Upgrade to a real suspension lift

Hello everyone
So back when I bought my 05 Tacoma it already had a lift installed. However, it’s a spacer lift. I’m not sure on the exact details of it. It’s a pretty rough ride though.

As far as replacing it, is it as easy as buying a new setup and swapping out the parts?

 

Ya it’s pretty basic swap one strut for the new one. If you go above 2.5in highly advised you get new upper control arms. For the rear you’d either install a add a leaf to the stock leafs or swap in a new leaf pack.
Best advice I can give you being a 05 I hope your cam bolts are not seized the lower control arms will have to be cut out.

 

I think currently I’m sitting around 2-2.5”? Is there a way to measure how much lift I have? I want something similar, as I have 33” tires and would like to keep them. Just want a nicer ride. Don’t Offroad too much, but occasionally.

 

Fun times....I just went through that.

 

Can you see how thick the front spacer is or take a pic of it that’d be helpful.

 

Measure from center of hub to bottom of fender. Typical stock measurements will be ~ 20" front, 22" rear.

 

Thankfully the second one only had one bolt/adjuster seized.
More importantly, I had new blades as well. Rotated through 3, and it was cut out in under an hour. Cutting oil made a big difference as well. Well, some leftover gear oil did anyways. Lol

 

Looks like a 2in front 1 in rear. You could go with a old man emu kit and have a much better riding/performing setup. Check out headstrong off-road they are very knowledgeable and great customer service.

 

Thank you for the help! I’ve never done anything suspension related yet. I really wanted to get some SCS wheels, but I figured it might be better to upgrade my suspension functionality first.

 

Your welcome and that’s a smart idea.

 

If you don't off road much, a spacer isn't really that bad of an option. I'll get flamed for that, but I don't care.

EDIT: This statement I made earlier, is incorrect. (The problem with your current spacer in the front is that it's under the top hat of the strut, compressing your spring. That's a good portion of why your ride is so stiff. If you removed that spacer and went with a spacer that mounted to the top of the strut hat, you're ride would be noticeably better.)



I've been running a spacer lift for a few years now with no problems. My front spacers are outside of the struts though. It is also a less expensive option.

 

An idea I have been throwing around is leaving the 1” block in the rear and just replacing the front with coil overs and the rear struts. and then later down the road if needed I can just swap out the leaf springs. Thoughts?

 

I really wish that myth of "compressing the spring" would die. It's not compressing the spring. If it were, there would be no lift. All that spacer does is lower the top resting point of the spring, pushing the lower control arm down, thus raising the front of the truck. Don't believe me? Do a before/after measurement of the spring itself on a spacer lift.

What it *does* do is extend the shock, which is why a top mount is preferred.

 

Isn't the up travel of the strut limited by the stroke of the shock absorber? I would guess, although I've never verified, that if you put a two inch spacer inside the strut assembly, it wouldn't be two inches longer when it's still sitting on the garage floor. That's why you need a compressor to get the stock assembly apart. The strut assembly overall length is limited by the full extension of the shock. I would bet its still the same length.
IF that's the case, yes, the spring is compressed.
No offense Fullboogie, but I don't think I agree with you.

 

I would be curious to see... Remove both strut assemblies. Compress the spring on one, remove the spacer and reassemble. Lay both on the garage floor and see if they are the same length. If they are, the one with the spacer still in it, has a spring that is compressed by the thickness of the spacer.
If this is the case, you have more preload and a stiffer ride.

 

Explain how a spacer lift works by "compressing" the spring. The front end would go down if that were the case. As stated, it does lengthen the shock somewhat in OP's configuration, which is why the top spacer is preferred. But this myth of a spacer compressing the spring is bogus. Think about the geometry of what's taking place.

Just trying to shed some light, not to argue.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but try this visualization:

You have two mounting points for the front strut assembly: Point A, which is the top mount, shock tower, whatever you want to call it. And you have Point B, which is on the lower control arm. Point A cannot move relative to the rest of the body - it's fixed in the bodywork. So the only way to raise the truck is to make the distance between Point A and Point B longer, which we do by lowering Point B, the lower control arm. (I'm excluding drop spindles here)

We do this by longer springs, like OME and others. Or we do it by "lengthening" the stock spring package by installing a spacer. Those are the only ways to lengthen the distance between A and B. If, as you say, the spacer "compresses" the spring, then what you are saying is that the spacer is shortening the distance between A and B, thus lowering the truck. It doesn't make sense. A spacer lengthens A to B by pushing the whole package down, lowering the lower control arm, thus raising the whole front of the truck. That's also why we should use extended length shocks like the 5100's than can handle the extended length of the whole "package." I hope this makes sense.

 

Congratulations gentlemen this is perhaps the most polite disagreement I have seen on TW in a long time if ever. Very refreshing. I will not pick a side in this but was enjoyable to read