Can’t find a solid answer.

I know threads are out there that cover lifts. I did the search and read many many pages. But the answers always seemed pretty vague.
“You need a better budget”
“That won’t work”
“It’s a bigger project then you think”
So I’m gonna try again. And I’m gonna try to include as much info as possible to get as much info back as possible. Hopefully.
So first. Why am I modding my ‘13 taco. It has been my commute truck for awhile and my work and hunting camping truck was a ‘03 gmc diesel. That at 450k miles finally died. So the taco is now goin to fill the work and play roll as well as my commute.

The plan for the taco. Armor and ground clearance. Front bumper, steel. I use my truck to push. So that’s a must. Under armor, aluminum I don’t really rock crawl. But many of the roads I take hunting are complete trash. I think aluminum will handle the scraping. Rear bumper whatever metal, because a beefy front bumper and stock rear would look dumb.
Ground clearance because of hunt roads being trash. I think with a 2-3 inch lift and a 1-2 in larger tire I could get 3-4 total inch clearance which is perfect. I know with the armor it’s a lot of added weight. And I have a decked bed system. Which also adds weight. So the lift would need to also add payload to the vehicle.

budget. I would like to get all the armor for 2500. Don’t know if that’s possible. But that would be ideal. I’m pretty sure I could install that. I’m pretty handy with tools. The lift and tires I would like to keep less then 4000. I don’t know if I could install lift as much shop is pretty basic. Not sure what all it would need. I don’t have a vehicle lift.

info I’m looking for. I know what tire I want. But I don’t know what size I can fit with that size lift. Without having to make frame adjustments. So please info there. Lift parts. I have read that shocks will bottom out if you don’t do it right. And that alignment will be a problem if you don’t do it right. I have read about sway bars being an issue if not don’t right But I haven’t been able to find what right is. So I really don’t know wHere to start or what to look for in a lift.

I think my plan is pretty worked out. And I think my budget is close. Maybe not enough. But I read a bunch of other posts where people wanted to do it for less then 1k. Which I know isn’t possible. If you read this far. And can help point me in the right direction I would love any input. Even if it’s just a link to something I maybe haven’t found yet.
thank you for any input.

 

I can’t really help with the the technical lift stuff.
But you might want to add some better front bumper mounts if you plan to run a steel front bumper.
There has been some issues with the stock mounts breaking.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cracked-front-bumper-mount.675563/

There is info in that post to where you can get better mounts.
Good luck to you on the lift and this hunting season

 

Do research/reading in forums: “suspensions”, “armor” and “wheels & tires”. Shorten the post. Break it down to specific questions.

 

Do what makes you happy to the truck. But instead of spending a ton of money on the truck and wearing it out commuting to work save the truck for when you need a truck. Buy a 10-12 year old Honda or Toyota with 150,000 miles on it for $2000-$2500 and commute to work in it. The money you save on gas in 2 years will pay for the car, and you're truck will last longer too. It'll cost you more to buy one tire for the truck than a set of 4 on the small car. No point wearing out a $1200 set of tires in 2 years commuting to work.

 

Thanks man. I hadn’t thought about the mounts for a bumper. And pushing will be a bit of added stress. I’ll look into that for sure.

 

Welcome to TW!

See what's in red.... please, know more than willing to help out, but your not really providing much information. Can you provide some details on what you are actually looking at regarding tires and lifts? There will be plenty of opinions and people can tell you what works for them and what they use their vehicle for and you can work off that, none of us will be able to give you exact specifics, but maybe help point you in the best direction from our personal experiences!

 

OME with the heavier springs and heavier Dakars in the rear to carry your extra armor weight, etc. Maybe a CMC to clear the tires.

 

Suspensions are tricky. Does anyone get it perfect the first time?

 

rough OPINIONS -- hopefully somewhat helpful: The easiest is to call Marie at Headstrong --- pick the full lift package that meets your budget and accomodates the weight you're going to be carrying.

