Current Setup

I have strayed away from everyone’s advice here, no lie. I do want to share what my 3rd Gen Tacoma looks like and rides like in its current state though, so if others are thinking of doing what I’m currently doing, they can consider. I didn’t have a lot of advice to go on.


To start, the lift, RC 3.5” Puck Spacer on stock sr5 shocks, no rear lift due to the shop not doing those install for some reason and i’ve been rocking with it. Don’t check out yet it’s getting worse.

(Day after lift installed)

Currently running 265 75 r16 on the stock rims.



As promised it’s getting worse. If you aren’t already thinking of a response to the RC level, let’s talk about wheel spacers.

2” on the hub with Red Loctite as a base torqued to 120 ft/lb, broken in, torqued again.

1 1/4” on top of the 2” torqued to 100 ft/lb, broken in, torqued again.

I don’t have any alignment issues even after both, has been verified. Long term, eh. I can corner extremely well on these, confident on dirt roads at 40 mph+ and feel very nice on dirt. Asphalt not as much, but isn’t the most uncomfortable thing ever. Overall very nice on off road comfort.

You may be thinking I’m full of it, and you might be right. Let me explain how I use this truck. I have a ton of dirt roads near me, I have a lake near me with some dirt, I don’t exactly see myself seriously wheeling but maybe camping and light off road expenditures. No malls where I live, but I do take it out in field around duck season.

I have some more stupid, unsolicited things I will be doing to this truck. I will keep y’all updated when anything changes.

 

You should tuck those wheels in or you'll get them caught on a trip wire. Or more lift.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmajyVNuQL4

 

you need hydraulics

 

lmaoo. yeah thinking on how to get more lift currently but not really sure route I want to go. rubbing with this tire size sucks

 

That's your spacers not your tire size causing the rubbing. I have a 295/70r17 with very little rub on less front lift and -38 offset wheels.
Remove the wheel spacers or go get a high caster alignment. Hope you did extended bump stops with those spacers your one wrong hard hit away from bending the lower section of the shock.

 

Every time I see a truck with tires poking out well beyond the fender (without a clear purpose, I can respect the setup for dedicated trail rigs), I can't help but think of suits with shoulder pads that clearly exceed what the person's shoulders actually accentuate.



I do not claim to be in tune with "high fashion", besides the occasional Zoolander viewing, so maybe I'm missing the point of this whole craze to look as wide as possible. Roads aren't getting any wider, parking spaces aren't getting any wider. People are getting wider, but that's a separate issue that's already been solved by the full size truck market.

 

^^^
If that's the first image that pops into your head when you see a little tire poke, there may be something going on that you've yet to come to grips with...

 

Is it friday?

 

There’s always another who is worse, spacers give me an excuse to be around my grandad cause I do stuff out at his place mainly.. Your comment reminds me of what he says cause he thinks it looks funny. If I hit shoulders at the gym more would that help?

 

yeah i didn’t rub before the double spacers so I figured. No extended bump stops but have replacement shocks on hand for front and back. Will order those in my next batch of stuff though.

 

I'm curious, how do spacers positively affect that? Dirt roads + 3.25" worth of spacers = bad day for paint, at minimum, not to mention increased scrub radius, increased load on wheel bearings, tie rods, etc. It does nothing to improve the performance of a truck AFAIK, except for added stability for hardcore offroaders when wheeling off-camber (where a low center of gravity, i.e. minimal lift is also useful). It's also illegal in most places, although I doubt you'd ever get pulled over for it. In my state, the tires can't extend beyond the fenders by more than 2" without being covered, mostly so you aren't yeeting rocks at the windshields of the vehicles behind you when you leave the dirt roads with rocks in your tires before traveling at high speeds on paved roads.

On a track car? There's definitely a benefit to a wider track width, but even then it's not all positive without some negative. I fail to see the positives outweighing the negatives on a truck, besides for the 'gram likes.

Shoulder work is fine, just don't skip leg day, otherwise you end up in looking like the trucks that add 4" over fenders and keep the stock wheel offsets.

 

Now this.

My relationship with my grandad? I mainly just like to hear some life in him arguing, he kinda just chills in his shop.

yeah unfortunate to read again and again, but i’m already planning on jumping from 265 to 315 (not with both spacers that would be insane) so I can’t let that scare me now. I already take the tires off of the truck a ton so trimming seems like I should just plan. chances are I keep this truck but don’t see it being hard to sell privately either. I do most of my own work so it’s just future me headache.
so hearing all this has lead me to believe you would urge me to get a body lift? been in the cards but would love to hear your opinion lmao

True that, we rock 5% tint around here without a worry, I never want to hear this thing loud unless someone needed that catalytic converter for crack and that seems to be the only thing people get pulled for here.

No gram but I do take a ton of pictures of it. Not a lot of positives except looks and I’m not arguing there. This was just to talk about my experience in what I am doing. Again to explain to talk about ride experience because I was having trouble finding threads so for others mainly.