Lift and uca dilema

For 2nd/3rd gens I would agree that there is some debate over their usefulness, however you seem to be one of the few that say this about 1st gens. You and that 17 year old that submarines his trucks, lol.

The driveshaft has more than enough room to spare a 1/2 degree or so for the drop. The CVs are what you need to worry about.

 

I believe @Blackdawg shares my opinion on diff drops. As do quite a few others in the non-lunchtable BS thread.

 

I haven't frequented that thread in a while. I leave for 30 minutes and there are 12 new pages. I just drop in every once in a while to poke fun at someone or talk sciencey shit.

I didn't say no one shared that opinion, only that it seems to be a minority of people. Diff drops are an easy to install, cheap, and can't do any harm type of mod. The concern for the driveline angle IMO is unfounded, as even people with 6" bracket lifts don't have a problem there. CVs are the weak point in the drive train and I want to take care of them as best I can.

 

Installing one (1") wont hurt anything. But its usefulness is questionable imo, especially on taller lifts.

 

Perfect? No, but better. IMO better is always... better...

Maybe it's like plugging only one of the two holes in your boat, lol

If it cost like $500 to do it, I'd say it wasn't worth it either, but for $20? Sure, why not...

 

I did a 2.5" 5100 lift five years ago and drove with some wild highway sway for several years. I finally got UCAs and another alignment four months ago and it made. world of difference, stability-wise. Highway driving is no longer "twitchy." In hindsight, I wish I would've done the UCAs at the same time.

 

To the OP... I would HIGHLY suggest looking for a set of coils.

One of these options: You do not want to run the 5100s pre loaded to the top notch. It will work... yes. It will lift your truck... yes. If someone told you it will work they were giving you the correct information. YOU WILL NOT LIKE IT... it will ride rough, you will have rattles everywhere in your truck.

I lifted mine to the 3rd of 4 settings and it drove me bat shit crazy. I changed out to the ToyTec/Eibach springs and completely changed my truck.

As for UCAs... You can do the lift without replacing your UCAs. Will it work? As said in above posts, it depends. There are a lot of factors at play here. You replace the UCAs to allow you to get better alignment numbers. But it depends on other things as well. How big are the tires you are going to run? How wide are the tires? How wide are the wheels? How much backspace? Are you going to run wheel spacers? What is your budget?

Sounds like you are on a budget (absolutely nothing wrong with that) and it sounds like you may need to take this is steps (again, nothing wrong with that). It also sounds like @Wheeler's Off-Road Inc is trying to help you navigate this while keeping in mind that you may not be able to do the entire show all at once (One of the things I respect Wheelers for). I sense you feel like you weren't getting straight answers about the UCAs... but the thing is, there aren't really straight answers, there are a lot of variables (as mentioned before).

You can start with 5100s with stock spings on maxed preload setting
THEN get lifting coils and drop the setting on the 5100s back to the bottom setting
THEN get UCAs
You should be fine doing it in that order as long as you don't plan on getting weird backspaced wheels, or go over 265/75R16 until you get UCAs.

 

^THIS^

I stopped trying to keep track of that thread.

 

My tires are 235/85r16. I'm not sure of my wheel specs but I think they are pretty normal. I will probably put the shocks in at 0" because they need replaced either way, then when I can, I will get coils and uca's. That way I am only paying for one alignment. The crazy highway driving you mentioned is something that I'm trying to avoid, along with tire wear. It sounds like the best bet is to hold off until I can spend some more money

 

Yes that is always a smart descision. Also actually cheaper in the long run.

As already stated by many others, UCAs aren't always needed. I didn't run UCAs, hell still am on stock, with about 1.5-2'' lift up front. You won't get great castor numbers but it still drives just fine.

I'd skip the diff drop personally. Doesn't drop the diff, just rotates its at a different angle so the diff U joint is straighter. Lifting the truck doesn't change anything with the front driveline so its...pointless really. And it drops your cv axles maybe 1/8''. So doesn't really save your boots either.


Id recommend not going over 2'' of lift on these trucks. The CVs will like it better, your ball joints will like it better, and you will like the ride better as you'll be splitting up and down travel close to 50/50. Spend some time figuring out what coils will work best for your situation, you won't want too much lift.

 

@Nyin99 I'd love to! This is just a dd though gotta keep that mpg. I'll get a newer 4dr when the kids start popping out and then I'll start messing around with the 1st Gen

 

a lift doesn't really affect your mileage, just the big fatty tires that usually go along with the lift.

I feel ya on not messing with the DD too much. The most I did to my Tacoma was 5100s, then I got a new 4Runner, and the Taco all of a sudden started seeing Kings, bumpers, skid plates, rock sliders, ....

 

Lol yeah that's the plan. Just put the 5100's in. Looks nice

 

So I did go ahead and put the 5100s in at 2.5. i guess I got excited when they showed up haha my neighbor amped me up as well. Anyway the alignment turned out good.

 

What did you do on the rear? Are you running 5100's on stock springs?

 

I ordered the parts yesterday, 5100s for the rear along with a 1.5" add a leaf. We'll see where that gets me

 

HUH?