• if budget is in any way a factor then you should get the tools and do the lift / armor install yourself. Have the mindset that you can get it aligned by a 4x4 shop that knows how to align lifted trucks and do everything else. That's going to get you more familiar with the truck and allow you to diagnose / troubleshoot / fix any issues you encounter w/o shelling out a ton of $$$ to your mechanic. For the "vehicle lift" you need a decent floor jack and a few jack stands. You're going to notice more than you do now every rattle, tick, noise that may have existed before and you're now hyper aware --- you can now fix it.
• your '13 is a lot newer than my 05, but don't be shocked to learn that you need new front wheel bearings (it's not the new tires making the noise) and the ECGS bushing to kill the floor / pedal vibrations that you can't get out of your head -- factor that into the budget as well and throw a party if you don't need it 6 months after the lift. And you can replace these yourself.
• factor an aftermarket UCA into the lift equation. You can read forever on this topic but I've yet to hear of anyone with an aftermarket UCA that regrets that decision.
• my guess is you can get the armor for less. RCIs full set tops at 1000 (aluminum w/ powdercoat) and goes down from there (steel)
• think 265/75/16s (or maybe the 255/85/16s) unless you want to do some trimming and CMC, which I'm guessing you'd also outsource to a shop. Use the tire calculator to get from your current tires to the new to assess ground clearance
• suspension lift --- add up the weight of everything you want -- bumper, armor, deck system, other cargo -- and talk to Marie at Headstrong or someone at wheelers or wherever and get their thoughts. you'll most likely need coils spec'd to support the weight up front and the AAL or a new leaf pack in the back.

 

Thank you for taking the time to go edit my post. I guess it wasn’t worded as well on paper as it was in my head. The tires I’m looking at are falken wildpeak AT3. I have heard good things. As far as lift. I am really new to lifting vehicles. When I lifted the diesel the only other part that needed changed was the pitman arm. So I’m having a hard time understanding why the upper control arms or sway bar would also be such an issue on the taco. Also why some lifts claim to add payload with just an add a leaf or some say you must replace the entire spring assembly to get the added payload. Hoping that once I understand all that I can make a decision for myself.

 

Def not lol Im on my 3rd set but 3rd times the charm lol. Love mine now

 

Thank you man. Good info. I’ll look into headstrong and wheelers. I live in a small town that doesn’t have a lot of options for shops. So that’s also gonna be a problem. As well as why I’m turning here for info instead of an off road shop

 

This is my problem right here. I drive to and from Seattle 3x a week from near the Canadian border and my Falkens are going so fast. Couldn’t predict my new job but now I’m searching for a civic or something to ASAP

 

The UCA is important and necessary if you lift more than 2" and want to have the ability to properly align the front tires. Without aftermarket UCA your ability to adjust caster is very limited. I'm not sure what the issues have been with the sway bar. I have never had a problem with that. The add a leaf is a band aid, at best. The stock leaf springs are very weak and do not provide sufficient support for added weight. You need a full leaf pack if you have the kind of weight you are talking about.

Edit: I also recommend calling Marie at @HeadStrong Off-Road. She will be able to answer the majority of you questions and put this issue to rest for you. Plus, she's a great supporter of TW members.

 

First let me start by saying welcome to TW.

I would say your budget is a little on the lower side but probably could be done if you have the skills and knowledge to install everything yourself. I would def order suspension from headstrong since you'll save a good bit on shipping. As far as armor is concerned wait until black Friday and you can probably get a great deal and save up to %15 for most companies. Wheels and tires your just going to have to keep your eyes out. Me personally i wouldn't mind a nice used set of wheels to save some $$$. Tires are hit or miss but i order them from Amazon and they usually have the best prices. Or @Discount Tire can help you out. Anyways ive learned that you always end up spending more than you want to . At least that has been the case for me. Hope this helps.

 

Marie @HeadStrong Off-Road

 

Your location can cause the cost of armor to vary due to shipping costs. If you are on the east coast I'd recommend @SOS CONCEPTS in SC. I drove up to get my HC rear bumper and shipping for my skids was reasonable. As for lifts, the Bilstein 5100/OME coil combo works to get you started, though with the armor up front you may want to go OME offerings.

 

Thanks everyone for the input. I’ll be reaching out to headstrong for sure. I have been poking around the website and it really looks like they know what they are talking about.