them.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/step-by-step-trd-wheel-paint-project.553263/

The TRD caps can also be purchased if you like them better than the Toyota logo.