Need Some Advice on Lifting Tacoma

Volunteer to help install someone elses lift or at least see if they will let you watch. This will give you an idea of what is involved. Tacomaworld is a great place to find people in your area modifying Tacomas. You may also consider taking a job sweeping floors at a autoshop and absorb as much knowledge as you can. Just be sure you know what you are doing. Use plenty of jackstands. Do not mess around with coils, the can kill you. Good luck.

 

college will pay more

 

I agree. I was not suggesting it as a career. Ideally, a summer/ part-time job.

 

I was in the same situation as you. I ended up paying a local guy to install it. I got a reduced price in exchange for helping him install my lift. It was the best of both worlds: I learned a lot through hands-on experience, but had access to all the needed tools and still had a “safety net” in case something went wrong. I recommend reaching out to your local 4 wheel/Toyota community here or on Facebook and see who comes recommended.

As far as selecting a lift kit, expensive options aren’t always the best choice if your truck is your daily driver. Fancy coilovers like Kings need to be rebuilt at regular intervals (~50k miles), while less-expensive maintenance-free shocks are simply replaced after ~100k miles:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/looking-for-aftermarket-suspension-with-oem-longevity.665998/

... and lift “kits” rarely include everything you actually need to install your lift with no problems down the line:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/stuff-that-breaks-after-installing-a-lift.667252/

I ended up getting a Dobinsons lift kit, aftermarket UCAs, an ECGS front diff bushing, high angle CV boots, a sway bar relocate kit, and new OEM LCAs. About 12k miles on this setup with very little drama so far.