new coils on stock shocks?

I have been reading for about three months on every type of lift I could possible do. I am pretty sure that I've read every thread on here about lifts, maybe even twice, and i still have some questions. Is it possible to achieve front lift by replacing the stock coil with an aftermarket coil? OME for example. Also, has anyone tried spacer lifts and not hated them? I know that I am gonna regret asking that on here, but money is tight, and I just want to level out my truck and put some new tires on it. I have looked at billies, but even with 5100s, the stock spring is still compressed. So wouldn't putting spacers between the coil and shock be the same thing? I was planning on getting a two inch spacer lift, or coil to add two inches in the front, then an aal in the rear. Has anyone tried this setup and liked it? hated it? I wheel every once in a while and I'm not looking to ruin the truck or anything but a spacer seems to be the easiest and cheapest way to get any lift. I have a 2004 v6 4x4. Sorry if there are posts out there that answered this already, but I have looked and looked and it has come to this.

Thanks in advance

 

Everyone on here will tell you not to do a spacer lift because of the ride quality and extra wear on other suspension parts...

My opinion? Its a truck, I don't really care if it doesn't ride like a Buick. I don't have a lift on my truck, but I highly doubt I would be able to tell a difference in ride quality with a spacer lift compared to my stock suspension.

As far as increasing the wear on other suspension, that's probably true, but who knows how much faster it really wears them out? Everything has to be replaced eventually anyway.

Buy what you can afford.

 

I lifted/leveled the front of my 04' with OME 880 coils with the stock shocks. It lifted it 2" and will most likely settle to 1.5-1.75"...before I added the coils I thought of spacers but I heard the ride gets really bumpy but with the coils I have on it's almost like stock but more stable and a little bit more stiff...check out my pics and you'll get an idea..

 

So it is possible to do. I know that OME offers different coils, but would the stiffer coils offer more lift, or not settle as much? Also, did you do anything to the rear as far as a lift? like aal or anything?

 

you will. Spacers suck. Take it from a guy who has them on his truck (Prev owner installed them) And can't wait to get them off.

Spacers get a lot of hate because they deserve hate. THEY SUCK.

OP: If you can't afford shocks and coils, just get the coils and run them on the shocks you have now; then get the shocks later when you have the cash.

The 881's will give you around 2'' of lift vs. the 880's.

 

The difference between 5100s and a spacer lift (or putting coils on stock shocks) is that the stock shocks are not properly valved to dampen the stiffer spring rate associated with the lift. This leads to a harsh ride.

 

My first lift was OME 884 coils on stock TRD shocks. that was a huge mistake, the front end bounced all over the place,the ride sucked and i only got about 1.75" of lift. my second lift was 5100s set at 2.5, and boy was that a world of difference. If you are trying to save money, do not put new coils on stock shocks, just spend the extra $20 or so for the 5100s

 

so basically billies are the best way to go. Looks like im just gonna have to save up for a while. For those of you that installed the 5100s, how tough of a job is it?

 

How long does it take to save $180? There are spacer lifts that cost more than that....

It's an easy install if you are comfortable using a spring compressor. If not, I'd imagine it's fairly difficult.

 

go to a shop to get the springs installed onto the shocks. Or if you are mechanically inclined rent a spring compressor from autozone/advanced auto and install the coils your self. Other than that its super easy. 3 nuts on top of the coilover and one nut/bolt on the bottom mount.

 

If they've been on ever since you've had the truck, how do you know the spacers are causing the stiff ride? Jw.

 

I've ridden in other 1st gens like mine, and trust me its the front suspension that makes the truck ride rough. Front end is VERY harsh over any on/offroad bumps (heavy jarring, lots of noise)

And its kinda common sense that spacers will make the truck ride like crap. You are pre-loading the suspension with rubber disks. My truck also had stop spacers, I took those off, rides better just by removing those.

 

I don't think billies cost much more than springs.... maybe only $20-$30 more

 

of course it's possible I did it..the rea,r I left it stock no lift

 

that is why i got the 880 coils...my front end doesn't bounce at all and when I measured it after the coils were added, it raised exactly 2" but it has settled less than a half an inch...and anyways if it's just for leveling your truck, coils>spacers and that is why I never changed my shocks....

 

FWIW..... I have a Toytec 1" leveling kit because like you all I wanted was to level it. I installed Tokico Trekmasters all around when I did the swap. Mine rides pretty much like stock and is OEM quiet. Put 20k on it to date with no complaints... I dont off road my truck either.

 

I've had both setups so here's my take on it:

When I first got the truck, I got 1" spacers to raise the front an inch. What I was dissapointed with was that they raised the front MORE than the inch I wanted- closer to 2. After the fact, I learned about the 2:1 lift ratio that spacers provide.. annoying- keep that in mind. That aside, honestly, I didn't notice any difference in ride quality. The spacers lifted the truck, the parts were cheap, they did their job.

Now, I've recently replaced my entire suspension and ditched the spacers. I bought 5100's all around, and OME 880 coils and a 5-leaf pack for the rear. This wasn't cheap at all, but I did it because my suspsension was annoying me for a bunch of reasons: the spacers gave me more lift than I wanted, and I hated the look of the truck with them. I feel like the spacers also exaggerated the "Tacoma lean"; the truck looked like shit, even my girlfriend noticed that it was always leaning to one side. And the rear stock leaf pack was worn and weak, I needed a more stout rear. I achieved all of my goals, but for $1500, I felt the cost.

If you're installing this stuff yourself, then the spacers will be a much much cheaper option than anything else. But if you are paying someone to install them (like I did) you're going to have to pay for them to disassemble and reassembly the strut/spring assembly anyway, so in that case I'd probably recommend being patient, save some more money, and just buying new stuts and new coils and do it right.

 

yeah, if i would use spacers, i would only use 1 inch spacers on the front. I'm not looking for the lift exactly, but just a level. If the spacers raise the front 2 inches, I was looking into an aal anyway. If i just bought the 5100s for the front to level the truck out, could I leave the stock shocks on the back? atleast until I could afford to buy the rear ones? and If i lift the back an inch with an aal, do I need 5100s in the back? sorry for all the questions and I really appreciate all the answers.

 

Yes. You can do the 5100s in the front and leave the rear stock. Also, you can do a 1" block in the back and leave the stock shocks until you can get new one, that is what my dad is currently doing.

 

alright sounds good. 5100s in the front is probably what I will end up doing. Spacers arent much less money anyway. Is the rear the same as the front with a 2:1 lift ratio, or does 1 inch mean 1 inch?