Preferred Lift Kit?

My local shop guys, who certainly knows his stuff, is saying I should go with the Icon Stage 2 Kit

http://www.iconvehicledynamics.com/...ota-Tacoma-Suspension-System-%2d-Stage-2.html

I don't plan on doing any serious rock crawling, more likely to be in mud. My total future plans for my 2012 Taco is a new steel bumper and larger mud tires than the stock 265/70R/16's I have. I'm thinking 32s..or something close to that size.. could end up being a metric size

He tell's me go with Icon because the front shocks can be adjusted to level it better once I get the bumper. Its a pretty expensive kit but maybe thats just the way things go.

I've done some searching on this site but wasn't sure what most people were going with.. a full kit from a single company or frankenstein kits with parts from different companies. Would love to know what most people are doing.

 

If you can afford it get the icon. Most people on here go with old man emu or bilstein adjustable 5100s for a affordable lift. I went with a full old man emu kit complete with new leaf springs for about $1,150. Someday i will probaby be switching to icons when i can afford it. Check out toyteclifts.com to check out the lift kits i am talking about.

 

cool.. is that the right link? all i see are sponsored links and the site is forsale

 

whoops, here ya go

 

ICON makes quality products and that is a great kit you are looking at getting. If you have the funds then its always good to go with a nice suspension lift like that instead of cheap spacer lifts that arent good for the truck to begin with. I have rear ICON reservoir shocks and I love them!!

 

ah, yah just found that too.. sweet thanks man

For me this is more of farm/hunting/fishing use. Not gonna hit too many rocky trails.. more about mud and not bottoming out

 

If you can afford it, it's certainly a great option. Definitely higher end stuff. I agree with checking out the OME or one of the 5100 kits on Toytecs website.

This is what I have personally. And here is the OME (Old Man Emu) kit. Both of those are cost effective nice options. You'll be able to get one of those kits, new UCA's, and still save a few hundred bucks. From what you describe, personally I'd go with something like I posted.

 

OK so what i was told was that I should get the Icon so I can adjust it when I get my fancy new bumper.. looks like I could just get some of those adjustable shocks and adjust it that way and save some cash.. though i do like the idea of just getting it done right the first time..

Is the difference in quality noticed while driving on pavement or just in pure performance on the trail? This will get a lot of road miles on it, with road tires, so its a large part of my decision.. which lift will still give me a good highway ride?

 

You cod get the OME kit with the 885 springs now, and when you get your bumper switch out to 886 springs and still not spend as much as the Icon stage 2 kit

 

If you go with the more afordable old man emu lift the ride will be noticeable stiffer than stock. I would imagine icons would be a better ride but you would have to ask someone with experience, i havnt even looked into icons because they are out of my price range.

 

I've also heard nothing but good reviews on the Ultimate Lift Kit from Toytec. You would save a good amount of money too.

 

The first kit I listed that I have rides very good IMO. Rides smoother in most situations than my stock Sport suspension did. I don't do hardcore off roading but when I am off the pavement I've had to complaints. As Mitch states you could always get that OME kit and just upgrade to the other springs which will be stiffer to accommodate the weight of the front bumper when you get it. You could also throw on the stiffer springs on the 5100's.

Like I said, really comes down to how much you want to spend. If you have the cash and are okay with dropping that kinda coin, it's a great kit. But I think you'd be happy with the other 2. A huge amount of people here run some variation of one of those 2 kits.

 

Well thank you to everyone who has chimed in. Tacomaworld proving its worth every minute of the day. I'll keep everyone posted as to what i do.

 

For what it's worth, here's my $0.02 on the high end lift kits vs. OME or Bilstein kits. The higher end kits can be custom valved and are rebuildable. The remote reserviors are great for higher speed runs where the shock oil can overheat in a conventional shock and hinder performance. Unless you really need that type of performance, I don't see spending the money on the high end kits.

The kit like the Ultimate Lift kit has a threaded collar to adjust preload and I haven't heard anything negative about that kit. Another option would be the OME kit and you can add the short top plates when you get your bumper or upgrade to the stiffer coils depending on how heavy the bumper actually is.

Personally, I went with 5100's and Eibach coils. I went with a short lift to avoid the need for aftermarket UCA's. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go OME because of their slightly lower spring rate.

 

when you say you went with a short lift what do you mean? how short? I"m really doing it just so I can fit some bigger tires in there 33s at the max. I've been told a 2inch lift is really all I need. 32in tires are more likely what I'll get or something close to that size depending if I get aftermarket wheels or another set of Toyota wheels

 

If you only lift about 2 inches or less than 2.5 then you shouldnt need aftermarket upper control arms. When you go higher your truck could have alignment issues and you would need to get aftermarket UCAs (upper control arms) that add more caster. If you are trying to fit 32s or 265/75r16 then you might not even need to lift your truck, some people run this size with no lift. The old man emu kit should get you about 2.5 inches of lift. If you get 5100s with new coils i think you would be closer to 2 or 2.25 with the bilsteins set at zero. Then if the springs sag due to the weight of your bumper you could move them up to the .85" setting.
Another option is buying 5100s for the front, and reuse the stock coils, and keep the rear stock. You can adjust the 5100s to lift the front end but the ride will be stiffer.
I went with the old man emu setup and also bought spc light racing UCAs plus a new leaf pack for the rear.

 

do it right there first time, dont spend 1000 on an ome setup only to wish you had gotten the icon in a year or so.

 

My first Icon setup lasted almost 5 years. I would have kept them on but I needed longer coilovers so I went with another Icon setup. Definitely worth the money.

 

Hahaha thats ganna be me
I don't agree 100% tho. If you offroad alot then ya icons are probably worth it. But alot of people say that they really prefer the ride of OME compared to stock, although it is more firm. If the purpose of your lift is either looks or to gain some ground clearance with bigger tires for very mild offroad use then why spend 2x the amount of money you need to?
I also dont disagree 100%...lol, like i said in my first post in this thread, if you can afford the icon kit then get it!

 

I don't know much on lifts and this is good information. I have a question on the Pro-Comp height adjustable Pro-Runners does anyone have any feed back on those? Or would I be better off going with Bilstein height adjustable?